Agony or ecstasy? One last hurrah awaits India, England in fitting finale to showdown for the ages

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

If only Mohammed Siraj hadn't stepped on the rope… A thrilling finish is on the cards in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. (PTI)
… but then, we would have had this classic, would we?
Glass half-empty? Or half-full?
More importantly, what does your gut tell you? Will England knock off the 35 runs required on Monday morning (the forecast shows 0 per cent rain till 1 PM, but who really knows) to complete the most sensational of victories? Will Mohammed Siraj, who keeps coming and coming like Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator, and his pace-bowling brothers conjure the four wickets remaining and take their team to a famous 2-2 draw? And hey, what about a tie, perhaps the most fitting ending to a series that has surpassed all expectations, bucked all predictions?
My gut, if anyone cares, is tight; my gut feel is hopelessly off-radar. On Sunday, as we trooped into The Oval, I foresaw Ollie Pope trapped leg before or losing his leg-stump, falling over trying to work Siraj's remaining ball of his unfinished over to leg. Instead, what we got was a solid push to mid-off. Forget gutfeel, focus on the game, one told oneself, through gnashed teeth and bruised ego. But that shouldn't stop you.
Gutfeel is often overshadowed by want. For India's supporters and England's. The want of a victory. The want of one decisive telling statement in a series full of eloquent those. The want of the final salvo being fired, of the target hitting home, of the unmatched delight that success brings. Even if it's not one's own success, it sometimes feels that way. This is one such instance.
How we have arrived at this denouement has been a fabulous, unmatched experience. Indian followers will insist their team should have sewn up this series by the end of Lord's, the realists and neutrals will say 2-1 to India at the time. But this isn't about what might have been. This is about what it is. And now, about what could be over a gripping hour or so on the final day of a series that will see action for a 25th day on the trot. What more could one ask for?
So, what might Monday have in store that the preceding 24 days haven't? No, really, what could it? We have seen just about everything there is to see. Spectacular centuries. Inexplicable collapses. Incredible spells of bowling. Other-worldly shows of courage. And character. How do you match that, let alone top it? And yet, here we are: England 339 for six, 35 required for 3-1 to the hosts. England 339 for six, four wickets needed for 2-2 to the visitors. The red corner, or the blue? Who did the stoppage for bad light and rain on Sunday evening help? Was it the batting side, desperately trying to weather a raging storm, or a bowling attack running on fumes?
Holding fort for England are the two Jamies, Smith and Overton, no mugs with the bat. The former averages 51.19 in 15 Tests, the latter 48.50 (but in only his second Test; his first-class average is a handy 21.82 in 98 matches). To follow are Gus Atkinson, who boasts a Test hundred, and Josh Tongue. Oh, and Chris Woakes, him of the dislocated left shoulder. What odds on Woakes walking out with five needed, his left arm in a sling, somehow hoping to take his team over the line? Will that be the final act this series deserves?
Or will it be Siraj, whose catch-that-wasn't allowed Harry Brook to breeze from 19 to 111, allowed England to go from a potential 137 for four to 301 for three? All series long, the Hyderabadi has been a gathering force, a sinewy mass of character and steel and skills and nous and with the admirable, scarcely believable blessing of shrugging off heartbreak with unimaginable equanimity. He has bowled more overs (181.2) than anyone else from either side, and he has also taken more wickets (20) than all-comers. It was his unfortunate dismissal, bowled off the middle of the blade to a defensive push, which confirmed India's 22-run loss at Lord's. Isn't it time he got the due that has steadfastly eluded him? Is this the moment the higher powers have reserved for him, for his bravery and perseverance and persistence and positivity, for his jigar?
Also Read: 'Ek ghanta zor lagayenge, uske baad…': Shubman Gill's war cry that triggered India's miraculous comeback
Will you switch on the TV at 3.30 PM IST with shaking hands and thumping hearts, and then peer at the screen between split fingers because you can't bear to watch the action, but you also can't not watch it? Or wait nervously for a text from a friend, informing you of the result, because you can't take the tension?
They say Test cricket is a fading art form, that it is gasping for breath, clutching at straws, desperately in need of oxygen. Maybe they haven't watched this series. At all.
So, what is your gut feeling, truly?