India's rare victories in England
The Indian Test team won their first match in England in 1971, almost four decades after their first match in the country. Which is why, Indian Test victories in England have always been special. Even to this date, India have only ever won two successive Tests in England once. That was in 1986, when India won back-to-back Tests at Lord’s and Headingley.
Kapil Dev's penchant for underdogs
While Dilip Vengsarkar’s centuries in those consecutive matches became an inseparable part of India’s cricketing folklore, with the ball an unlikely hero emerged. Madan Lal had not played a Test for India since 1984. In fact, when the national team clinched victory in the first match of the 1986 series at Lord’s, he was playing in a league in Lancashire that didn’t even have first-class status.
Right before the second Test at Headingley, Madan Lal received an unexpected phone call. Chetan Sharma, who had broken the back of the England batting in the first match, ironically, suffered a back spasm. After nearly two years, Lal was picked to play for India.
At the time, the decision made little sense as Team India already had an able replacement in Manoj Prabhakar. However, captain Kapil Dev disagreed. He believed that the conditions at Headingley were tailor-made for his teammate from the 1983 World Cup.
A calculated risk that paid off
Madan Lal proved him right. The medium pacer bowled eleven tight overs and picked up three vital wickets in the first innings, dismantling England’s batting core. The hosts were bundled out for a paltry total of 102, giving India a substantial lead of 170 runs.
Madan Lal also chipped in with the bat, making crucial contributions of 20 and 22 respectively in both the innings. As a result, India won that Test match by a massive margin of 279 runs to seal the series.
Surprisingly, this turned out to be Madan Lal’s last Test match ever. He did play 14 more ODIs post this but never featured for India in the longest format again.
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