The hosts dominated the last time England visited India for a Test series – a draw at Rajkot was followed by four wins on the bounce for Virat Kohli’s men at the backend of 2016.
Big names such as Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin were key in delivering that series win, but others – who are not part of India’s current set-up – played pivotal roles, too.
Here’s a look back at four less-heralded heroes of India’s 2016 series win over England:
Karun Nair
Nair made his Test debut in the third match of the series at Mohali but sparked into life at Chennai, where he turned his maiden international hundred into an unbeaten 303. The knock took India to a gigantic total of 759-7, with an innings win securing a 4-0 scoreline and the Player of the Match award for Nair.
Nonetheless, Nair hasn’t been seen on the international stage since a lean series against Australia in March 2017. Picked for India’s tour of England in 2018, he was overlooked for all five Tests in a 4-1 series defeat.
He last featured for India A in September 2019, hitting a pair of half-centuries in a draw against South Africa A at Mysore.
Jayant Yadav
An off-spinning all-rounder, Yadav enjoyed a spectacular debut series against England in 2016. In three Tests he took nine wickets at 29.55 and was a hard man to remove with the bat, too: a century at Mumbai from No.9 in the order took his batting average in the series to 73.66.
A hamstring injury ended his series prematurely, and while he went on to play against Australia at Pune in February 2017, a finger injury left him on the sidelines and took him out of India’s plans – he hasn’t played international cricket since.
Like Nair, he has turned out for India A in recent years, last playing for the representative side against Sri Lanka A in May 2019.
Murali Vijay
Last seen playing for India on the 2018/19 tour of Australia, Vijay racked up a couple of centuries in the 2016 series win over England. At Rajkot he top-scored for his side with a 301-ball 126, and though a high score of 31 followed in his next five innings, a hundred at Mumbai helped India to an innings win.
Vijay’s next series against England was far less fruitful: in 2018 he was dropped after a pair at Lord’s to finish with a series average of 6.5.
Parthiv Patel
Eight years on from his last Test appearance, Patel made his comeback at Mohali, keeping wicket and opening the batting, too. After hitting 42 in his first innings, he led India’s victory parade in their run-chase, smashing an unbeaten 54-ball 67 to deliver an eight-wicket win.
In the final Test at Chennai he went on to hit the sixth and final half-century of his Test career, a 112-ball 71 contributing to India’s mammoth total.
Patel went on to play two more Tests, both against South Africa in 2018, before retiring from all forms of cricket in 2020.
