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Several great Indian cricketers have made over the course of their mega and glittering careers, lots of Test hundreds and bankable knocks. But only a few have managed to come over the top of the sharp and competitive conditions that a venue like England imposes over its practitioners with the bat in hand.
England has and will always be a daunting and challenging place to score runs where the fast-paced turfs accompanied by green outfields always impose a challenge over to the batters to score loads of runs. Which is why they say that while you can score sum when playing there, you can't score aplenty or for fun.
And yet, some gritty and technically strong gifted Indian batters have made several remarkable hundreds in England, wherein they've produced centuries at not just Trent Bridge or the Kennington Oval, but even grounds as iconic as Lord's.
Having said that, which are India's top century makers in England in Test match cricket?
List of Indian batters with Most Test hundreds in England
Rahul Dravid (6 Hundreds)
115 at Trent Bridge in 2002
148 at Headingley in 2002
217 at Kennington Oval in a 468-ball-stay in 2002
103 not out at Lord's in 2011
117 at Trent Bridge in 2011
146* at Kennington Oval in 2011
Rahul Dravid wasn't called the Wall for nothing; generations will come and go but for them to understand truly the value of Test cricket and for upholding the dignity of the game, only one test series of the many played by this effervescent and selfless cricketer would be enough to understand all he meant to India.
And that would be the 2011 ill-fated tour of ours to England, where Dravid was the lone man standing and trying to find some normality amid a time of epic dismay for his team, scoring 468 runs of his own, including a dogged century at Lord's when all around him batters were falling like ninepins.
But always the selfless and quiet hero of India, Dravid with his watertight defence and exasperating ability to bat for long periods of time, kept trying and striving for his country.
The great Sir Michael Holding wasn't wrong at all when he knighted Dravid with his own accolade calling his battles, rather lone vigils against Anderson and Broad with even Bresnan and Tremlett being there as 'the Buffalo Soldier" of Indian Cricket. He holds the record for scoring most Test hundreds in England for India.
Sachin Tendulkar (4 Hundreds)
119 at Old Trafford in 1990
122 at Edgbaston in 1996
177 at Trent Bridge in 1996
193 at Headingley in 2002
The talismanic talent with the bat in hand, Tendulkar scored, entertained, generated awe and paved the way for a new era of Indian cricket where the team would never bow down and rise even amid moments of duress. He remains, the only living or talent ever to have hit a century of centuries in the game. What a startling feat that is?
His aura was and will always be emboldened by a rich vein of respect. With tremendous self control and focus and the gift of scoring all sides of the ground, Tendulkar memserised fans in England, in particular, where he thudded 4 magnificent centuries.
Sourav Ganguly (3 Hundreds)
131 in a 301 ball stay at debut at Lord's in 1996
136 at Trent Bridge in 1996
128 at Headingly in 2002
One of the finest and sincerest cricketers to have ever led the country, Sourav Ganguly's greatest contribution to shaping team India was that he instilled a value of self-belief that prior to his appointment, was hitherto unseen in the Indian side. He taught us to be bold and never hold ourselves back, even when playing in foreign conditions.
He was a daring and class act and over the course of his long career for India, scored 3 glorious test tons in England.
There'll never be another "Lord of the off side" and very few ever actually earned the respect of someone brutally honest such as Sir Geoff Boycott.
Dillip Vengsarkar (3 Hundreds)
103 at Lord's in 1979
157 at Lord's in 1982
126 not out at Lord's in 1986
102 not out at Headingley in 1986
There was a class, a sense of grace and serenity about India's Dillip Vengsarkar, who, many may actually not be knowing hit 4 Test centuries against England in England, which is quite an exemplary feat in itself. From the onset of the year 1979 until 1986, when his career was nearing its sunset, the man nicknamed 'colonel' hit four dashing centuries for India in England.
As a matter of fact, when the scorer of 6800 plus Test runs scored a last ton in England, it helpee India actually helped the team to a 279-run win over the challenging opponents.
Mohd. Azharuddin (2 Hundreds)
121 at Lord's in 1990
179 at Old Trafford in 1990
Class, elegance and that thing called panache, as a batter who also has the honour of leading Team India back in the day, Azharuddin had it all. And in a test career that was perhaps maligned at the back of his own wrongdoings, one tends to feel that his was a journey cutshort somewhere.
One of the most easy-going and talented batters to watch, Azhar struck 2 Test tons in England made made lightwork of both pacers and spinners alike back in the day.
