India’s last game at the Oval was in 2021, which the team won by 157 runs
The last time India visited the Oval in 2021, the outing turned out to be a happy moment for our lads, who won the game by 157 runs. However, India’s statistics at the Oval are poor, having won only two Test matches since 1936. Not to forget, in terms of individual centuries, the statistic is limited to a single digit.
Fortunately, out of a few players who have managed a century at the Oval, two are still playing for India and are presently in the squad for the England tour. In the present squad, there are a few players from the 2021 squad, like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj.
Rahul and Pant are the two players who have one century each at the Oval; both of them scored their respective centuries in the 2018 game that India lost by 118 runs.
During the 2018 India tour of England, the fifth game of the series was played at the Oval. Batting first, England posted a target of 332, thanks to Alastair Cook’s 71 and Moeen Ali’s 50. India had done well to contain the middle order until Jos Buttler, who then batted down the pecking order, took charge of the innings. Buttler scored 89 runs, whereas Stuart Broad also supported him with 38 crucial runs that helped England reach 332.
In response, India scored 292, with KL hitting only 37.
The second innings saw England going big with Cook’s 147 and Joe Root’s 125. India needed something big, and that’s when KL Rahul stepped up. The Karnataka-based player scored 149 runs in 224 balls, but wickets on the other end kept falling as others failed to support him.
2018’s Test series in England was Pant’s debut in the international Test cricket circuit. In fact, Pant had made his debut in the third game that was played at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, so Pant was only three games old when he came onto the pitch of the Oval amidst the chaos.
However, Pant has always been an unorthodox hitter, doing unimaginable things not found in the traditional cricket books. The Roorkee-based cricketer played 146 balls and scored 114 runs at a strike rate of 78.08. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to save India.
The presence of Rahul and Pant at the Oval is crucial for India, as both players are aware of the conditions and can find confidence from their old performances. Not to forget, Pant and Rahul have done well in the series, as they are both among India’s top three run scorers after captain Shubman Gill, who sits at the top.
