RAVI SHASTRI 187, 1990

When the 1990s rolled in, Ravi Shastri was on his last legs as a cricketer with his knees giving him problems and pain. He had transformed from a swashbuckling lower order hitter to a dour, boring opener.

On India’s tour to England in 1990, India had lost the first Test at Lord’s thanks to Graham Gooch’s 333 and 123. Manchester Test was saved thanks to an 18-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, who scored a brilliant 119* in the fourth innings.

When things came to the Oval for the third and final Test, India needed to win the Test to draw the series and batted first after winning the toss and went about putting a huge total on the board. At the forefront of this task was Ravi Shastri, who painstakingly batted for 562 minutes and 436 balls to score 187 runs with 23 fours.

He got support from Mohammad Azharuddin (78) and then Kapil Dev (110), as India compiled 606/9d. Shastri played out of his skin to gain an advantage for his team and succeed in giving India the upper hand in the Test.

Shastri’s innings was enough for India to push for a victory, as England was bowled out for 340 and was asked to follow on. However, England managed to draw the match by scoring 477/4d in the second innings with David Gower making 157*.

India, unfortunately, lost the 3-match Test series 1-0.

Watch Ravi Shastri’s brilliant and gutsy century: