India have happy memories of playing Test cricket against England in Visakhapatnam. Back in 2016, the hosts handed the Three Lions a heavy 246-run defeat to subsequently take a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series.
The match was also the beginning of what turned out to be a memorable series for then Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who was going through a purple patch.
Kohli went on to hammer 655 runs from 5 matches at an average of 109.16 with 2 hundreds and 2 fifties to show for his efforts.
In the Visakhapatnam Test, Kohli scored 167 runs off 267 balls in the first innings after India opted to bat first. His knock, laced with 18 fours, helped the home team post 455 runs on the board in 129.4 overs.
James Anderson and Moeen Ali did pick up 3 wickets apiece, but they weren’t able to help England restrict their opponents.
Ashwin, Kohli dictate terms
Thereafter, Ravi Ashwin chipped in as India bowled England out for 255 to take a huge lead of 200 in the first innings. Ashwin picked up 5 wickets as the English batters felt clueless in front of his guile and trajectory.
England made an excellent comeback as they bowled India out for 204 in the second innings. Yet again, it was Kohli, who turned out to be a thorn in the flesh for the Three Lions.
Kohli looked fluent as he scored 81 runs off 109 balls with 8 fours. Stuart Broad and Adil Rashid looked threatening as they picked up 4 wickets apiece.
Kohli, in the meantime, made sure that India set England a stiff target of 405 to chase down. The visitors made a solid start as their openers Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed put on 75 runs for the opening wicket off 50.2 overs.
Cook went on to score 54 runs off 188 balls with 4 fours. But once Ravi Ashwin dismissed Hameed in the 51st over of England’s run-chase, India ran through the opposition batting.
Jonny Bairstow gave the English fans something to cheer about as he stayed not out on 34 off 40 balls with 7 fours. But India’s spin trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Jayant Yadav turned out to be too hot to handle for the Englishmen.
After his 5-wicket haul in the first innings, Ashwin picked up 3 more wickets, but it was Virat Kohli, who won the Player of the Match award.
8 years later, India are again set to face England in a Test match in Visakhapatnam. This time around, the visitors have the psychological advantage as they won the opening game in Hyderabad by 28 runs.
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