Cricket between India and England is one of the sport’s oldest and most closely followed rivalries. This India national cricket team vs England cricket team timeline covers every major turning point across Tests, ODIs, and T20Is — from the first meeting in 1932 to the series being played right now.
Quick Timeline: Major Milestones at a Glance
- 1932 – India play their first-ever Test match, against England at Lord’s
- 1952 – India register their first Test win over England, in Chennai
- 1961-62 – India win their first-ever Test series against England, at home
- 1971 – India win their first Test series in England, under captain Ajit Wadekar
- 1983 – India beat England in the World Cup semi-final on their way to a maiden world title
- 1986 – India win a second Test series on English soil
- 2002 – India win the NatWest Trophy final at Lord’s
- 2007 – India win the first-ever Pataudi Trophy series in England
- 2011 – India and England tie a World Cup group match in Bangalore
- 2013 – India beat England in the Champions Trophy final
- 2020-21 – India win the Anthony de Mello Trophy 3-1 at home
- 2022 – England chase down 378 at Edgbaston to draw the delayed 2021 series 2-2
- 2023-24 – India win the Anthony de Mello Trophy 4-1 at home
- 2025 – The first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test series ends 2-2 in England
- 2026 – India beat England in the T20 World Cup semi-final, then host them again in July
How the Rivalry Began in 1932
India played their first-ever Test match against England at Lord’s in June 1932.
- It was part of India’s second tour of England, after an earlier visit in 1911
- England won the match by 158 runs
- CK Nayudu captained India in this historic first Test
- Mohammad Nissar took five wickets in England’s first innings, and Amar Singh top-scored for India with 51 in the second innings
India would not beat England for another twenty years after this match.
India’s Road to Its First Wins
Progress against England came slowly for India, in three clear stages.
First Test Win (1952)
- India’s first Test win over England came in December 1951-52, in the fifth Test at Chennai
- The margin was an innings and 8 runs
- Vinoo Mankad took 12 wickets across the match
- Vijay Hazare captained the winning side
First Series Win at Home (1961-62)
- India won their first-ever Test series against England during the 1961-62 home series
- The final scoreline was 2-0 in India’s favour
- This came almost 30 years after India’s first Test appearance
First Series Win in England (1971)
- India’s first series win in England came in 1971, under captain Ajit Wadekar
- The deciding third Test at The Oval was won by 4 wickets
- Bhagwath Chandrasekhar took 6/38 in England’s second innings to set up the win
- India also won a series in the West Indies for the first time in the same year
The Trophies Behind the India vs England Test Series
For decades, India vs England Tests were played for two separate trophies, before a major change in 2025.
Anthony de Mello Trophy (Played in India)
- Introduced in 1951 and named after BCCI founder Anthony de Mello
- Given to the winner whenever the Test series was hosted in India
- India won it 4-1 in the 2023-24 series, their last series win under this name
Pataudi Trophy (Played in England)
- Introduced in 2007 to mark 75 years since India’s first Test in England
- Named after Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and his son Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, both former India captains
- India won the very first Pataudi Trophy series in 2007
Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy (2025-Present)
- Both older trophies were retired in 2025 and replaced with one trophy for every India-England Test series
- It’s named after James Anderson (704 Test wickets) and Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 Test runs)
- The winning captain also receives a separate Pataudi Medal of Excellence, added after fans and former players objected to the Pataudi name being dropped
- The first Anderson-Tendulkar series, played in England in 2025, ended 2-2
The trophy switch is one of the most talked-about updates in the modern India national cricket team vs England cricket team timeline, and it’s still a sore point for several former India captains.
Test Series Timeline Since the 1980s
Here’s a quick India national cricket team vs England cricket team timeline of Test series results from the 1980s onward:
- 1986 – India win a series in England for the second time
- 2007 – India win the inaugural Pataudi Trophy series 1-0
- 2018 – England win the series 4-1, with India’s only win coming at Trent Bridge
- 2020-21 – India win 3-1 at home, sealing their spot in the World Test Championship final
- 2021-22 – A rain-hit, rescheduled series ends 2-2 after England chase down 378 at Edgbaston in July 2022, the match that kickstarted the “Bazball” era
- 2023-24 – India win 4-1 at home, including a 434-run win at Rajkot, India’s biggest Test win over England by runs
- 2025 – The first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series ends 2-2, with a record 7,187 runs scored across the five Tests
India vs England at the ODI World Cup
- 1983 – India beat England by 6 wickets in the semi-final at Manchester, on the way to their first World Cup title
- 1987 – England beat India in the semi-final in Mumbai
- 1999 – India beat England by 63 runs in Birmingham
- 2003 – India beat England by 82 runs in Durban
- 2011 – The two sides tie a group match in Bangalore, one of the greatest World Cup games ever played
- 2023 – India beat England by 100 runs in Lucknow, in the group stage
Other Landmark ODI Clashes
- 2002 NatWest Trophy Final – India chase down 326 at Lord’s to win the final, remembered for Sourav Ganguly’s shirt-waving celebration
- 2013 Champions Trophy Final – India beat England in a rain-affected final at Edgbaston to win the tournament
India vs England at the T20 World Cup
- 2007 – India win the very first T20I meeting between the two sides, at the inaugural World T20 in Durban
- 2022 Semi-Final – England win by 10 wickets in Adelaide, and go on to win the title
- 2024 Semi-Final – India win by 68 runs, and go on to win the title
- 2026 Semi-Final – India win a 499-run thriller by 7 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, and go on to reach the final
Head-to-Head Record Across All Formats
Fans tracking the India national cricket team vs England cricket team timeline usually want the numbers first. Here’s where things stand across all three formats:
Test Matches
- Played: 141
- England won: 53
- India won: 37
- Drawn: 51
ODI Matches
- Played: 110
- India won: 61
- England won: 44
- Tied: 2
- No result: 3
T20I Matches
- Played: 32 (including the current 2026 series)
- India won: 18
- England won: 13
- No result: 1
England still leads the overall Test record, but India has the edge in both white-ball formats.
The 2026 Series: Where Things Stand Right Now
The latest chapter in the India national cricket team vs England cricket team timeline is being written right now. India are touring England from 1 to 19 July 2026, for a white-ball-only series of 5 T20Is and 3 ODIs.
- 1st T20I, Chester-le-Street – Washed out after India posted 189/7
- 2nd T20I, Old Trafford – England won by 4 wickets, with Jacob Bethell hitting an unbeaten 76
- This match also marked the T20I debut of 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, India’s youngest-ever international cricketer
- England lead the five-match T20I series 1-0, with three T20Is and three ODIs still to be played
What’s Next for the Rivalry
- Three more T20Is and three ODIs remain on the current tour, running through 19 July 2026
- Both teams are still in the 2025-2027 ICC World Test Championship cycle, so more Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Tests are on the way
- Whatever happens next, the India national cricket team vs England cricket team timeline is only going to get longer