- July 31, 2025
The Kennington Oval. The very name will probably send shivers down the spines of Indian cricket fans. With its famous stands and great history as a cricket ground, the Oval in London has a storied history—not just a place for cricket, but one that has not brought much joy to Team India. As India approaches the final Test of the 2025 series, 2-1 down, this is not just another ground for the team; it is the final boss level, and they are facing mission impossible. As the build-up begins to the showdown on July 31, we will take a moment to relive some of the best—and mostly worst—memories that India has made at this ground.
A Long History, A Short Win Column
Fifteen visits, one historic venue—India’s journey at The Oval is less a cricket record and more a saga of struggle, surprise, and evolution. What are the results? Simply 2 wins, 6 losses, and 7 draws. Not exactly an enviable record, in fact, for many years, the Oval felt like a final exam they never could study for. From vintage flannels to colored kits, seven decades passed, and still the Oval remained India’s unsolved riddle. The first win finally came in 1971 when Ajit Wadekar was captain, one of those occasions everyone remembers for BS Chandrasekhar’s 6/38 and a young team punching above their weight.
However, the highs are scarce; India lost three consecutive Tests here between 2011 and 2018, which included a brutal innings defeat in 2014 when they were bowled out for an embarrassing 94 in the second innings, their lowest ever at the Oval.
When It Clicked: 2021 and the Blueprint for Hope
It was not until 2021 that India finally returned to the Oval – and boy, did they return. The memory of that match will be fresh in the minds of modern fans as one of India’s best wins overseas. India put together a second-innings demolition of the batters, then bowled inspired by winning by 157 runs. It was more than the arithmetic – India had an energy, a belief that they did not have before. Principally, they proved to themselves that the Oval is not a cursed ground – they simply needed to break it.
The challenge is to replicate that performance. It is never easy to emulate success when the series is on the line, and India is desperate to recreate the same spirit they found in 2021. England is a powerful team at home, and the pitch conditions tend to offer swings and pace in the early throes of a test match, which quickly flatten out. Timing is everything.
Trends, Stats & What They Reveal
What about numbers? India’s high score at the Oval? Their mammoth 664 in 2007, in one of their many drawn Tests. Lowest? Yep, painful, 94 in 2014. That 221 by Gavaskar felt like a symphony in whites—every stroke a note, every boundary a standing ovation.
However, there are indicators: India seems to perform better here when the batters have blunted the damage in the first innings, and the spinners have been released late in the innings. In both of India’s victories (1971 and 2021), India chased after batting second. That may well be something to consider in the decider in 2025.
The Oval has not always loved India – but history doesn’t play the game, players do – we’ve had the dramatic lows, and the highs too. And now that everything is on the line in the series, it is now a test of whether they can handle the hype, emotion, and conditions, with perhaps history at stake.
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