Mohammed Siraj, the tireless warrior, would run in to bowl the first ball of his 186th over of this series like the wind. His strides had the enthusiasm and energy of a child running to the playground after the school bell. England were a hit away to win the series 3-1, a six was all they needed. The last fully-fit batsman standing, Gus Atkinson, swung his bat alright, but Siraj’s match-changing deadly yorker would blow the off-stump — and also England’s hopes.
In India’s cricket folklore, Siraj’s yorker could rank with MS Dhoni’s six that won India the 2011 World Cup. His strike had given a logical end to the series. India’s 6-run win ended the contest 2-2 — nothing could have been more apt for this epic see-saw battle of fine margins where neither team gave up. There was sweat, blood and broken bones, but no sign of the will backing down.
On the morning of the fifth day, when England needed just 35 runs to win the series with four wickets to go, Siraj woke up at 6 am, googled Cristiano Ronaldo image with ‘Believe’ written on it, downloaded it and pasted it on his phone’s screen. He would take the message to the ground, to take three of those wickets to finish with figures of 5/104 and win the Man of the Match award.
Others in Shubman Gill’s new Team India have been carrying the same belief on the field, but what they have googling isn’t yet known. The 25-year-old captain entrusted with the job of ensuring a seamless transition after the retirement of larger-than-life stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli shared a bit of that secret.
“What we did this morning kind of summarises what this team is all about. England has to make 70-odd runs with 7 wickets in hand. The way Harry Brook and Joe Root were going yesterday, not many teams in the world would have given themselves a chance. But we knew, one more wicket from here,” he would say, turning towards Siraj sitting next to him. “When you have bowlers like him bowling, it makes your job as a captain very easy… you just want to appreciate their bowling.” They would then smile — Siraj beaming, Gill with pursed lips that showed his dimples.
The 53 balls at The Oval this morning gave an idea of the template Gill’s team would follow in the day ahead. It was a pleasant sight. And the future looks bright and entertaining as this team doesn’t like to lose and takes Indian cricket very seriously.
This series will have a far-reaching impact on Indian cricket. It is a blow to the old hierarchy and a hammer on the head of its deeply-embedded superstar culture, where a few seniors enjoyed excessive power and unreasonable leeway.
The very un-Indian decision to hand over the reins to a young captain wasn’t a popular call. It was a bold decision taken by those with influence in the BCCI, national selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Gautam Gambhir.
Historically, India has given a long rope to aging and fading stalwarts, despite them pulling the team down. There was Kapil Dev back in the day, there is Dhoni at CSK now. And in the last tour to Australia, it was clear that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were past their prime.
The success of this young team is expected to set a healthy precedent. Gill’s unputdownable team has made a point — the young can be trusted and they can’t be dismissed as a T20 generation.
The picture that was worth more than a thousand words, of this successful transition, was of the fresh-faced Indian captain standing toe-to-toe with the battle-hardened grizzly England skipper Ben Stokes, keeping a tight hold on the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Last evening, it seemed England wouldn’t allow Gill’s hand on the silverware. How wrong they were.
The morning was murky again, the stands were full by 11 am, Indian fans were cheering wildly to deal with the nervousness and Siraj was being Siraj. It seemed “play” was pressed on the game that had been put on “pause” last evening.
This was like a penalty shootout to decide a game that has been on for the last one-and-a-half months. This was not a morning at The Oval to buy coffee and cheese toasties and gradually move to the seats.
For anybody who missed this riveting series of changing fortunes, watching the 56 minutes would have given an idea about the ebbs and flows of the travelling cricket drama that had come to The Oval after attracting packed houses at Leeds, Birmingham, Lord’s and Manchester, each one for five days.
There was talk that England would take the heavy roller and that would make the pitch dead, making it easy for the home team. Like so many times before, this series has made pundits sound foolish.
In the day’s first over, Prasidh Krishna went for eight runs with Jamie Overton hitting him for two fours. England now needed 27 runs. Advantage England. In the next over, Siraj got the wicket of England’s last recognised batsman, Jamie Smith. India now needed three more wickets. Advantage India.
In Siraj’s next over, he got Jamie Overton out lbw. England now needed 30 runs and India needed just two more wickets. After a couple of overs, Prasidh would get Josh Tongue. India now needed 1 wicket, England 17 runs. Advantage India.
England too didn’t give up, Chris Woakes would walk on the field with a sling holding his dislocated shoulder. He was to bat with just one hand. Was this Lagaan playing out in real life? Atkinson was doing well in protecting Woakes. It was Advantage England, they needed just a six. But Siraj’s booming yorker would end the pulsating Test – and the series. At 11.56 am (local time), it was game, set, match India.
And thus came to an end an incredible contest that will be talked about for long. This was the series when the all-time greats of the games were often remembered – most times, it was when their records were under threat or were broken. This Indian summer in England, no record was safe, however old or iconic.
Gill was only second to Don Bradman when it came to the runs scored by a captain in an England series. The Don made 810 on the 1936-37 tour, the Indian skipper 754. He broke a Sunil Gavaskar record and barely missed another by 21 runs. Gavaskar would present him a customised cap that had his signature and SG – the initials both share. There was a time when Ravindra Jadeja was sarcastically called Gary Sobers. In this series with six half-centuries, he erased the great West Indian’s mark set 59 years back.
The staggering run-aggregate of 3809 by the Indian team in this series was thanks to eight innings totals of 350-plus – something no team has ever done. Most days of the series saw packed houses and black-marketeers making a killing. They are calling this Anderson-Tendulkar series the Alt Ashes, another record considering how the English have enshrined cricket contests with their arch rivals Aussies.
On an overcast cloudy day at The Oval, a rainbow emerged — it was Gill’s team of many colours and character.
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