The Indian cricket team finally achieved glory at the Mecca of cricket in Lord’s on June 10, 1986 as they achieved their first Test win at the venue.
Follow Us
The period from 1983 to 1986 was truly a golden year for Indian cricket. They had won the 1983 World Cup after beating the mighty West Indies twice. In 1983, they defeated the West Indies in a low-scoring thriller at Lord’s to win the cup for the first time. That win in 1983, under the captaincy of Kapil Dev, put Indian cricket on the world map. India followed it up with a win in the Benson and Hedges World Series tournament in 1985 in Australia.
India defeated the likes of Pakistan, New Zealand and England in Australia. In the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, India overcame their arch-rivals Pakistan as they added one more title to their kitty. Heading into the 1986 season, India was on top of their game. The series against England would represent the zenith of Indian cricket’s dominance in that era.
The tour represented everything great about Indian cricket. India started the tour with a match against the Duchess of Norfolk in Arundel. However, the match did not begin on a good note for India as they lost by five wickets. From that point in time, India dominated.
After the loss against Duchess of Norfolk, India drew against Worcestershire but won against Surrey. The matches against Kent and Hampshire were drawn. When the ODIs came, India won the first match by nine wickets at The Oval. But, they lost the second game by five wickets in Manchester. Before the Lord’s Test, India drew their tour game against Northamptonshire.
Heading into the Lord’s Test, India had built tremendous momentum. Kapil Dev chose to bowl after winning the toss. Graham Gooch hit a century and Derek Pringle chipped in with 63. Chetan Sharma’s 5/64 pegged England back to restrict them to 294. In response, Dilip Vengsarkar showed his brilliance and fondness for Lord’s. Nicknamed ‘The Colonel’, Vengsarkar slammed his third ton at Lord’s. This made him the only overseas player in history to hit three centuries at Lord’s.
Vengsarkar’s century and Mohinder Amarnath’s 69 gave India a 47-run lead. At one point, India did not even look like taking a decent lead. But, Vengsarkar’s stands of 39 and 38 with Kiran More and Maninder Singh for the 10th and 11th wickets proved to be crucial.
In the second innings, England could not cope with the discipline of India’s bowling. Kapil Dev decimated the England top order with four wickets and he got good support from Roger Binny and Chetan Sharma. Maninder put on a metronomical exhibition of bowling as he ended with figures of 20.4-12-9-3.
England were bowled out for 180, giving India a target of 134. India lost Kris Srikkanth for 0 and Sunil Gavaskar for 22. Vengsarkar was once again in good form with 33. However, when he fell for 33 and Amarnath followed suit, there was some tension. However, Kapil Dev blasted 23 off 10 balls and he got good support from Ravi Shastri as India won the match by five wickets.
History was created with the win as India secured their first-ever win at Lord’s. After 11 attempts from 1932, India finally conquered the Mecca of cricket. This win was as important for Indian cricket as the 1983 World Cup win at the same venue.
After conquering Lord’s for the first time, India looked to achieve even more history. In the second Test at Leeds, Vengsarkar was at his best again as he hit 61 on a pitch that was a seamer’s paradise. His knock helped India reach 272. In response, Roger Binny took 5/40 to decimate England and bowl them out for 102. Armed with a 170-run lead, Vengsarkar showed his class again with 102 as India reached 237. The target for England was a huge 408 but India’s bowlers had their tail up.
Maninder took 4/26 and he was well supported by Kapil and Binny who took two wickets apiece. India won the match by 279 runs to register their first series win in England after 15 years. The triumph of 1971 was repeated in grand style.
The win would be significant in many ways. 1986 was the only time where India would win two Tests in England. After 1986, India would next win a Test in Lord’s 28 years later in 2014. The 1986 series win would be India’s last in England for 21 years. In 2007, Rahul Dravid’s team created history when they won the three-match series 1-0. Lord’s remained a bogey ground for India, with 1986 and 2014 their only wins at the venue in 89 years.
India’s zenith in 1986 represented their brilliance from the win of 1983. It would be sustained for one more year until the 1987 World Cup at home. However, it would end in heartbreak in front of their crazed fans in Wankhede, when England dumped them out of the World Cup in the semi-final.
Rishabh Pant's explosive last-over blitz ignites IPL 2024 amid T20 World Cup comeback talks
