India's tours of England have witnessed iconic batting displays. Legends like Dravid, Tendulkar, and Kohli lead the charts for most runs scored by an Indian batter in an away Test series against England.
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India's highest run-getters in an away Test series vs England
Team India will play a five-match away Test series against England, starting on June 20. The upcoming England Test tour will be the beginning of a new era of Indian Test Cricket, with Shubman Gill being appointed as Test captain and Rishabh Pant named vice-captain. Additionally, it will be the first Test series for India since 2011 without the stalwarts - Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, or Ravichandran Ashwin.
Over the years, India's tours of England have produced some iconic batting performances, with legends like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virat Kohli topping the charts of leading run-getters for India in the away Test series against England.
Let’s take a look at five Indian batters who scored the most runs in an away Test series against England.
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1. Rahul David (602 in 2002)
The ‘Wall’ of Indian batting, Rahul Dravid, had a great Test series against England on England soil in 2002. Dravid was the first and the only Indian player to date to breach the 600-run mark in the away Test series against England. He amassed 602 runs, including 3 centuries and a fifty, at an impressive average of 100.33 in six innings. His best performance came in the 4th Test at The Oval, where he stood tall for India and played a marathon innings of 217 off 468 balls to help the side post a first innings total of 508, which eventually secured a draw against England. In his final Test series in England, Dravid amassed 461 runs, including three centuries, at an average of 76.43 in 8 innings.
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2. Virat Kohli (593 in 2018)
The second Indian player with the most runs in an away Test series against England is Virat Kohli. The 2018 England Test series was a comeback masterclass from Kohli after enduring a poor outing in 2014, where he could score just 134 runs at an average of 13.40 in 10 innings. Four years later, the 30-year-old silenced the critics with an impressive outing on his third England Test tour, amassing 593 runs, including two centuries and three fifties, at an average of 59.30 in 10 innings. He is one of the three Indian players, alongside Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid, to amass over 500 runs in a Test series against England in their backyard.
Sunil Gavaskar was the most successful in the Test series between England and India in 1979, as he was the only player to have amassed over 500 runs, while other batters from both teams struggled for consistency. The batting legend amassed 542 runs, including a century and four fifties, at an average of 77.42 in seven innings. His finest performance of the series came in the fourth and final Test at The Oval, scoring a monumental 221 that brought India closer to victory in the second innings, but he fell just nine runs short of the 438-run target. He was the first Indian player to score 500 runs in a Test series against England in England.
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4. Sachin Tendulkar (428 in 1996)
The fourth on the list of Indian players with the most runs in an away Test series against England is batting legend Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar had quite a remarkable series in the 1996 Test tour of England, scoring 428 runs, including two centuries and a fifty, at an average of 85.60 in five innings. One of the most memorable innings of the series came at Trent Bridge, where he scored a majestic 177 off 386 balls in the first innings, showcasing his masterclass performance against a potent England bowling attack. This series helped cement Sachin Tendulkar’s status as one of India's mainstays in overseas conditions.
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5. Mohammed Azharuddin (426 in 1990)
Mohammed Azharuddin had a memorable Test series in an otherwise disappointing campaign for India as he emerged as the side’s highest run-scorer of the series, scoring 426 runs, including two centuries and a century, at an average of 85.20 in five innings. His best performance of the series came at the Manchester Test, scoring 179 off 243 balls to help India post a total of 432 in the first innings. However, the match ended in a draw, thanks to young prodigy Sachin Tendulkar’s match-saving innings of 119 off 189 balls. Azharuddin was the second Indian batter to breach the 400-run mark in an away Test series against England.
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