Indian Cricket’s Invasion of The Historic Oval Ground

India’s cricket connect with The Oval has been formalised at the historic venue, set in stone and framed pictures.

Cricket first came to The Oval in 1845, much before the 1857 mutiny, but India only conquered the home of Surrey county during the Champions Trophy.

Cricket is India's powerful export and The Oval – one of cricket's oldest venues – is completely overrun by our 'soft power'.

India suffered a shock defeat against Sri Lanka on 8 June but its supporters owned the ground. With tickets booked as soon as sales were announced, fans came in large numbers wearing the blue team jersey, the tricolour draped around their shoulders, deshbhakti in their heart and on their lips.

Right through the game, they kept up a relentless chant to cheer their heroes, falling silent only when the Sri Lankans inscribed the inevitable on the pitch.

Normally, cricket in England is played in front of an appreciative audience in dignified silence. But the Indian fan army, unrestricted by such polite behaviour was enthusiastic, loud and noisy. Most of the day it was Dhoni-dhamaal and dholak as fans rooted for cricket, rooted for Kohli's men, rooted for India.

Traditionally, The Oval has been an India-friendly ground. In 1936, India lost a 3-day Test where Vijay Merchant made 52 and 48 in the two innings. In 1946 , the three-day Test ended in a draw (one day was rained off) but not before Merchant scoring a magnificent 129.

Ajit Wadekar's team won here in 1971 – India's first Test win over England, with Chandrasekhar getting 6 for 38. Another time, in 1979, Sunil Gavaskar scored a monumental 221 batting more than 8 hours but India failed to reach 438 required to win in the fourth innings despite being 366 for 1 at one stage.

India's cricket connect with The Oval has been formalised at the historic venue, set in stone and framed in pictures.

In the main pavilion is a marble plaque donated by Raj Singh Dungarpur, former President BCCI, to celebrate Indian cricket.

On the third floor of the Vauxall end is ‘The India Room’, opened in 2005 by Sachin Tendulkar, in the company of John Major, former Prime Minister of England, who also headed Surrey cricket.

The India Room (funded by contributions from generous patrons such as Nat Puri, the Hunduja foundation, Lord Bagri and Sir Gulam Noon) has portraits of Indian cricket legends, and also an interesting picture of Prime Minister Nehru in cricket gear, with pads on, striding out to bat!

The Oval has a rich cricket tradition and history. As one of London's two Test venues, it has hosted cricket since 1850.

In its long journey, its greatest star was Jack Hobbes who scored 61,756 runs –including a staggering 199 first class hundreds (100 of these came after the age of 40) – in a career that stretched almost 30 years. Ken Barrington, Peter May and John Edrich are among the other greats, while the more recent stars include Alec Stewart (now Director Cricket, Surrey) , KP and Mark Ramprakash (now batting coach, England) who scored 115 first class hundreds.

Surrey is a county that splurges big money on big players. Present stars on its rolls include KP, Kumar Sangakkara, Aaron Finch, Moises Henriques and Jason Roy .

On match day, The Oval takes on a carnival look as the venue gears up to meet the needs of a full house of 26,000. The well-stocked food counters are packed, booze sales are brisk and there is plenty to keep the spectators occupied. They can take selfies with the replica Champion's Trophy. Or watch a live demonstration where master craftsman from Grey Nichols fashion a piece of willow into a bat .

During the break, as teams warm up on the practice pitches, young kids come on to the ground to play tennis-ball cricket. This is part of ECB's new initiative to engage with children and introduce them to the game.

The Chance to Shine (CTS) programme designed to provide opportunities and facilities to underprivileged kids is another laudable programme. Run by an independent organisation, the CTS is funded by the ECB up to £5 million annually.

On 11 June, India faces South Africa in what is a knockout game to stay alive in the Champion's Trophy. Considering the upsets in the tournament, nobody knows which way the ball will run that day. Only certainty, considering the kind of support the team has, is this will be a 'home' game for India.

(Amrit Mathur is a senior journalist, former GM of the BCCI and Manager of the Indian Cricket Team. He can be reached at @AmritMathur1)