At Headingley, India defied precedence by going into the Test with twospinners. At The Oval, they would be foolish to approach the match any other way. Anil Kumble's seven-wicket haul at Headingley was only the second time a spinner had taken as many wickets in a Test there in the last 30 years (click here for full figures), but he'll have to do much better than that to figure among the most successful slow bowlers at The Oval.

In 12 Tests since 1990, spinners have taken three out of the four ten-fors in Oval Tests. Muttiah Muralitharan helped himself to 16 wickets in 1998, while Phil Tufnell and Shane Warne have both turned in match-winning performances here. Devon Malcolm's 10 for 138 against South Africa in 1994 was the only fast-bowling exception (click here for full figures).

Slow bowlers have an outstanding record here (71 wickets in the last six Tests at 26.97), but only once has an Indian spinner turned on the magic – Bhagwat Chandrasekhar's 6 for 38 in 1971 ripped England out for 101 to give India a famous victory. Apart from that performance, Indian spinners have been lacklustre: 44 wickets at 41.39 is hardly inspiring stuff.

Not surprisingly, The Oval is a win-the-toss-and-bat venue - since 1982, there have been 20 Tests, and teams have fielded first in only four of them. The trend is even more remarkable in the India-England matches. All eight times, the captain winning the toss has batted. Given the gameplans of both sides, expect that to become nine out of nine.

Five of India's eight Tests here have ended in draws, but the pitch here has changed character over the last decade. Since India drew their last Test here in 1990, only one of the 11 Oval Tests has been drawn. In the last five Tests here there have been 18 completed or declared innings - and half of them have been under 200. Of those 18, only five have exceeded 250.

India have another reason to feel optimistic about their about their chances here – three of England's top four batsmen have a sub-20 average in Tests at The Oval. Nasser Hussain (19.42 in six matches), Mark Butcher (13.67 in three) and Michael Vaughan (9.50 in one) have all struggled for runs.

Among the current Indian squad, Sachin Tendulkar is the only one to one to have played a Test here. Only nine Tests old then, Tendulkar managed a mere 21 even as India amassed 606. Twelve years and 90 Tests later, India expect many more.

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