Tour of England 1996                 Captain: Mohammad Azharuddin
	India's 35th Test tour   Thirteenth Test-playing tour of England by India      (April - July 1996)	Sidhu opted to return midway through the tour after a row with captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The coach Sandip Patil failed to dissuade him from returning home.  The Indian Board suspended Sidhu from international cricket until 14 October and charged him half of his tour fee. The tour marked the end point of Azharuddin’s captaincy.  Already under fire after failing to win the World Cup or two limited-overs tournaments in Singapore and Sharjah, he faced criticism that belonged to chief selector Viswanath for the composition of the side, particularly dropping Kambli and choosing only three seamers. In fact Ganguly stepped readily into Kambli’s shoes and made a brilliant start to his lengthy Test career. However, Azharuddin’s side suffered from a number of poor decisions by the ICC-appointed umpires and when India lost the one-day series and then the Test series one-nil, Azharuddin’s future was sealed.  In August Sachin Tendulkar, aged 23, was appointed captain in place of him and became India’s second-youngest skipper.	Other Indian tours   Previous tour   New Zealand 1993-94   Next tour South Africa 1996-97   Next England tour 2002
	Members of the Test tour  party  (16)     Opening batsmen:  Ajay Jadeja, Sachin Tendulkar, Vikram Rathore Middle-order batsmen: Navjot Sidhu, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Sanjay Manjrekar Wicket-keepers: Nayan Mongia Spinners: Narendra Hirwani, Anil Kumble, Sunil Joshi, Venkatapathy Raju Fast bowlers: Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Paras Mhambrey, Salil Ankola (r)	Mohammad Azharuddin Hd 33 RHB    captain   R S Dravid K 23 RHB   deputy WK   S C Ganguly Bn 23 LHB   RM   N D Hirwani MP 27 LBG   A D Jadeja Hy 25 RHB  opener  RM   S B Joshi K 26 SLA   A Kumble K 25 LBG   S V Manjrekar B 30 RHB   P L Mhambrey B 23 RM   N R Mongia Ba 26 WK   B K V Prasad K 26 RFM   S L V Raju Hd 26 SLA   V Rathore Pj 27 RHB  opener   N S Sidhu Pj 32 RHB    J Srinath K 26 RFM   S R Tendulkar B 23 RHB opener   (OB/LB)   vice-captain	Representation of teams:      Ba - Baroda (1) Bn  -  Bengal (1) B  -  Bombay (3) D -   Delhi (2) Hd - Hyderabad (2) Hy -  Haryana (2) K -   Karnataka (2) MP - Madhya Pradesh (1) Pj -  Punjab (2) Rj -  Rajasthan (1) TN - Tamil Nadu (1)         Average age of  team at time of first Test match (6 June 1996) : 26 yrs  9 months
	Test Appearances made before the tour	Azharuddin 68,  Tendulkar 38,  Navjot Sidhu 36,  Manjrekar 34,  Kumble 23,  Raju 23,  Srinath 18,  Hirwani 15,  Mongia 10,  Jadeja 6,  Ankola 1,  Dravid 0,  Ganguly 0,  Joshi 0,  Mhambrey 0,  Prasad 0,  Rathore 0.
	Team Officials	C Nagaraj Tour Manager S M Patil Coach Ali Irani Physiotherapist J Blondel Scorer   Mr Nagaraj was the Secreatry of Karnataka Cricket Association.
	Selectors	G R Viswanath was Chief Selector.  He stood down as chairman in mid 1996.  Other members of the panel were A D Gaekwad,  K M Rungta,  S Banerjee  and  M P Pandove.
	Selection	There was a two hour selection meeting in New Delhi. Tour Party Announced: 23 April 1996.   Not selected :  Vinod Kambli (Viswanath said that Kambli was not even considered, and Vengsarkar wrote in the Asian Age newspaper yesterday that he believed Kambli "was dropped for reasons other than cricket", suggesting that the reason was disciplinary) ; Manoj Prabhakar;  Ashish Kapoor.	Time between selection and departure from India   7 days  (23 April - 30 April)
	Travel	The team left from New Delhi on Tuesday 30 April 1996, and arrived in London on 1 May	Time spent in England    x days   (1 May  - July)
	On-tour selection committee
	Reinforcements	S A Ankola B 28 RMF   Ankola was drafted in from league cricket in Northumberland when Sunil Joshi was forced to return home.   Navjot Sidhu quit the tour party before the Test series began because of disagreements with Azharuddin.
	Fixtures/Results	† Osterley Indian Gymkhana Won 96 r † Arundel Duchess of Norfolk's XI Won 9 w † Uxbridge England NCA Won 114 r Worcester Worcestershire Drawn Bristol Gloucestershire Drawn Hove Sussex Drawn † Lord's Middlesex Won r rate † Luton Northamptonshire Lost 5 w § Kennington Oval England  (1st ODI) No result § Lord's England (2nd ODI) Lost 6 w § Old Trafford England (3rd ODI) Lost 4 w Chelmsford Essex Drawn Leicester Leicestershire Drawn EDGBASTON ENGLAND  First Test LOST 8 w Derby Derbyshire Lost 10 w LORD'S ENGLAND  Second Test DRAWN Cambridge Universities Drawn Southampton Hampshire Drawn TRENT BRIDGE ENGLAND  Third Test DRAWN † Den Haag Netherlands Won 19 r † Den Haag Netherlands Won 156 r	† not first-class §   Texaco Trophy one-day internationals     Time spent in England before First Test:  36 days (1 May  - 6 June)
	Test appearances on tour	3  -   Azharuddin,  Kumble,  Mongia,  Prasad,  Rathore,  Srinath,  Tendulkar. 2   -  Dravid,  Ganguly,  Jadeja,  Manjrekar,  Mhambrey. 1  -   Joshi,  Raju. 0  -   Ankola,  Hirwani,  Sidhu.
	Highlights	•    Ganguly scored 131 on his Test debut at Lord’s, while Dravid, also on debut, scored 95. •    •    •    •    .
	Tour Summary	P W  L D Aban Test Matches   3 0   1 2 - Other first-class matches   8 0   7 1 - † Minor matches   7 6   1 0 - § One-day internationals   3 0   2 1 - All Matches 21 6 11 3 -
	Return to India	last match ended in Holland  Sat 13  July 1996 Recalling his bitter experience during the 1996 tour of Holland where the team had gone to promote cricket, one senior player said: “We had gone there to promote the game. We had to arrange for transport, and getting the baggage into the bus was a Herculean task.”	Time away from India   x days   (30 April to July)
	Finances

 

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