Every cricketer who gets selected for a series aspires to play at least one match on tour. On the other hand, the captains and the coaching staff try to stick with one combination to have the chemistry between the players intact. However, this isn’t the case always; the management has to make changes to the squad willingly or unwillingly.
From the team of 15 or 16, only 11 manage to make it to the playing XI in a match. Not always has it happened that an Indian team has fielded only 11 players in the entire tour.
However, there have been four instances that an Indian team has played with the same set of 11 players throughout the series. Let’s have a look at those series.
India in England (1971) – India won the series 1-0
The Test series in 1971 was the most historic series for Indian cricket as India registered their first ever Test victory on English soil. India won the third Test match played at the Oval to register a historic win. Another obvious point in the series was out of the 18 members who traveled with the team, only 11 players played in the three-match Test series.
England in India (1992/93) – India won the series 3-0
England’s tour of India in 1992 is best known for their dismal performance as they were white-washed three-nil. They were heavily criticized for their poor performance, team selection, their problems with the climate and cuisine and players being criticized for their facial hair affecting their performance. India played the same playing XI in the entire series under the leadership of Mohammed Azharuddin.
Sri Lanka in India (1993/94) – India won the series 3-0
The series victory against Sri Lanka in 1993 was their eighth consecutive series win at home. The Sri Lankan team toured India after the Pakistani team had backed out of their tour due to security concerns. This was also India’s second consecutive series win as they beat England before this series. Kapil Dev became the highest wicket-taker in the world surpassing Richard Hadlee’s tally of 431.
India in England (2007) – India won the series 1-0
The series in England in 2007 marked the beginning of the Pataudi trophy between India and England. The trophy was a prize commissioned by the MCC to commemorate the 118th anniversary of India’s Test debut. India registered a historic win at Nottingham in the second Test of the series. India fielded the same 11 in the entire series.