India’s first official tour to England came in 1932, six years after they received Test status in international cricket. After playing three Test series against the English between 1932-34, India finally overcame England to win their first Test in 1952. From the everlasting class of Tiger Pataudi to the exploits of Dilip Vengsarkar at the Lord's, to Sunil Gavaskar's double-ton at The Oval, Indian batsmen have given countless memories for the fans to cherish.

With regular opener Gautam Gambhir suffering a concussion, Dravid took over the responsibility of opening the innings with Virender Sehwag. There was no change in India's fortunes as Sehwag was trapped LBW in the first over itself and the wickets fell at regular intervals. But Dravid, who was the only bright spot for India in that series with two hundreds, fought against the swing of Anderson and Stuart Broad with steely determination. He cut the bad balls, left the good ones, took hits to his body, but never gave away to the odds on a surface that was spitting fire. At one point, India looked to be dismissed below 200 runs, but after finding a surprise partner in the lower-order from spinner Amit Mishra, Dravid steered India to 226 before Mishra fell for a super Ian Bell effort.

4. Vinod Kambli 224 (Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai,1993)

Openers Manoj Prabhakar and Navjot Singh Sidhu put up a good opening stand of 109, before Prabhakar's dismissal paved way for Vinod Kambli who was playing in his third Test. But the left-hander showed no signs of nervousness batting with the flamboyance and fluency of an experienced veteran. He put the England spinners in a fix, charging at them on every possible occasion and punching them on the back foot if they pitched the ball short. It was after Kambli's childhood mate Sachin Tendulkar walked in at No.4 that the Southpaw shifted gears. Tendulkar played the anchor role allowing Kambli to flourish with his explosive shots. The boys from Sharadashram hugged each other in joy when Kambli reached his century with a late cut behind square.

Tendulkar departed at 368 for a well-made 78 as India ended the third day of the match at 397/3 with Kambli unbeaten at 164. The following morning, Kambli cautiously reached his double-century to become the youngest Indian to score a double-century at that time. His domination over Graham Gooch's bowlers ended when he was dismissed at 224, missing out on the record of highest individual score by Indian—previously held by Sunil Gavaskar for his 236 not out against the West Indies. India eventually completed the whitewash by winning the Test by an innings and 15 runs. Though Kambli's promising Test career came to an end by 1995, this innings still remains as one of the finest displays of attacking cricket.

3. Polly Umrigar 130* (MCCG, Madras, 1952)

During the days when earning a draw in a Test match was considered to be an achievement, the Indian team of 1952 led by the charismatic Vijay Hazare, registered their first victory in Tests at the Madras Cricket Club Ground. England, who were touring for the first time after World War II, sent a second string team to India but the victory was nevertheless well-deserved. After fighting hard to draw the first three matches, England were able to win the fourth Test at Kanpur entering the final Test with a newly-acquired confidence.

Walking in at No.7, Umrigar showed some great instinct to deter the confidence of the English bowlers after they claimed the wicket of the stubborn Pankaj Roy. In a stay that lasted 275 minutes, Umrigar paired up with Phadkar to guide India past 400 for the third time in the series, a record at that time. Umrigar remained unbeaten at 130* as India were bowled out for 457. Vinoo Mankad, alongside another spinner Ghulam Ahmed, restricted England to 183 runs recording their first-ever Test victory which also helped them level the series 1-1. Mankad took all the glory for his exploits with the ball, but Umrigar's fearless innings in that match marked a new milestone in the history of Indian cricket.

2. Sourav Ganguly 131 (Lord's, London, 1996)

While the promising career of Vinod Kambli crashed like a shooting star, Sourav Ganguly's emergence in India's 1996 tour of England assured that the future of Indian batting was in safe hands. After losing the first Test to England by 8 wickets, Mohammad Azharuddin arrived with his men to battle it out in the overcast conditions at the Lord's. While the Test match introduced Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly to the world, it also marked the last Test appearance for legendary umpire Dickie Bird.

But there was hardly a hint of panic in the left-hander's face as he faced the swing and bounce of the English pacers with uncanny ease. Even when Sachin Tendulkar departed for 31 runs with the score at 123/3, Ganguly remained composed to guide India past the trouble. Displaying some outstanding shots through the offside, Ganguly reached his fifty soon giving captain Azharuddin, who was batting at the other end, a sense of relief over his selection. The Bengal batsman was soon joined by another debutant Rahul Dravid as the pair took India close to the 300-run mark. Ganguly finally fell at 131 bowled over by Alan Mullally's yorker. Dravid also went close to a century but fell five runs short. India drew the Test match, Dickie Bird walked off the pitch with both sets of players giving him a guard of honour and India's team management breathed easy to have found their future stars in Dravid and Ganguly.

After being criticized for their overseas performances for decades, the tour of England in 2002 saw India shedding the tag of “flat-track bullies” under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid formed the backbone of the strong Indian batting line-up and started dominating the bowlers regardless of the conditions. India were trailing 0-1 in the four-match Test series after losing the first Test and the second Test ending in an entertaining draw, when they arrived in Leeds.

It was a brave decision by India when they chose to bat first after winning the toss on a cloudy day with England sporting a dreaded pack of seamers. But all those misconceptions were cast aside as Rahul Dravid and Sanjay Bangar put India in a strong position by the end of Day 1. After ending the day at 10 not out alongside centurion Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar unleashed a flurry of classic drives on the second day. After pairing up with Dravid for a 150-run partnership, Tendulkar alongside Ganguly, took the game further away from England with a partnership of 249 runs for the fourth wicket.

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