Brendon McCullum's era is still lacking a prize scalp as England come up short again, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH - after India fight back to deserved draw

Daily Mail​

19 hours ago

A series that has given us everything was never going to end any other way. With England needing seven to win — or six for the tie that would have secured the series — Gus Atkinson swung for glory and lost his off stump to Mohammed Siraj, India 's bowling hero of an astonishing few weeks.
At the other end was Chris Woakes, his left arm in a sling to protect a dislocated shoulder and a symbol of England's desperation for victory. Even without facing a ball, he felt as central a protagonist as anyone.
A quarter of an hour earlier, Woakes walked out to a standing ovation from a crowd of 25,000, who had all turned up just to be able to say: 'I was there.' Now, the applause rang out for India and for Siraj, a 2–2 draw plucked from the fire. The Oval has rarely witnessed scenes like it. Even the workmen building luxury apartments in the famous gasholders downed tools to watch.
The decisive exchanges of the inaugural Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy had been condensed into less than an hour on an overcast final morning, the 25th day of the 25 scheduled.
The equation was simple — England needed 35 runs, India four wickets, though with the caveat that Woakes would be no more than a non-striker.
When Jamie Overton pulled and inside-edged the day's first two balls for four, home hopes grew. But Siraj is a warrior of a fast bowler, armed with the skills of a surgeon. He had Jamie Smith caught behind from the third ball of the second over, then won a marginal lbw decision against Overton, with England still 20 short.
Three runs later, Prasidh Krishna bowled Josh Tongue for a duck, leaving India on the brink of victory. Out walked Woakes, a spine-tingling moment acknowledged by both sets of fans and pre-destined to go down as one of cricket's bravest acts, whatever the result. Gus Atkinson swung Siraj for six, the ball tipped over the ropes by a diving Akash Deep, then pinched a bye as Woakes grimaced in pain. Even the act of running was agony. Goodness knows what would have happened had he been required to take strike.
With 10 needed, Atkinson pulled Krishna for two, before once more pinching the strike. Siraj, though, was a man possessed and produced a perfect full-length delivery that dipped under Atkinson's legside mow.
As India celebrated the narrowest win in their Test history, it was impossible to deny that a drawn series was the fairest result. The tourists had chances to win both the games they lost, at Headingley and Lord's, and in Siraj had the only seamer who lasted all five Tests.
So much for Jasprit Bumrah, whose three games coincided with two England wins and a draw. In the games he played, Siraj took seven wickets at 61. In the two he missed, Siraj took 16 at 19, relishing the extra burden. Last man out during India's 22-run defeat at Lord's, he then dropped Harry Brook early in his 195-run stand with Joe Root on the third afternoon at the Oval.
Instead, he will be remembered for his five-for here and 23 wickets in all, four clear of anyone else. The line between hero and villain can be perilously thin.
It seems harsh to ask what went wrong for England when six more runs would have spawned questions about what went right.
In one sense, their narrow defeat counts among their most heroic failures, given the absence of Ben Stokes just as he threatened to peak in Manchester, and the injury to Woakes, which left England's three inexperienced seamers with too much to do.
Yet they will also know that, at 301 for three, with Brook and Root batting beautifully and India losing heart, a target of 374 was within reach. To lose seven for 66 reflected poorly on some of the shot selection — not least by Jacob Bethell and Smith — as much as it reflected well on India's seamers.
The nature of narrow defeats is such that every passage of play attracts greater scrutiny in hindsight. What might have happened had England not dropped six catches, or Tongue had not conceded 11 wides in his first over, or Washington Sundar had not squeezed 39 out of India's last wicket? The ifs and buts will linger for a while, for England came within a whisker of the prize scalp the Bazball era has craved.
Thanks to the Manchester rain in 2023, and India's fightback here, their two home series against Australia and India under Brendon McCullum have finished all square.
Their record under Stokes and McCullum remains strong, but Bazball's critics — mainly in Australia and India, though plenty in England — will not take them seriously until they beat one of the other members of the so-called Big Three.
The stakes going into this winter's Ashes are considerably higher than if they had won 3–1. This series, at least, has allowed them to make a call on a few fringe players. Liam Dawson and Overton look out of the reckoning, while Woakes — 37 before the start of the next home summer — may have played his final Test.
But some questions remain unresolved. Ollie Pope, captain in this game, averaged just 34 in a series so batsman-friendly that 12 different players totalled 21 centuries, including seven between Shubman Gill and Root alone.
Zak Crawley averaged 32, but while his place is protected in part by his opening partnership with Ben Duckett, Pope has no such security blanket. Despite his double failure here, Bethell must come into the mix for Australia.
As ever, much will come down to the fitness of Stokes, who won the man of the match awards at Lord's and Old Trafford and balanced the line-up in a manner beyond any other player.
The first half of England's defining year has ended in disappointment, but not defeat. The second will provide a clearer picture.