In 89 years of history, no Indian captain has hit a century at the Oval while leading the side
The fifth and final match of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar trophy is to be hosted by the Oval in Kennington, London. The iconic venue has not been a fruitful ground for India, given that the team has only won two matches out of 14 played. This is not the only shocking stat, but there are multiples, including the fact that no Indian captain has hit a century at the Oval.
(Credit- News18)
From 1936 to 2021, i.e., India’s last outing at the Oval, five captains led the Indian national cricket team. These five captains were Maharajkumar of Vizianagram, Ajit Wadekar, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni, and Virat Kohli. None of these five captains managed to register a century against England at the Oval.
At the Oval, there have been seven centurions from the Indian side since independence, including players such as Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Ravi Shastri, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Anil Kumble, and Rohit Sharma. Out of these players, most had captained the Indian side in the Test format. However, none of them hit a century when they were captaining the team at the Oval.
Shifting away from Indian cricket, England’s Ollie Pope is the only Test captain who hit a century at the Oval while serving as the team’s captain. He registered this unique century on September 6, 2024, against Sri Lanka, when the team from Asia toured England.
Pope scored 154 runs in 156 balls at a strike rate of 98.71. This century also created another record as Pope became the first cricketer in 147 years to score his first seven centuries against seven different opponents, such as South Africa, New Zealand, PAK, Ireland, India, the West Indies, and Sri Lanka.
In the history of Test cricket, no visiting captain from any Test-playing nation in the world has ever scored a century at the Oval while leading his side.
India’s captain Shubman Gill is leading the run table with over 600 runs, including three centuries. If he continues his form going into the Oval, he can create a new record in the world by hitting a century. In a century, he can become the first-ever away captain to hit a century at the Oval while leading his side. Not to forget, if he wins the game, he will become only the third Indian captain to lead his Test side to a victory at the Oval.
