What is the statical significance of India’s win over England in the Dharamsala Test? | Cricket News
Ninety-one years and eight months since CK Nayudu’s men took the field against England at Lord’s in 1932, representing India in a Test for the first time, the team led Rohit Sharma achieved a significant milestone trumping the same opponent in Dharamsala.
Having endured numerous crests and troughs and outgrowing the underdog tag throughout their cricketing hory, India’s innings-and-64-run win against the Bazballers was their 178th win in their 579th Test appearance.
While ‘178’ as a number may not necessarily stand out in itself, the triumph pulled India’s wins level with the number of losses for the first time in their Test hory –- the win-loss ratio now stands at 1 after 314 cricketers have spent 2,673 days on the field for the country.
Laggards to contenders
Regering their first Test victory took India 25 Tests and 20 years. After playing England, Australia and West Indies – for 12 losses and as many draws – India notched up an innings and six-run victory over England in Madras under the leadership of the legendary Vijay Hazare on February 10, 1952.
their 10th Test win, India had played 94 Tests. The W/L ratio remained lopsided for a fledgling Indian team after 100 Tests – reeling at 0.25 with 10 wins, 40 losses, and 50 draws.A maiden overseas win came in Dunedin against New Zealand in 1968 as spin stalwarts Erapalli Prasanna and Bishan Singh Bedi also propelled India to their first overseas series win a 3-1 margin.
Win-Loss ratio in Tests in 20th century (1901-2000)
Team
Span
Mat
Won
Lost
Tied
Draw
W/L
Australia
1901-2000
554
244
142
2
166
1.718
West Indies
1928-2000
368
138
100
1
129
1.38
Pakan
1952-2000
273
77
66
0
130
1.166
England
1901-2000
712
228
203
0
281
1.123
South Africa
1902-2000
241
73
84
0
84
0.869
India
1932-2000
336
63
112
1
160
0.562
Sri Lanka
1982-2000
106
19
42
0
45
0.452
New Zealand
1930-2000
285
46
116
0
123
0.396
However, such instances remained rare for a developing Indian side that showed the ability to punch above their weight only in patches. India remained a middling team, ranked sixth-best in the world in the 20th century. Pakan and South Africa, who played considerably fewer games than India during this period, recorded more wins. As of December 31, 2000 – India had played 336 Tests for 63 wins with a W/L percentage of 0.58.
India were also not known to be the dominant team at home that they are now. It took 150 Tests (36-35) at home for India’s wins to outnumber their losses. The W/L ratio eventually stood at 1.166 (in 179 home Tests) at the end of the 20th century – with Pakan (2.529), West Indies (2.444) and Australia (2.140) leading the charts in that regard.
For a 25-Test cut-off, India were also the poorest touring team, having won just 14 out of the 157 Tests played, a pitiful W/L ratio of 0.20.
Most successful Test teams
Team
Span
Matches
Won
Lost
Tied
Draw
W/L
Australia
1877-2024
866
413
232
2
218
1.78
England
1877-2024
1071
392
324
0
355
1.209
West Indies
1928-2024
575
183
210
1
181
0.871
India
1932-2024
579
178
178
1
222
1
South Africa
1889-2024
464
178
161
0
125
1.105
Pakan
1952-2024
456
148
142
0
166
1.042
New Zealand
1930-2024
470
115
184
0
170
0.625
Sri Lanka
1982-2024
314
101
121
0
92
0.834
Era of domination
However, the 21st century brought about a remarkable uptick in India’s Test fortunes. In these 23 years, India have won 115 of 243 Tests and stands second among all teams, only behind Australia.
The dramatic turnaround has largely been fuelled their dominant run in home conditions, where they boast an astounding win percentage of 62.7 in 110 matches, with only Australia ahead of them. India have also won 46 matches in 131 outings overseas since 2001, only bettered Australia again.
While progress was made in the 2000-09 decade, India surged to the top spot over Australia from the start of 2010, both at home and away – with 77 wins from 142 matches – amassing a W/L ratio of 1.833.
Win-Loss ratio in Tests in last 10 years
Team
Span
Mat
Won
Lost
Tied
Draw
W/L
India
2014-2024
101
57
27
0
17
2.111
Australia
2014-2024
99
53
29
0
16
1.827
New Zealand
2014-2024
79
40
26
0
12
1.538
South Africa
2014-2024
80
38
32
0
10
1.187
England
2014-2024
126
56
51
0
19
1.098
Pakan
2014-2024
76
30
35
0
11
0.857
Sri Lanka
2014-2024
87
33
40
0
14
0.825
West Indies
2014-2024
80
23
44
0
13
0.522
Bangladesh
2014-2023
57
15
35
0
7
0.428
A pivotal phase in India’s resurgence came when MS Dhoni passed the reins of the Test side to Virat Kohli. Between 2014 and 2020, Kohli led India to 40 wins in 68 Tests with a 58.82 win percentage. Since taking over captaincy in 2022, Rohit has also had a positive record, with 10 wins in 16 matches.
The win in Dharamsala may only be a transient number on India’s Test profile in the long term. However, the result of the fifth Test will be remembered for the success of a largely young team and a significant intersection of memorable wins and defeats as India enter an era where they will undoubtedly be regarded as a long-format superpower.
India’s milestone victories
1st win: v England, February 1952 – Chennai
50th win: v Sri Lanka, January 1994 – Lucknow
100th win: v Sri Lanka, November 2009 – Kanpur
150th win: v Australia, December 2020 – Melbourne
178th win: v England, March 2023 – Dharamsala
India’s result progression
After 25 Tests – Won: 1, Loss: 12, Draw: 12
After 100 Tests – Won: 10, Loss: 40, Draw: 50
After 200 Tests – Won: 35, Loss: 72, Draw: 93, Tied: 1
After 300 Tests – Won: 56, Loss: 98, Draw: 145, Tied: 1
After 400 Tests – Won: 88, Loss: 129, Draw: 182, Tied: 1
After 500 Tests – Won: 130, Loss: 157, Draw: 212, Tied: 1
After 579 Tests – Won: 178, Loss: 178, Draw: 222, Tied: 1
Home (289 matches) – Won: 118, Loss: 55, Draw: 115, Tied: 1
Away (290 matches) – Won: 60, Loss: 123, Draw: 107
Players part of most Test wins
Most runs in won Tests
5946 – Sachin Tendulkar
5131 – Rahul Dravid
4542 – Virat Kohli
Most wickets in won Tests
