India needed four wickets, England 35 runs, and a damp fourth-evening pushed the climax into Monday morning. Two hours later Shubman Gill’s side had levelled the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy, sealing a 29-run victory at The Oval and closing the five-match series at 2-all.
Mohammed Siraj removed three of the last four batters to finish with 5 for 63 in the innings and nine for the match. Gus Atkinson’s off stump, splayed by a Siraj yorker, confirmed the win and started the celebrations.
“Yeah, we were pretty confident,” Gill said at the presentation. “Even yesterday we knew that they are a little bit under pressure. We just wanted to make sure that they’re feeling the pressure throughout… Pressure makes everyone do things that they don’t want to, and we just wanted to make sure that they’re feeling the pressure throughout the 37 runs that they scored.”
The captain had resisted the second new ball, preferring the older, softer Dukes that was reversing. He also persevered with Prasidh Krishna, whose fourth-day burst had dragged India back into the game. Together with Siraj, Krishna claimed nine of the ten wickets in England’s chase.
“When you have got bowlers like Siraj and Prasidh bowling their spells, captaincy seems pretty easy,” Gill continued. “The ball is doing all sorts and they’re making the ball talk… the way we responded this morning… was just magnificent for us.”
Siraj’s reaction was quieter than at Lord’s a fortnight earlier, when he fell last man trying to pull victory from defeat. The pacer admitted the Oval finish felt like redemption. Gill certainly enjoyed having him in charge of the new ball. “Yes, definitely, he’s a captain’s dream,” the skipper said. “Coming in five Test matches, every ball, every spell that he bowled gave his all out, and every captain, every team wants a player like him.”
While Siraj collected Player of the Match, Ben Stokes’ opposite number, Brendon McCullum, named Gill India’s Player of the Series. The opener’s 754 runs at 75.40 are second only to Don Bradman’s 810 by a captain in a single Test series, and edge past Graham Gooch’s 752 for the most in an England-India contest.
“Feels very rewarding,” Gill reflected. “I worked pretty hard before the start of the series… it was my goal to be able to be the best batter of the series. And to be able to accomplish that goal feels very satisfying and very rewarding. I think once you are sorted mentally, you would be in a good space. But you’re only sorted mentally when you’re feeling technically correct. So, I think they’re both kind of correlated.”
The trophy remains shared, a result that feels appropriate after five Tests that swung almost daily. England’s batting dared; India’s bowlers, eventually, dared a touch more.
