India, Aug. 7 -- In India's chequered 93-year catalogue of appearances in Test cricket, they have won 183 matches, lost 186, drawn 224 and tied one. There have been since their first victory at home in 1952 - against England - and the maiden one abroad in 1968 in New Zealand, many memorable moments. But other than the tie with Australia in 1986, no match has exhibited such animated suspense until the last ball and as gripping a drama as at The Oval in London on Monday. The back-to-back series triumphs in the West Indies and England in 1971 were an indisputable turning point for Indian cricket. At Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Dilip Sardesai threw down the gauntlet with a defiant 112. Spinners S Venkataraghan, Erapalli Prasanna and Bishan Bedi then shared the spoils to clear the deck for a seven-wicket eclipse of Garry Sobers' side. Five months later, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar's whippy and deceptive wrist spin destroyed England in the second England innings at The Oval to ensure India coasted to a four-wicket win. India's most convincing showing ever in an away series, though, was the 2-0 margin in England in 1986. The Indian swing merchants, with Chetan Sharma pre-eminent, proved to be a handful for the Englishmen, not to mention Maninder Singh's left-arm spin and Dilip Vengsarkar's immaculate centuries at Lord's in London and Headingley in Leeds. It could have been a 3-0 brown-wash, but for rain saving England at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The 2-1 ascendancy in Pakistan in 2004, reflecting subduing of the hosts by an innings at Multan and Rawalpindi, is notable. Virender Sehwag's swashbuckling triple century, Rahul Dravid's 270, spinner Anil Kumble and pacers Irfan Pathan and Lakshmipathy Balaji caught the eye. Then, there were the consecutive conquests in Australia - 2-1 each time - in 2018-19 and 2020-21. On the second occasion, India reversed fortunes after being abysmally dismissed for 36 in the opening test at Adelaide. In the final meeting at The Gabba in Brisbane, India, despite being reduced to a makeshift bowling attack, rose to the task, before the irrepressible batsman Rishabh Pant steered the visitors to shore. There have, unsurprisingly, been several instances of India recovering from distress to exhilaratingly overcome the opposition. While such sagas have also occurred at home, episodes of this nature abroad in unfamiliar playing conditions have generally been classified as more creditable. Significant Indian support at overseas venues these days, of course, renders the atmosphere less daunting than in the past, notwithstanding genuine cricket lovers in England and Australia, even in Pakistan, being, historically, appreciative of good performances by Indians. The crowd backing, though, does not eliminate the challenge of seaming or bouncing pitches, which have often been India's undoing. In 1976 at Port of Spain, India conceded a first innings deficit of 131 runs; but thereafter successfully chased a target of 402 in the fourth innings. In fact, India's score of 406 for four continues to be the third highest successful fourth innings total in test history. Sunil Gavaskar posted 102; thereafter Mohinder Amarnath (85) and Gundappa Viswanath (112) finished the job. At the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1981, India trailed by 182 in the first innings; but bowled out Australia for 83 in their second innings to streak home by 59 runs. On the final morning, with Australia resuming at 24 for three on a wicket unplayable for batsmen, it was unlikely they would reach even the modest required tally of 143 runs, especially once a hitherto injured Kapil Dev became available to deliver the coup de grace - which he duly did with a bag of five for 28. In short, the foregoing illustrates situations where a trend and, therefore, the possible climax became evident after a certain juncture. When India, on the third evening of the just concluded Test, set England an assignment of compiling 374 runs to breast the tape, there was no precedent of this being achieved at The Oval. The best ever winning fourth innings here was England's 263 for nine in 1902. Lower order collapses had been a feature of this summer's engaging five-test encounter, epitomising the glorious uncertainties of cricket. At 347 for six on the final morning, with England needing a paltry 27 runs to nail the Indian coffin, it appeared done and dusted. But the Englishmen mustered just 20 more to descend to their doom. In a captivating hour, India engineered a sensational coup d'etat. The 2-2 series result arrests India's recent downward spiral as regards the shocking 0-3 surrender to New Zealand in India last autumn and the nose-dive Down Under in winter. It also secures Gautam Gambhir's slightly threatened career as Test match coach....