India vs England Test rivalry: Top historic moments, records, and milestones over the years

India has a long history of playing Test cricket against England that dates back to their first-ever red-ball match being played in June 1932 at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground, where England emerged victorious by 158 runs.

20 years later, India also won their first Test match as a young nation when England toured India in 1952, where they demolished the visitors by an innings and 8 runs in Chennai.

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Marking 93 years of the rivalry, India are once again all set to play a five-match Test series in the English summer with a new-look side under Shubman Gill.

In this article, we take a look at the top moments from this almost a century-long rivalry and who are the top performers are with bat and ball.

India vs England Test rivalry:  Top moments

There have been numerous noteworthy moments in the 136 matches where these teams have faced off ahead of the 2025 series. Some of the top moments are listed below.

1. India's first match and series win in England:

In August 1971, during the 3rd Test of the tour, India bundled out England for 355 runs after being asked to bowl first before conceding a 71-run lead.

However, thanks to Bhagwath Chandrasekhar's 6/38, India bowled the hosts out for 101 and went on to chase the 171-run target by 4 wickets.

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Led by Farokh Engineer and Dilip Sardesai's fifties, multiple batters starred with the bat to clinch the first away match and series in England.

2. England's Test series win in India after 28 years:

Under the leadership of Alastair Cook, who scored 562 runs in the 2012/13 series to India, England won the Tests in Mumbai and Kolkata to win the series 2-1.

The spin duo of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann ran rings around India to get their first series win away since 1984/85. Kevin Pietersen also scored a classy 186 at Wankhede.

3. India clinches the inaugural Pataudi Trophy:

After not winning any away series since the historic 2-0 triumph in 1986 under Kapil Dev, India went to England under Rahul Dravid's captaincy and won the three-match series 1-0.

Zaheer Khan was the star with the ball for his 18 wickets while only averaging 20.33 in 6 innings. Dinesh Karthik was the hero with the bat at the top, who got 263 runs with 3 fifties, followed by Sourav Ganguly's 249 and Tendulkar's 228.

To date, this remains India's only away series win in England in the 21st century.

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Notable mentions:

1. Sunil Gavaskar's 221 at the Oval
2. Sachin Tendulkar's maiden Test century in Manchester started a new era in 1990.
3. England's 4-0 thumping of India in 2011.
4. Alastair Cook's 294 vs India at Birmingham.
5. Ishant Sharma's famous 7/74 at the Lord's.
6. Virat Kohli's famous "60 overs of hell" pep-talk led India to a famous win at the Lord's in 2021.
7. India chases down 387 in Chennai, days after 26/11 terror attack; dedicates the win to the affected families

India vs England Test rivalry: Top records

India vs England: Head-to-head

Since 1932, India and England have faced each other in 136 Tests, where England have won 51 to India's 35, while 50 have ended in a draw.

In recent years, India has shown a much greater fight against the English team, which has spiced up this rivalry even more.

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India vs England: Most runs

Former England captain, who is also notably closing in on Sachin Tendulkar's all-time Test runs record, has scored the most runs in India vs England Tests with 2846 runs at an average of 58.08. Tendulkar follows with 2535 runs at 51.73.

India vs England: Most wickets

Known for his emphatic swing bowling, with a career that had 188 Tests, James Anderson has the most wickets in this rivalry, just one short of 150 in 73 innings. Ravichandran Ashwin is second in the list with 114 wickets in 45 innings.