As India is battling England in a five-match affair as it also marks the beginning of their second odyssey into the hallowed World Test Championship, things have stirred up already on the opening day of the affair.
England seemed comfortable until tea where they built small partnerships to hurt India’s bowling. However, a sudden explosion from Mohammad Shami led to an instant collapse of the English batting unit and India was successful in establishing themselves in the driver’s seat.
With all said and done, this match very well could have paved the path for Abhimanyu Easwaran’s debut because of India’s limited opening resources with Shubman Gill out with an injury and Mayank Agarwal sidelined with a concussion. However, India chose to go with KL Rahul and hand over a crucial opportunity to Shardul Thakur and Mohammad Siraj in what seemed like their opening essay in England.
Talking about openings and debuts, quite a few remarkable monikers have made their cricket debut on English soil. In today’s story, we will take a quick look at five Indians who made a debut in Test cricket playing in England.
#1 Vijay Hazare
The man who propelled to their first-ever Test victory, Vijay Hazare earned 30 Test caps for his nation and was a vital cog in the nascent days of India cricket. He made his Test debut at Lord’s on June 22, 1946. He managed to garner 31 runs on his debut before being knocked over by Alec Bedser.
During his glittering cricketing career, Hazare managed to rack up 2912 runs at an average of 47.65 and it came across the span of the 30 Test matches that he was a part of. He was a reckoning moniker in the domestic cricket era with 18740 runs that starred 60 centuries and 70 half-centuries.
#2 Saurav Ganguly
The second Test match of the series in 1996 at Lords will remember etched onto the memories of the Indian fans forever because it played host to the debut of two of India’s most illustrious cricketers, namely Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.
Ganguly walked out to bat while his team was struggling and dished out an impeccable knock of 131 runs from 301 balls. That knock still remains to be the highest score on debut at Lords. The former Indian captain would go onto play 113 matches from which he would rack up 7212 runs at a decent average of 42.18.
#3 Rahul Dravid
The Great Wall of India shares his debut with the God of Offside, Saurav Ganguly. The duo stitched together an incredible stand of 94 runs for the 7th wicket. The fluidity in Dravid’s strokes and his resilience on that day served as a bellwether for the forthcoming glory.
India’s most enduring and graceful batsman ended his Test career on a notable high with an average that read 52.31. It wasn’t just Ganguly who impressed in the opening match. Dravid missed his ton by whiskers, getting dismissed for 95. He managed to amass 13288 runs from his glittering Test career.
#4 Anil Kumble
Unarguably, India’s best off-spinner and best bowler too in terms of wickets claimed, Anil Kumble made his debut at Old Trafford in 1990. He instantly created an impact by claiming three scalps in the first innings on his Test debut.
Kumble’s figures in Test cricket are absolutely extraordinary with 619 wickets from 132 Test matches. He also holds the record of being only the second bowler to claim 10 wickets in a single inning and the feat came against Pakistan, bettering the one of Jim Laker.
#5 Abbas Ali Baig
Abbas Ali Bag became the youngest centurion on his debut and it came at Old Trafford against England. He stepped on the field for India and this magical feat arrived in the fourth inning and the youngster managed to smash a blistering 112 in the fourth innings.
He also managed to grab another first that saw him being the first Indian cricketer to be kissed while playing a match. When Baig managed his half-century against Australia in Brabourne, a young girl came running down from the stands and kissed him.
