England has never been a happy hunting ground for travelling Indian cricketers.

Out of 16 trips they have only gone home victorious three times, with England winning 12 series and the other being drawn.

With Trent Bridge their first stop during the 2014 tour, starting Wednesday with the first Test, the visitors will be looking to improve on a record of only one win in five at the ground.

England on the other hand will look for a win that could spell a first series victory since beating Australia on home soil last summer and a first Test win of any kind since the Durham success against the Aussies last year.

In a good omen, wins for the home side at Trent Bridge over India have been part of whitewashes, in 1959 and most recently in 2011 – when the hosts went to number one in the world.

India first came to these shores in 1932 but it wasn't until 1959, on their fifth trip, that they played a Test at Trent Bridge for the first time.

Stacked with household names, England were clear favourites from the start and were soon exerting the kind of pressure that in English conditions the Indian players didn't even like back then.

Captained by Peter May, England were led from the front by the elegant right hander as the side posted a big first innings score.

His 106 coupled with fifties from Ken Barrington, Martin Horton and wicket-keeper Godfrey Evans meant the home side posted 422.

That proved too much for the travelling Indians as two of England's mainstays between 1951 and 1963, Brian Statham and Fred Trueman, got to work.

Trueman, who had helped reduce India to 0-4 on his debut seven years previous, ended with match figures of 6-89.

Statham waited until the second innings to do his damage, taking 5-31 to add to his first innings 2-46.

India's scores of 206 and 157 were not enough to make the home side bat again, with only Pankaj Roy, scoring 54 and 49, showing resistance for the visitors on what was a torrid first visit to the ground.

In 1996, a high-scoring draw in the third Test greeted India's return to Trent Bridge after 37 years but that didn't mean the game didn't carry interest.

Sachin Tendulkar stepped out for the first time at the ground aiming not to disappoint. He didn't either, scoring 177 in the first innings as he and Sourav Ganguly (136) put the pressure on the hosts by posting 521.

However, England responded in turn as Michael Atherton scored 160 and Nasser Hussain 107 against an Indian attack that boosted one of the quickest bowlers of the generation, Javagal Srinath.

By now, the result which India needed to level the series looked less than likely but the genius of Tendulkar was still there for all to see.

The Little Maestro added a further 74 to his match total as the game fizzled out to a draw, Mark Ealham taking 4-21 on debut at his future home ground.

Tendulkar might have been the man to watch in 1996 but the second Test of the series in 2002 brought forward a further crop of greats that crowds would adore for years to come.

Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Harbajan Singh and Zaheer Khan, alongside Tendulkar, would all become Indian cricketing sensations over the years to follow.

However, they still couldn't pick up that illusive first win on a ground where big scores had become the norm. Sehwag (108), Ganguly (68) and Singh (54) were the men to find form this time round as the visitors posted 357.

In reply, one of England's most successful captains, Michael Vaughan, produced his career best score of 197 as the hosts again looked in control of a game at Trent Bridge with a first innings 617.

However, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff, Dominic Cork and Steve Harmison – on debut – couldn't break down the Indian wall that was Rahul Dravid.

Dravid (115) lived up to his unwelcome nickname while Tendulkar (92) and Ganguly (99) added to a game which saw some of the batting greats fight it out.

The scene of India's only win at the ground in five attempts came during the second Test in 2007.

An experienced India included six of the players who took the field in 2002 meaning prior knowledge of English conditions was not a problem for the touring party.

Proving too strong for the hosts, England were blown away by Zaheer Khan (4-59) and Anil Kumble (3-32) in the first innings.

From there the hosts struggled to recover and Tendulkar (91), on his third trip to the ground, prospered once again as he top scored in an Indian effort of 481, a lead of 287 and a position they never looked back from.

A Vaughan century and further fifties from Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood ensured the visitors would have to bat again. However all they needed was 72 for their first victory at Trent Bridge.

The 2011 clash, the second of the Test matches at Trent Bridge that led to an England win and ultimately a whitewash wasn't all as straight forward as the hosts would have liked.

Not for the first time, the Nottinghamshire duo of Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann dug England out a hole.

Struggling in the first innings on 124-8, Broad (64) and Swann (28) produced their swashbuckling best to lift the side up to 221 and give a platform to take the series to 2-0.

Broad was far from done their either. His 6-46, including his first Test hat-trick of Mahendra Dohni, Singh and Praveen Kumar, restricted the tourists' lead to 67.

A lesson in batting followed from one of crickets best touch players. Ian Bell (159) was at his fluent best as help from Tim Bresnan (90) guided England to a second innings 544.

For India, no one could match Bell on a deteriorating pitch. Bresnan backed up his 50 with 5-48 while Broad, who had also added 44 in the second innings, finished with 2-30 including the final wicket of Sreesanth to seal victory.

For more news, previews and match reports visit the Nottingham Post.

 

Limited tickets remain for our Investec Test Match. Don't miss the chance to take in the unique experience of Investec Test cricket in the iconic surroundings of Trent Bridge. Secure your seats now.