12 iconic Indian performances at The Oval
It has been half a century since India won a Test at The Oval. But the venue remains special to Indian fans. At this iconic ground, Ajit Wadekar’s men created history by scripting India’s maiden Test win on English soil, followed by Sunil Gavaskar's 221 in 1979.
It's not just Indian fans. Kennington Oval is a venue for cricketing memories. In 1880, the ground hosted the first-ever Test on English soil. It’s here where England plundered the famous 903 in the Ashes before World War II. More recently, Sir Alastair Cook walked away from international cricket by slamming a hundred at the venue.
The Oval is only the fourth cricket venue to host over 100 Tests.
The formula for India’s 1971 triumph was spin, and among all the English grounds, the assistance the tweakers receive at the Kennington Oval is legendary. Most recently, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jack Leach claimed five-fors in a county match here.
Will Ashwin play? Will Virat Kohli repeat 1971? While fans scratch their heads on these issues, let’s jog through the history lanes and remember the spectacular Indian performances at the Oval.
1936: Mohammad Nissar’s lone show in India’s defeat
At no point did India look to pose any threat to the hosts as England completed a nine-wicket win. Mohammad Nissar’s toil in the first innings paid off with a five-for. His wickets included double centurion Wally Hammond and centurion Stan Worthington. This was the third five-wicket haul for Nissar, who didn’t play a Test after this. England won the series 2-0.
Brief scores
England 471 for 8 dec (Charlie Barnett 43, Wally Hammond 217, Stan Worthington128; Mohammad Nissar 5/120) & 64 for 1 beat India 222 (Vijay Merchant 52, Mushtaq Ali 52; Hedley Verity 3/30, Jim Sims 5/73) & 312 (Vijay Merchant 48, Dilwar Hussain 54, Amar Singh 44, CK Nayudu 81, Cotar Ramaswami 41; Gubby Allen 7/80) by nine wickets
1946: Vijay Merchant enthrals The Oval in a weather-marred Test
India elected to bat, and there was little play on the first day. Vijay Merchant, who was robbed of his best years due to World War II, slammed his first Test hundred in 10 years. Mainly playing square of the wicket through deft late cuts and skilled pulls, Merchant entertained the crowd through his mastery as the weather marred the Test. England pocketed the series 1-0.
Brief scores
India 331 (Vijay Merchant 128, Mushtaq Ali 59, Vinoo Mankad 42; Bill Edrich 4/68) drew with England 95 for 3
1959: Surendra Nath’s all-round show in India’s innings defeat
Winning the toss, India were 74 for seven when Surendra Nath (27) and Naren Tamhane (32) added a 58-run stand to help India reach 140. Surendra Nath arrested England’s lead to 221 with his five-for. He was batting on 17 in the second innings before running out of partners as India succumbed to an innings defeat, which meant the series was lost 0-5.
Brief scores
India 140 (Fred Trueman 4/24) & 194 (Bapu Nadkarni 76; Fred Trueman 3/30, Brian Statham 3/50) lost to England 361 (Raman Subba Row 94, Mike Smith 98, Ray Illingworth 50, Roy Swetman 65; Surendra Nath 5/75) by an innings and 27 runs
1971: Bhagwath Chandrasekhar helps India script history in England
It was a perfect end to the summer for India with their maiden series wins in the West Indies and England.
India would have loved to bat first here, but Ajit Wadekar lost the toss. Electing to bat, England managed a 71-run first-innings lead.
On a wicket that was deteriorating, the media wrote off India, who were to bat last.
On a surface that was kind to the spinners, the magic of Bhagwath Chandrasekhar triggered an English collapse as they were bundled out for 101.
Expected to be dropped for the Test, the leg-spinner just about made it to the XI. He would later recall:
“I was in a daze. England all out 101 and I had figures of 6 for 38.”
The chase of 173 was tricky and tense. They took their time with Ajit Wadekar (45), Dilip Sardesai (40), Gundappa Viswanath (33) and Farokh Engineer (28*) playing key roles. A cut from Abid Ali brought India its moment of glory.
Trivia: The final day was the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi in India. The Indian fans had borrowed an elephant named from the nearby Chessington Zoo. The team’s manager Hemu Adhikari saw the appearance of an elephant as a good omen on this auspicious day.
It was celebration time in India. People were in the streets. Ajit Wadekar’s men returned to Mumbai amidst the grandest of welcomes. Cricket was no longer just a sport in India.
Brief scores
England 355 (John Jameson 82, John Edrich 41, Alan Knott 90, Richard Hutton 81; Eknath Solkar 3/28) & 101 (Bhagwath Chandrasekhar 6/38) lost to India 284 (Ajit Wadekar 48, Dilip Sardesai 54, Eknath Solkar 44, Farokh Engineer 59; Ray Illingworth 5/70) & 174 for 6 (Ajit Wadekar 45, Dilip Sardesai 40; Derek Underwood 3/72) by four wickets
1979: Sunil Gavaskar makes 438 look gettable for India
There were valid reasons for Sunil Gavaskar to recently get miffed with Nasser Hussain over the 'bullied' remark in his column while referring to the Indian teams touring England in the past. Though the viewing wasn't pleasant, Gavaskar was upfront in expressing his displeasure at the former England captain.
Gavaskar was part of the 1971 win in England. And here, in 1979, he had almost helped India level it. Three years back, India had already set a record by chasing over 400 in the West Indies.
On a sunny final day at The Oval, India reached 304 for one. The Indian dressing room was talking about the looming victory. Gavaskar's innings made it possible. A knock defined as the perfect innings saw the Little Master mostly play in the V, driving and flicking at will. Reportedly, he wasn't beaten once during the course of his 221-run knock.
With wickets tumbling in quest for quick runs and questionable umpiring, India dropped shutters and the match was called a 'draw' with one ball remaining and nine runs to get.
Yajurvindra Singh would later recall:
"The umpiring was the main cause of us not making those runs. It was horrifying. It looked like we were never going to get it because the umpires weren't going to allow you to."
Gavaskar's 221 remains the highest score by an Indian on English soil.
Brief scores
England 305 (Graham Gooch 79, Peter Willey 52; Kapil Dev 3/83, Srinivas Venkataraghavan 3/59) & 334 for 8 dec (Geoffrey Boycott 125, David Bairstow 59; Karsan Ghavri 3/76) drew with India 202 (Gundappa Viswanath 62, Yajurvindra Singh 43; Bob Willis 3/43, Ian Botham 4/65, Mike Hendrick 3/38) & 429 for 8 (Sunil Gavaskar 221, Chetan Chauhan 80, Dilip Vengsarkar 52; Ian Botham 3/87)