21st century, Indian cricket, Lord's Honours Board

#6 Bhuvneshwar Kumar (82/6, Date- 19/07/'14)

When Bhuvi came out all guns blazing

After a gutsy and much-needed knock of 36 (2nd highest score after Rahane's 103*) in the 1st innings, the young pacer took the charge to restrict England from setting a big target. Bhuvneshwar is well-regarded for his ability to utilize the conditions and to swing the ball well with great balance and precision. This is exactly what he did when the then-skipper MS Dhoni handed him the responsibility to pick up wickets.

He cleaned up England's batting line-up by sending the top 4 batsmen and 2 tailenders back to the pavilion. His swinging abilities can be inferred from the fact that out of his 6 victims, 3 were caught behind the stumps. England did finish ahead of India in the 1st innings by scoring 319 runs but his incredible performance of 31-0-82-6 ensured India's chances of staying well-put in the game.

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#7 Ishant Sharma (74/7, Date- 21/07/'14)

When Ishant's fiery deliveries broke England's batting attack

Post England's 1st innings of 319 runs, India managed to put a good score of 342 runs in their 2nd innings, courtesy of Murali Vijay's 95, Ravindra Jadeja's 68 and Bhuvneshwar's 52 at the tail. This way, India set up a target of 319 for England to win the Lord's Test. The last innings of the match was a treat to watch for the Indian supporters as this innings was later described as "The Ishant Sharma Show" by the Indian fans.

The experienced Ishant Sharma came to the aid of India and anchored India to victory by delivering his career-best performance of 74/7. Ishant single-handedly destroyed England's hopes of winning the match. With his lethal display of swing bowling combined with respectable pace and precision, Ishant victimised England's batsmen from no. 2 to no. 9 i.e. from Alastair Cook to Stuart Broad, all by himself, thus writing an epic victory for India by 95 runs at the Lord's.