While India awaits the return of cricket in its backyard, a look at the top unique records between both the teams in Test matches in India.
India will be hosting England for a blockbuster 4-match Test series which will be part of ICC World Test Championship's final qualifying series for both the teams.
However, only one of the two can make it up to the top two provided Australia and South Africa Test series result is in favour of both the teams.
As for the history of India's and England's Test matches, it goes way back to the pre-Independence days in 1933. England had officially played against India in a 3-match Test series winning 2-0.
However, after Independence, it took 18 years for both the teams to play another Test series in India. The 5-match Test series was ultimately ended in a Draw as 1-1. It was Colonel CK Nayudu who had captained the Indian side in 1933 while Vijay Hazare captained India in 1951.
As for stats, while Team India have won 19 matches, England have won 13, and the remaining 28 have ended in a Draw.
So while India awaits the return of cricket in its backyard, a look at the top unique records between both the teams in Test matches in India.
1. Highest team total
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The highest team total between the two sides belongs to Team India, where they scored a mammoth 759/7 in 2016. It was the innings that saw Karun Nair score a triple hundred.
India went on to defeat England 4-0 and this was the highest team total, which was followed by England’s 652/7 in 1985 and India's 631/10 in the same 2016 series.
2. Highest successful run chase
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One of the most famous chases by Team India was against England during the 2008 series in Chennai. Virender Sehwag was on fire with his aggressive 83 (68), and that was followed by a superb century by Sachin Tendulkar.
The score of 387 is the highest chase between both the teams and the second-best is 208 which was by England in 1972. The third-best stands at just 144 by India in 2006.
3. Lowest team total
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The two of the three lowest total between both the teams belongs to India. The lowest total was when the Men in Blue were bundled out for just 83 runs in the 1977 series.
This was followed by Team India again collapsing for just 100 runs in 2006, and last by England's 102 in 1981.
4. Batting records in Tests in India
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Most Runs Overall: Sunil Gavaskar's 1331 runs from 39 innings makes him the leading run-scorer between both the teams for Tests in India. However, Gavaskar's average against England at home is just 35.97. Following Gavaskar is England's Sir Alastair Cook with 1235 runs from 26 innings, then legend Gundappa Vishwanath with 1022 runs from 30 innings.
Most Runs in a Series: Virat Kohli leads the chart with 655 runs at an average of 109.2 which he scored during the 2016 series. Next is England's Ken Barrington, who has 594 runs in 1961. Third is Vijay Manjrekar with 586 runs at an average of 83.7, which he scored during the 1961 series.
Best Batting Average (Min 500 runs): England's Ken Barrington has a total of 674 runs at a stunning average of 96.28. India's Mohammed Azharuddin stands second with 653 runs at an average of 93.28. Virat Kohli, who has 843 runs at an average of 70.25 is third.
Highest Individual Score: The highest individual score between both the teams belongs to Karun Nair with a fabulous triple century of 303*, which he scores during the 2016 series. This is followed by Virat Kohli's 235 in 2016 and Vinod Kambli's 224 in 1993.
Most 100s and 50s: With 5 hundreds, Sir Alastair Cook leads the charts, followed by M Azharuddin and Cheteshwar Pujara with 4 hundreds each.
As for the Fifties, Sunil Gavaskar has eight, followed by ML Jaisimha, KWR Fletcher, and surprisingly R Ashwin with six fifties each.
5. Bowling records in Tests in India
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Most wickets overall: Team India's BS Chandrasekhar has the most number of wickets with 64 wickets from 23 innings at an average of 24.03. He is followed by Anil Kumble with 56 wickets and Derek Underwood with 54 wickets. Among current players, R Ashwin with 42 wickets has a good chance of overtaking these legends.
Most wickets in a series: BS Chandrasekhar leads with 35 wickets to his name from 9 innings during the 1972 series. He is followed by Vinoo Mankad with 34 wickets from 10 innings during the 1951 series. Derek Underwood with 29 wickets from 10 innings during the 1976 series.
Best bowling average and strike rate (Min 20 wickets): India's Vinoo Mankad is first in the list with 34 wickets at an average of 16.79. Hedley Verity is second with an average of 16.82 and is followed by John Lever, who has an average of 19.75.
When it comes to strike rate, Hedley Verity has the Lowest strike rate of 41.1 and is followed by John Lever with a strike rate of 43.1 and Bob Wills with a strike rate of 49.5.
Best spell (innings and match): India's Vinoo Mankad had a famous spell of 8/55 in 1951/52. BS Chandrashekhar is second with a spell of 8/79. The third is John Lever with a spell of 7/46.
Talking about the best spell in a match, Ian Botham is first with a BBM of 13/106 and is followed by Vinoo Mankad with a spell of 12/108 and R Ashwin with a spell of 12/167.
Most Five-wicket Hauls: BS Chandrashekhar has six 5-wicket hauls followed by Anil Kumble with four 5-wicket hauls. Third, in the list is India's R Ashwin with three 5-wicket hauls to his name. R Ashwin could also surpass both these legends in this series.
