History of Team India at the Oval

Team India will be travelling to England post-Indian Premier League for the final game of the second edition of the World Test Championship. They will be facing the ferocious Australian squad and the game is scheduled to take place from 7th June. The Oval has been a historical ground for Test cricket but Team India has not witnessed much success at the venue.

This will be the second final for Team India and the squad will be all set with their technical plan to destroy the Australian side. In this article, we have compiled a long history of team India and their participation in cricket at the Oval.

First Match of Team India at the Oval

The first fixture of team India at the Oval took place in August 1936 when team India was touring England for a three-match Test series. England won the toss and elected to bat first. They posted a commanding total of 471 runs in their first innings, with centuries from Len Hutton (82) and Wally Hammond (217). Hedley Verity took 5 wickets for 88 runs for England. In reply, India scored 275 runs in their first innings, with Mushtaq Ali top-scoring with 60 runs. Bill Voce was the pick of the English bowlers, taking 4 wickets for 56 runs. Following on, India fared better in their second innings, scoring 378 runs. The notable contributions came from Dilawar Hussain (59), Lala Amarnath (69), and Amar Singh (48). England’s Maurice Leyland took 5 wickets for 69 runs. Set a target of 183 runs, England comfortably reached the target, scoring 184 for 2. Cyril Walters scored an unbeaten century (102*) to guide England to victory.

First Victory of team India at the Oval

The first victory of team India at the Oval came in 1971 during the third Test between England and India. England won the toss and elected to bat first. They posted a total of 355 runs in their first innings, with opener John Edrich top-scoring with 82 runs and Basil D’Oliveira contributing 58 runs. Bhagwath Chandrasekhar was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking 6 wickets for 86 runs. In reply, India managed to score 284 runs in their first innings. Opener Sunil Gavaskar played a crucial knock of 90 runs, and captain Ajit Wadekar contributed 57 runs. England’s Derek Underwood took 5 wickets for 70 runs. England batted again and set a target of 174 runs for India to win. However, the Indian spinners wreaked havoc on the final day of the match. Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and Erapalli Prasanna spun a web around the English batsmen, taking 6 wickets each. England was bundled out for just 101 runs, giving India a target of 173 runs. In a tense chase, India reached the target with four wickets to spare. Gundappa Viswanath played crucial innings of 33 not out, and wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer scored 28 runs. India achieved a historic victory by 4 wickets and won the series 1-0. This victory was a significant milestone for Indian cricket, as it marked their first Test series win against England in England. It was a breakthrough moment for Indian cricket and played a crucial role in establishing India as a formidable force in international cricket in the years to come.

Second Victory of Team India at the Oval

Team India’s second victory at the Oval came after fifty years in 2021. The fifty decades of drought were over under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and master innings by Rohit Sharma. England won the toss and elected to bowl first. The first inning of team India was an easy crack for England as Virat Kohli and company were back to the pavilion for a score of 190. England came on to bat with confidence and was seen struggling with the bat but their middle handled the situation and took the total score to 290. Team India came to bat with a positive mindset and Rohit Sharma scored 127 runs on 256 balls and gave a solid start to the team. Indian innings ended up at a score of 466. Ravindra Jadeja bowled some magic spells and picked up 5 wickets. His brilliance didn’t allow English batters to settle and team India won their second fixture at the Oval.