Geoff Arnold

Sunil Gavaskar knows what it feels like to be saddled with a dubious distinction and the batting great offered comforting words to India's team after they registered a record low total in the day-night Test against Australia on Saturday.

India's second Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval started poorly as opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for a platinum duck by Mitchell Starc. Jaiswal was trapped leg-before-wicket in the first over, opting not to review the decision. This follows his contrasting performances in the first Test, where he scored a duck and then a match-winning 161.

In this series, TOI looks at past tours of India to England.

Karsan Ghavri revealed Sunil Gavaskar's unwavering focus, recalling an instance when Gavaskar prioritized his batting concentration over meeting then Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Ghavri also highlighted Gavaskar's infamous slow innings in the 1975 World Cup, where he defied team expectations and played at his own pace, frustrating teammates with his unconventional approach.

Dilip Vengsarkar, who played with Sudhir a lot and fondly calls him James, because he used to walk like James Bond, he says.

It was a sunny day on June 24, 1974, when India were all out for 42 -- their lowest innings score then in Test cricket -- against England in London, and it was a bright day in Adelaide on December 19, 2020, when India broke that dubious record, pointed out illustrious former spinner Bishan Singh Bedi.

A Monday and Saturday separated by 46 years and a few months. Indian cricket felt humiliated at Lord's on June 24, 1974 and one couldn't escape that feeling on December 19, 2020.

Days before the first of the five-Test series against England underway at Rajkot, here's a look at England’s Test tours to India, from 1933-34 to 1972-73.