#OTD: MS Dhoni endured low point in Test captaincy

On August 22, 2011, Englandbeat India by an innings and eight runs in the fourth and final Test played at The Oval, to whitewash the visitors 4-0 in the series. England captain Andrew Strauss emerged victorious

at the toss against his counterpart MS Dhoni and elected to bat first. Strauss and Alastair Cook stitched a 75-run stand for the opening wicket and created pressure on Team India bowlers. Cook fell against Ishant Sharma after scoring 34 off 87 while Strauss also departed after scoring 40 off 106.

Ian Bell, who came at number three, played the best knock of his Test career. He smashed 235 off 364 while getting support from Kevin Pietersen, who notched up 175 runs off 232 balls. England put up a massive total of 591/6 after batting for 153 overs. Following the total, Indiagot bundled out on 300 in their first innings despite an unbeaten 146 from Rahul Dravid as opener. Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann got three wickets apiece while Stuart Broad and James Anderson bagged two wickets respectively.

England enforced follow-on against India in The Oval Test in 2011

England decided to enforce a follow-on in the visitors. Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid added 49 runs together for the opening wicket. Dravid departed after scoring 13 while VVS laxman also went back to the dugout after amassing 24 off 42. Sachin Tendulkar and Amit Mishra played fine knocks of 91 and 84 respectively but those weren’t for India to evade defeat.

After Mishra’s departure, India lost their next six batters while adding just 21 runs. India got bundled out at a score of 282 after 91 overs. Swann donned the role of destroyer-in-chief as he grabbed 6/106 figures in his 38 overs. Stuart Broad got two wickets while James Anderson and Tim Bresnan claimed one wicket each. Ian Bell became the player of the match (POTM) for his batting brilliance.