12 iconic Indian performances at The Oval

1982: Kapil Dev saves it for India

A Kapil Dev classic saved the day for India.

India were pushed on the backfoot on Day One after Gavaskar got injured and played no further part in the match. Winning the toss, England made merry on the track, piling up 594, courtesy of Ian Botham's double hundred.

A follow-on was on the cards for the Indians, but Kapil Dev's 93-ball 97 denied that. He later had enough energy to bowl a probing spell in the second innings. England didn't have enough time to bowl out India as the Test ended in a draw, which meant the hosts had claimed the series 1-0.

England 594 (Geoff Cook 50, Allan Lamb 107, David Gower 47, Ian Botham 208, Derek Randall 95; Dilip Doshi 4/175, Ravi Shastri 3/109) & 191 for 3 dec (Chris Tavare 75, Allan Lamb 45, David Gower 45) drew with India 410 (Ravi Shastri 66, Gundappa Visawanth 56, Sandeep Patil 62, Syed Kirmani 43, Kapil Dev 97; Bob Willis 3/78, Phil Edmonds 3/89) & 111 for 3 (Gundappa Viswanath 75*)

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1990: Ravi Shastri's marathon

In an exhibition of immense concentration and grit, Ravi Shastri batted for almost nine-and-a-half hours to score 187. Later, Kapil would bat just over three hours to slam his century. The duo put India in a commanding position as they enforced a follow-on as well. However, England's batting clicked in the second innings, and the hosts pulled off a draw, winning the series 1-0.

Brief scores

India 606 for 9 dec (Ravi Shastri 187, Mohammad Azharuddin 78, Kapil Dev 110, Kiran More 61*) drew with England 340 (Graham Gooch 85, Robin Smith 57, Eddie Hemmings 51; Manoj Prabhakar 4/74) & 477 for 4 dec (Graham Gooch 88, Mike Atherton 86, David Gower 157*, Allan Lamb 52)

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2002: Rahul Dravid's 217 ensures a drawn series

With the series on the line, both teams had good outings with the bat on a flat surface. Michael Vaughan continued his rich form and batted for over six hours for his 195. Rahul Dravid outdid the English opener by batting ten-and-a-half hours for his 217. Weather marred what could have been an exciting final day.

Brief scores

England 515 (Marcus Trescothick 57, Michael Vaughan 195, Mark Butcher 54, Dominic Cork 52; Harbhajan Singh 5/115) & 114 for 0 (Marcus Trescothick 58*, Michael Vaughan 47*) drew with India 508 (Rahul Dravid 217, Sachin Tendulkar 54, Sourav Ganguly 51, VVS Laxman 40; Andy Caddick 4/114)

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2007: Anil Kumble's ton secures India's series win

India celebrate a rare series win in England.

After a drawn Test at the Oval, Dravid became the third Indian captain to win a series in England. The final Test of the series was an interesting affair.

Electing to bat, India piled up 664. In one of the most cherished moments in Indian cricket, leg-spinner Anil Kumble, then at the twilight of his 17-year-long career, slammed his maiden century. He still had enough steam to pick up three wickets too.

Dravid exhibited defensive tactics thereon to ensure the series win. He didn't enforce a follow-on to avoid batting last. Later, much to the dismay of Indian fans, he played an innings of 96-ball 12.

England were set a target of 500 in the final session of the fourth day. Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell kept them in the hunt as the Test ended in a draw, giving India the series.

Brief scores

India 664 (Dinesh Karthik 91, Rahul Dravid 55, Sachin Tendulkar 82, VVS Laxman 51, MS Dhoni 92, Anil Kumble 110*; James Anderson 4/182) & 180 for 6 dec (Sourav Ganguly 57, VVS Laxman 46) drew with England 345 (Alastair Cook 61, Kevin Pietersen 41, Paul Collingwood 62, Ian Bell 63; Zaheer Khan 3/32, Anil Kumble 3/94) & 369 for 6 (Alastair Cook 43, Michael Vaughan 42, Kevin Pietersen 101, Paul Collingwood 40, Ian Bell 67; Sreesanth 3/53)

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2011: Rahul Dravid carries bat in a forgettable outing for India

A banner in the crowd said: "Dravid vs England". It couldn't have been defined better. Dravid, then 38, slammed three tons in the tour as the rest of the line-up struggled. India lost the series 4-0 and also lost their no.1 Test ranking to England.

Day Two of the Test saw Pietersen and Bell stitch a 350-run stand. The demoralized Indians were then shot out for 300, with Dravid having batted beautifully, running out of his partners and carrying his bat. In the absence of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, Dravid was forced to open the batting.

Forced to follow on, the second innings witnessed an unusual 144-run stand for the fourth wicket between Sachin Tendulkar and nightwatchman Amit Mishra. The effort wasn't good enough to avert an innings defeat.

Brief scores

England 591 for 6 dec (Andrew Strauss 40, Ian Bell 235, Kevin Pietersen 175, Ravi Bopara 44*; Sreesanth 3/123) beat India 300 (Rahul Dravid 146*; Tim Bresnan 3/54, Graeme Swann 3/102) & 283 (Sachin Tendulkar 91, Amit Mishra 84; Graeme Swann 6/106) by an innings and eight runs

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2018: KL Rahul-Rishabh Pant attempt the impossible

Rishabh Pant slams his maiden Test hundred in his third Test.

The final Test of the India-England 2018 series is best remembered for being Sir Alastair Cook's last Test. The match also marked the international debut of Hanuma Vihari.

The match hung in the balance after the first innings, with England managing a 40-run lead. Ravindra Jadeja's all-round show had kept India in the Test before Cook and Joe Root batted India out of the contest with a 259-run stand for the third wicket.

Chasing 464, India lost half their side by 120 when opener KL Rahul and the then 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant added a 204-run stand for the sixth wicket.

India's attacking batting had put the pressure back on the hosts. Adil Rashid dismissed both batters as India lost their next five wickets for just 20 runs, giving England a 4-1 series win.

England 332 (Alastair Cook 71, Moeen Ali 50, Jos Buttler 89; Jasprit Bumrah 3/84, Ishant Sharma 3/62, Ravindra Jadeja 4/79) & 423 for 8 dec (Alastair Cook 147, Joe Root 125; Ravindra Jadeja 3/179, Hanuma Vihari 3/37) beat India 292 (Virat Kohli 49, Hanuma Vihari 56, Ravindra Jadeja 86*) & 345 (KL Rahul 149, Rishabh Pant 114; James Anderson 3/45) by 118 runs