Venue a solace for beleagured India

England and India head into the final Test at The Oval with the scoreline reading a scarcely believable 3-0 in favour of the home team. What was expected to be a close contest has turned out into a highly one-sided series, with India's performance declining with every game. After the 196-run defeat at Lord's, there has been no semblance of a fightback from India. Instead, the loss was followed by a 319-run hammering at Trent Bridge and an innings defeat at Edgbaston which turned out to be their third-largest margin of defeat in Tests. The Oval, however, presents India with an opportunity to salvage some pride. It is by far the best batting venue in England and one where India have not lost a Test in their last six visits. India's maiden Test win in England came at The Oval in 1971 and they nearly chased down a record 438 in 1979. The visitors will need to draw some inspiration from their past record at the venue if they are to avoid their first 4-0 loss since the 1991-92 series in Australia.

England may not have beaten India at The Oval in the last three attempts, but in general their venue record has been excellent. Among home venues, their win-loss ratio at The Oval (2.00) is second only to Edgbaston (3.00). Their record at the venue in recent times is even more impressive. In Tests since 2000, their only two losses have come against Australia in 2001 and Pakistan in 2010. England will also be well aware that this is a great opportunity to complete their first series whitewash against India since 1974. Despite their overwhelming dominance in the series so far, England's quest for a 4-0 win will be challenged by an Indian line-up that has scored 508 and 664 in their last two Tests at The Oval.

England's best batting ground
The Oval has by far been the best batting venue in England in Tests since 2000. In the first innings, teams have averaged nearly 42 runs per wicket with seven centuries. The second innings has been slightly more even with the runs-per-wicket figure dropping to 35.37. While the third innings has proved to be the most challenging for batting (average 31.32), the pitch has demonstrated a tendency to become easier for batting in the fourth innings (average 37.72).

Unlike most venues in England, the difference between the averages for spinners and fast bowlers isn't a lot. Fast bowlers average under 30 in the third innings and just over 36 overall. Stuart Broad, who has picked up 21 wickets at an average of just 11.95 in the series, was instrumental in setting up England's victory in the final Test of the 2009 Ashes series at The Oval. After Muttiah Muralitharan's outstanding 16-wicket haul in 1998, there has been very little success for spinners. Like the pace bowlers, spinners have also bowled best in the second and third innings. Graeme Swann, who has had a very ordinary series by his standards, has picked up 15 wickets in two matches at The Oval and will hope the venue brings him some much-needed luck.

Pietersen a huge threat
While India have failed to reach 300 in any of their six innings, England have rattled up scores of 474, 544 and 710 in the three Tests. Alastair Cook, who had a disappointing start to the series, roared back to form with 294 in the third Test at Edgbaston. Cook averages nearly 47 at The Oval, and he, together with captain Andrew Strauss (473 runs at 39.41), will hold the key to a strong start. India will be especially wary of Kevin Pietersen, the top run-getter of the series, who has a superb record at the venue. In ten innings at The Oval, he has scored 552 runs with three centuries including a brilliant 158 to help England regain the Ashes in 2005.

Rahul Dravid, India's best batsman in the series so far, is also their highest run-scorer in Tests at The Oval. He scored 217 in 2002 and another half-century in 2007. While VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni have done fairly well at the venue, Sachin Tendulkar has failed to score a century in four innings and averages 39.50.

Trial by pace
India's top-order batsmen (positions 1-7) have struggled against the high-quality display of England's pace bowlers in all three Tests. While Virender Sehwag fell for a first-ball duck in both innings on his comeback, the rest of the top order except Tendulkar failed to handle the threat of James Anderson and Stuart Broad with any degree of assurance in the second innings of the third Test. In fact, the stats of Indian batsmen in Tests outside the subcontinent show that most of them haven't done so well against pace. However, almost all batsmen have handled spinners with ease. The one exception to the rule is Sehwag, who has scored at nearly seven runs per over against spinners, but has been dismissed four times.

The story against pace is quite different. Laxman and Dhoni have far lower averages against pace than their corresponding numbers against spinners. While Sehwag averages 38.84 with a run-rate of 4.26, his opening partner Gautam Gambhir has done much better; he averages 61.11 against pace bowlers in Tests since 2007. Dravid and Tendulkar also have lower averages against pace (40.32 and 47.28) when compared to their averages against spin (64.00 and 108.00). The problems faced by Indian batsmen against pace bowling outside the subcontinent have come to the fore in this series and England are unlikely to change the strategy that has brought them extraordinary success in the first three Tests.