The Indian team will be locking horns with England in the highly anticipated test match on 4th August 2021. Trent Bridge will be hosting the first series of the coming ICC World Test Championship. In the inaugural ICC World Test Championship India was the runners-up as they could not win against their opponent, New Zealand, in the finals whereas England could not make it to the top of the WTC table. Assuringly both the teams will be giving their best performances to start the series with an absolute blast. The series starting from tomorrow 4th August 2021 and will continue till 14 September 2021 after 5 test matches.

Both the teams have balanced squad members and the caliber to show marvelous performances on the field. Meanwhile, let's take a look at the top five batsmen who have scored the most centuries in ENG vs IND Test series till now.

1. Alastair Cook

Alastair Cook tops the list with the most number of centuries in ENG vs IND Test series with 7 centuries in 30 test matches against India. In the longest format of cricket, it is always a bit difficult for the openers to play with the new ball especially in England. Openers need a lot of patience and endurance to remain on the pitch and score runs consistently in test cricket. Needless to say, the England opener is blessed with techniques needed to last on the pitch for a very long time. He is also the highest scorer of test centuries in England. He has also shown his proficiency and competence in the most renowned test series, 'Ashes' against Australia.

The start of his Test career was dreamy as he made a century in his debut match against India and continued his legacy in the next matches as well. The rise of his career was evident since his debut only and he continued his reign throughout his entire career. The former England cricketer was very resilient which helped him to succeed so well in his profession. In 54 test innings against India, he scored 7 centuries with an average of 47.66. His highest test score against India is 294.

Read also: Most runs in T20I cricket (men's)

2. Rahul Dravid

The first Indian cricketer on this elite list is Rahul Dravid. "The wall" of Indian Cricket has always been proven to be one of the most pivotal members of the squad. e it winning the matches by his memorable knocks or brilliant captaincy, he made sure to establish the Indian cricket team in the best way possible. His techniques and shots for the longest format of the match were always eye-pleasing and entertaining. He is definitely one of the most complete test batsmen in Indian cricket history. In 21 test matches against England, he has scored 7 centuries with the highest score of 217 and an average of 60.93.
Also, he has scored the fifth-most number of Test centuries (36) and is the only cricketer with 10,000 plus test runs at the no. 3 position.

3. Sachin Tendulkar

When the topic is international centuries, one name which will always appear in the list is none other than Sachin Tendulkar. The God of cricket has not only scored the third most centuries in ENG vs IND Test series but also scored the most number of Test centuries overall. He is one of those few Indian cricketers for whom the entire team and the nation will always be proud and indebted to his contribution. With his astonishing capabilities and flawless deliveries, he has secured the topmost position in his profession for decades now. In 32 test matches against England, he has scored 7 centuries with an average of 51.73.

Read also: 5 best cricketing friendship in cricket history

4. Mohammad Azharuddin

The fourth cricketer on this elite list is the former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin. He showed his class and potentiality during his time. His international debut in test cricket is a dream of every cricketer. He entered into the world of test cricket with a debut century against England in Eden Gardens. He continued three centuries in the next test matches as well and sport centuries in all his first 3 test matches. For his century scoring abilities, he was even considered a batting genius. These moments were the extreme highs of his career when he became the captain of the team replacing Srikkanth. He established himself as a very successful Captain and won many matches for the team as well.

Everything was going great in his professional career until he fell into the trap of match-fixing and ended his career with a lot of disgrace. He played a total of 15 test matches against England and scored 6 centuries with an average of 58.09.

Read also: ENG vs IND Test Series: Mayank Agarwal ruled out of the first test

5. Kevin Pietersen

The next cricketer on this list is the South African descent who played for England in all the formats of the match is Kevin Pieterson. Since the beginning of his career, he has always remained quite a talk of the town kind of cricketer. Both his style choices and cricket abilities always lead people to talk and discuss him. His rising in the England cricket team was evident due to his impressive performances on the field. For a very brief period of time, he took the responsibility of captaincy on his shoulders. He resigned after playing 3 test matches and 9 ODI matches. In only 16 matches against India, he has scored 6 centuries with an average of 58.55. and enlisted his name on this list. His highest score against India has been 202*.

Which cricketer are you looking for in the upcoming ENG vs IND Test series?

Indian ODI captain Rohit Sharma went past Sachin Tendulkar to become the second fastest to score 11000 ODI runs during India vs Bangladesh match in ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Rohit, who has taken 261 innings to reach the landmark, went past Sachin Tendulkar who had taken 276 innings to reach the 11000 ODI runs. 

Rohit now has become only the 10th batter in history of one-day cricket to cross 11000 runs. Among the Indians, only Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar has scored more runs than him in the format.

Before the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Rohit was sitting at 10988 runs in the ODI format and needed only 12 runs to reach that landmark. However, Rohit could not go past the record of his fellow Indian teammate Virat Kohli who had taken only 222 innings to score 11000 runs in the Onde-Day format. 

Read Also | Fastest to take 200 ODI wickets: Mohammad Shami breaks the record of this Australian pacer

Rohit scored 41 runs off 36 balls as tried to go for a big shot against Taskin Ahmed in the final over of the powerplay. India were chasing 229 against Bangladesh in the first match of the tournament.

Read Also | Champions Trophy 2025: India vs Pakistan match preview | Head-to-head stats, Possible XI, match prediction, streaming details

Another Indian in the top five list of fastest to score 11000 ODI runs is former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who had taken 288 innings to score those runs. 

1⃣1⃣,0⃣0⃣0⃣ ODI runs and counting for Rohit Sharma! 🙌🙌

He becomes the fourth Indian batter to achieve this feat! 👏👏

Follow the Match ▶️ https://t.co/ggnxmdG0VK#TeamIndia | #BANvIND | #ChampionsTrophy | @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/j01YfhxPEH

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 20, 2025

Fastest to score 11000 ODI runs (Innings)

Virat Kohli -222
Rohit Sharma - 261
Sachin Tendulkar - 276
Ricky Ponting - 286
Sourav Ganguly - 288

Rajat Patidar has been named as the new and 8th captain in the history of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Indian Premier League (IPL). The 31-year-old Madhya Pradesh batter would be succeeding Faf du Plessis, who led them from 2022 to 2024. Though Virat Kohli was rumored to be the captain of the team again, the team management announced Patidar as the leader of the franchise. 

With Patidar joining an elite list of players to captain RCB in IPL, here is a list with stats of every RCB captain so far in IPL history. 

Stats of every RCB captain in IPL so far

Virat Kohli | 66 wins

Virat Kohli is the most successful captain in the history of RCB. He is also the only player to play for a single franchise since the inception of the tournament. In 2008, RCB bought a future star in making who went on to break many records in the tournament. 

Kohli was made the RCB captain back in 2011 and he led them continuously till 2022 season before Faf du Plessis took over the captaincy from him. However, Kohli had led the team for a few games in 2023 as well. 

The former India captain led RCB in 143 games and won 66 games as a captain. During his tenure, RCB saw the highest and lowest of the franchise with them qualifying for the final once in 2016. They faced humiliation of being bowled out for 49 under his captaincy too. 

Read Also | IPL Stats: Players with hat-tricks in IPL

Faf du Plessis | 21 wins

Faf du Plessis, the former South African captain was trusted with the RCB captaincy after Virat Kohli stepped down as the captain of the team in 2022. The team and Kohli wanted a fresh brain and leadership to take the team to new heights, 

However, despite Faf's experience of the leading many T20 teams across the globe, RCB failed to win any accolade during his tenure of three seasons. In 42 games as the RCB captain , Faf won 21 games, which makes him the second most successful RCB captain. 

Faf du Plessis has the highest win percentage as a RCB captain with more than 40 games.

Anil Kumble | 15 wins

Kumble, the former Indian captain took over the captaincy in 2009 and led the team two seasons only. However, he was very successful as a captain even in that small amount of time as he was able to take the team to IPL 2009 final. Although they suffered a defeat at the hands of Decan Chargers in the second season of IPL. 

Kumble is regarded as one of the most successful RCB captains with 15 wins in just 26 games as the captain. He has a win percentage of 57.69 as the captain of the franchise.

Daniel Vettori | 12 wins

One of the most underrated players and captains of cricket history, Daniel Vettori led the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team in two seasons from 2011 to 2012. 

In 22 games as the captain, Vettori won 12 games and also led them in 2011 IPL final where they lost against Chennai Super Kings, 

Rahul Dravid | 4 wins

Rahul Dravid was the first ever RCB captain, who was the marquee player of the franchise when the tournament started in 2008, The former India captain led RCB for only one season in 2008 and only managed to win 4 times in 14 games.

Dravid's failure as the leader of the team forced the team management to hand over the captaincy to Kevin Pietersen in the next season. 

Kevin Pietersen | 2 wins

In 2009, former England batter Kevin Pietersen led RCB for only 6 games after the failure of Rahul Dravid's tenure as the leader of the team. However, Pietersen also could not find any success as the RCB captain and was replaced by Anil Kumble in the midseason after winning only 2 out of 6 games. 

Shane Watson | 1 win

Shane Watson, one of the most successful players for RCB, led the team in three matches only in 2017 season in absence of Virat Kohli. Watson could only manage one win in those three games as the captain. 

Stats of every RCB captain in IPL

The International Cricket Council (ICC) awards the best cricketer annually with the prestigious recognition of ICC Men's Cricketer of the year.

The cricketer with the most impactful performance becomes the recipient of the honorary award. ICC started presenting this award in 2004.

Also Read: ICC Men's Cricketer of the year winners of last ten years

ICC Men's Cricketer of the year 2024

Jasprit Bumrah is named the ICC Men's Cricketer of the year 2024. He also became the first Indian pacer to win the award.

Bumrah became the 5th Indian to win the award after Rahul Dravid (2004), Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Ravichandran Ashwin (2016) and Virat Kohli (2017, 2018).

The pacer also won the ICC men's Test Cricketer Of The Year award as well after being the standout performer for India during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, where he picked up 32 wickets.

The Indian pacer started the year with a terrific performance against England at home before he switched his attention to the T20 World Cup. 

Bumrah ended the tournament with 15 wickets and an average of 8.26 as India defeated South Africa in the final to lift the trophy.

He was adjudged as the Player Of the Tournament for his performance.

Bumrah's performance in Tests made him really stand out from the rest of the nominees. The pacer picked up 71 wickets in 13 matches, the highest by any bowler in 2024.

Who was the first player to achieve the award?

In the year 2004, ICC introduced the award and Rahul Dravid became the first cricketer to win the ICC Men's Cricketer Of The Year.

Also Read: Full List: Indians to win ICC Cricketer of the Year Award (Men's and Women's)

ICC Men's Cricketer of the year since 2004

Every cricketer's dream is to play for his country but when his game is appreciated at the international level and he is honored with the biggest award of that game, then it shows the ability, dedication and hard work of that player. 

Similarly, considering the performance throughout the year in cricket, the international body of cricket honors the players with ICC Award every year.

It is part of the ICC Awards and is one of the most prestigious individual accolades in cricket, recognizing outstanding consistency, impact, and contributions to the sport at the international level.

The recipient is awarded the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, named after the legendary West Indies all-rounder.

In this article, we will take a look at the Indian cricketers who have won ICC Cricketer of the Year Award (Men's and Women's) so far.

ICC Cricketer of the Year Award (Men's and Women's) | Indian cricketer 

Rahul Dravid | 2004

Former India captain Rahul Dravid won the two prestigious awards in the year 2004. He was the first Indian to secure any ICC awards. 

Fondly dubbed as ‘The Wall’ by fans, Dravid’s heroics in the longest format of the game are known to all, and he put out one of his finest performances in 2004.

The former India head coach played 12 Tests that year, scoring 946 runs at an average of 67.6, including two centuries and four fifties. 

His highest score in Test cricket that year came against Pakistan in Rawalpindi as he notched up a humungous 270(495), helping India get to a first-innings total of 600 after the hosts’ 224.

Overall, Dravid finished with 1971 runs in 43 international matches, Tests and ODIs combined. 

He hit three hundreds and a massive 14 half-centuries, hitting 207 fours and five sixes. 

Since the T20I format wasn’t introduced in 2004, Dravid finished with 1025 runs in 31 ODIs.

Also Read: ICC Men's Cricketer of the year since 2004

Jhulan Goswami | 2007

Jhulan Goswami has become the first player from India to take the ICC Women's Player of the Year award in 2007. 

Goswami was also India's only representative in the individual player awards, with no representation from the men in the shortlist. 

She edged out Australia's Lisa Sthalekar and England's Claire Taylor.

The title was just reward for her bowling average of 12.40 in Tests and 21.80 in ODIs and, since Australia's Cathryn Fitzpatrick retired earlier this year, Goswami has also become the fastest female bowler in the world. 

She may have pace, but she has the accuracy to match, with an economy rate of 2.10 in Tests and 3.17 in ODIs.

Goswami is the second winner of the award after Karen Rolton won the prize in 2006.

Sachin Tendulkar | 2010

Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar won the ICC Cricketer of the Year award in 2010. 

Tendulkar fought off competition from Sehwag, Hashim Amla and Graeme Swann, the other nominees in the Cricketer of the Year category.

During the period Tendulkar scored 1064 runs at an average of 81.84 in ten Tests. 

He made 914 runs in 17 ODIs at 65.28, and also scored the format's first double-century against South Africa in Gwalior. 

Tendulkar was 37 years old in 2010, and he holds the record for being the oldest cricketer to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

Ravichandran Ashwin | 2016

Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, who very recently announced his retirement from international cricket, won the esteemed awards in the year 2016. 

Ashwin played his last international game against Australia and ended his career after the third Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 Test at The Gabba.

Ashwin finished the year 2016 with 72 wickets in just 12 Tests, including eight five-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket hauls. 

He also added 612 runs to his account, including two half-centuries.

Ashwin played only two ODIs and picked up two wickets while he played 17 T20Is, taking 23 scalps and registering bowling figures of 4/8 that year. 

Overall, the now 38-year-old played 31 international matches and picked up 97 wickets.

Virat Kohli | 2017

Indian former Test skipper Virat Kohli has won the ICC Men's Cricketer Of The Year award first time in 2017 for his brilliant run at international cricket.

Kohli has aggregated 1059 runs in 10 tests, while he smashed 1460 runs in 26 ODIs. 

Kohli has smashed 11 hundred including three double hundreds across formats in the year 2017. 

Meanwhile, with 299 T20I runs, Virat Kohli has aggregated 2818 runs in 2017 across formats. 

He has also registered 27,324 runs so far during his international cricket career. 

Therefore for his brilliant performance throughout the year, he has been rewarded with the ICC Men's Cricketer Of The Year award.

Also Read: ICC Men's Cricketer of the year winners of last ten years

Virat Kohli | 2018

Yes, you read it write it's again Virat Kohli who has won the award back to back in 2017 & 2018. 

Former Indian skipper Kohli has also broken the record of Sachin Tendulkar to become the fastest to score 10000 runs in ODI cricket this year. 

Kohli has aggregated 2735 runs across formats in 2018 including 11 hundred to his name. The former Indian white-ball captain has also retained the Border Gavaskar Trophy in the same year. 

Kohli has ended the year as the number 1 batsman in Tests and ODIs. 

Therefore, he received the award from ICC as the men's cricketer of the year 2018.

Smriti Mandhana | 2018

Smriti Mandhana has won the ICC's Women's Cricketer of the Year Award in 2018. 

Mandhana, who was named ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2018, pipped fellow opening batters Beaumont, Lizelle Lee of South Africa, and Gaby Lewis of Ireland to the honour. 

Jhulan Goswami, who won the same award in 2007, is the only other Indian woman to ever win an ICC annual award.

In 2018, Mandhana had finished atop the run chart in women's ODIs with 669 runs at an average of 66.90 and was the third-highest scorer in T20Is with 622 runs at a strike rate of 130.67.

Jasprit Bumrah | 2024

Jasprit Bumrah was awarded the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year in 2024 due to his outstanding performances in all formats of the game.

Bumrah also became the first Indian pacer to win the award and was instrumental in India's success in the home Test series against England and Bangladesh. 

He also played a crucial role in the T20 World Cup win for his side.

Bumrah beat tough competition from Travis Head, Joe Root and Harry Brook to win the prestigious award. 

The pacer became the 5th Indian to win the award after Rahul Dravid (2004), Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Ravichandran Ashwin (2016) and Virat Kohli (2017, 2018).

Bumrah also won the ICC men's Test Cricketer Of The Year award as well after being the standout performer for India during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, where he picked up 32 wickets.

The Indian pacer started the year with a terrific performance against England at home before he switched his attention to the T20 World Cup. 

Bumrah ended the tournament with 15 wickets and an average of 8.26 as India defeated South Africa in the final to lift the trophy.

The Indian pacer was adjudged as the Player Of the Tournament for his performance.

Bumrah's performance in Tests made him really stand out from the rest of the nominees. The pacer picked up 71 wickets in 13 matches, the highest by any bowler in 2024.

In Test cricket, it is not at all an easy task for any player to score runs continuously while maintaining their form continuously for a whole year, because they have to adapt themselves according to different conditions. However, despite this, there are some players who perform well throughout the year on the basis of their batting.

Yashasvi Jaiswal entered the elite list of most Test runs for India in a year during his sublime knock of 84 in the second innings of the 4th Test Match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Melbourne, Australia. Jaiswal is now on the second position in this list.

Also Read: Fastest to complete 200 Test wickets by balls bowled

The elite list also includes some of the finest batsmen to have graced the cricket field for India. So, let's take a look at the players with most Test runs for India in a calendar year.

Most Test runs for India in a year

1# Sachin Tendulkar | 1562 Runs (2010)

Sachin Tendulkar holds the record of scoring most Test runs in a single calendar year. The 'Master Blaster' scored 1562 runs in 14 Test matches with an excellent average of 78.10 in 2010. He is also the sixth-highest run-getter in history, in Test matches in a single calendar year.

The Master Blaster was at his best in Test cricket during the year 2010. He played many memorable knocks throughout the year and scored 5 half-centuries and 7 centuries. His highest score of the year came against Australia as he played an incredible knock of 214 runs and scored his sixth double-century in the longest format of the game.

2# Yashasvi Jaiswal | 1478 Runs (2024)

Yashasvi Jaiswal scored the second most runs in Tests in 2024 after the fourth match against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday. Jaiswal has scored 1,478 runs at an average of 54.74, including three centuries and nine fifties in 15 matches this year. His highest score this year was 214 not out against England.

Jaiswal also surpassed Virender Sehwag’s record of 1,462 runs in 2008 to achieve the second position. He is now fourth in the overall list of openers, led by Graeme Smith’s 1,656 in 2008.

3# Virender Sehwag | 1462 Runs (2008)

Team India's explosive opener Virender Sehwag had always shown fear to the opposition bowlers. Sehwag played a total of 14 matches in Test cricket in the year 2008, out of which he batted in 27 innings and scored a total of 1462 runs with an excellent average of 56.23. This included 3 centuries and 6 half-centuries innings.

The opener was amazing throughout the year 2008 especially in the Test format. During the year, he also played an outstanding knock of 319 runs against South Africa to become only the third batter in Test cricket history after Sir Don Bradman and Brian Lara to score 2 triple-centuries in Test cricket. He also became the batter to score the fastest triple-century, doing so in 278 balls.

4# Virender Sehwag | 1422 Runs (2010)

The explosive opener dominated Test cricket and destroyed opposing bowling attacks again in the year 2010, in which he scored a total of 1422 runs at an average of 61.82 while batting in 25 innings of 14 matches.

Sehwag ended the year with 8 half-centuries and 5 centuries in the format. His highest score during the year came against New Zealand in Ahmedabad where he played an amazing knock of 173 runs in the first innings of the Test match.

5# Sunil Gavaskar | 1407 Runs (1979)

India's former opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar has an excellent record in Tests. The Little Master was an outstanding Test player, but he shined the brightest in the format during the year 1979. In that year, Gavaskar scored a total of 1407 runs while batting in 26 innings of 17 Test matches.

Gavaskar had also scored 8 half-centuries and 4 centuries throughout the year, which included the amazing knock of 221 runs against England at the Kennington Oval which massively helped India to draw the match.

Also Read: Most Hundreds in Test cricket among active players

6# Sachin Tendulkar | 1392 Runs (2002)

Sachin Tendulkar was incredible for India in Test cricket throughout the year 2002, in which he scored a total of 1392 runs in 26 innings of 16 matches at an average of 55.68.

The ‘God of Cricket’ ended the year scoring 5 half-centuries and 4 centuries. His highest score in the format during the year came against England at Headingley where he played a spectacular knock of 193 runs. India went on to decimate England in the match and ended up winning it by an innings and 46 runs.