Tired, tested & triumphant: India squares series at Oval
London:
Under gloomy skies here at the floodlit Oval, an extraordinary series fittingly found its final act with some heart-stopping moments and the narrowest victory margin for India in a Test match.
After 53 deliveries on the final day, it was Shubman Gill's young side that held its nerve to clinch a thriller as England, which had unbelievably looked like chasing down 374, fell short by six runs.
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There was little to separate the teams in the series, and with India winning the fifth Test, the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy ended with a 2-2 scoreline after 25 days of blockbuster cricket.
No Test series in recent times has seized the imagination quite like this one, and India's victory lap made it clear what they thought of the preseries prophecies of a rout.
Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj press conference: India stars answer all questions
The visitors found heroes for every challenge through the gruelling English summer. On Monday, with everything on the line, it was pacer Mohammed Siraj who bowled the team to one of the side's most remarkable victories. As Gus Atkinson's offstump rested flat on the square, felled by a vicious yorker after 56 minutes of gripping cricket, Siraj set off for a celebratory run.
That spell of 5/104 in 30.1 overs of relentless seam bowling will now be etched in bold letters in the history books of Indian cricket.
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India not only drew the series, but won over fans and critics who doubted their chances under an untested young captain. It was a performance for the ages.
On the last day of a series which had refused to dull down over the last two months, the crowd thronged the stadium to watch what was anticipated to be a tense finish. The mild drizzle aided swing and added further drama.
Siraj and Prasidh Krishna made those 35 runs feel like a lifetime away for the English batters.
In a dream spell of swing bowling, Siraj took three wickets for nine runs and Krishna finished with eventual figures of 4/126.
You couldn't tear your eyes away from the spectacle even if you tried. A desperate England eventually forced out the wounded Chris Woakes to face the music. Woakes walked down the stairs and to the pitch, his dislocated left arm tucked under his jumper, to give Gus Atkinson company with 17 runs and a wicket remaining.
The moment again underlined how the series has pushed both teams to their limits, both physically and psychologically.
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Who was the standout player for India in the final Test?
Mohammed Siraj
Shubman Gill
Prasidh Krishna
The stadium erupted as Siraj's yorker thundered into Atkinson's stumps at 11.56 am. Seconds later, amazingly, the arena was engulfed in silence. The English fans were stunned and the Indian supporters speechless. The crowd found its voice again only when Gill's team took the lap of honour.
When play started, Jamie Overton strode out to the middle, wielding his willow like a sledgehammer.
He smacked the first ball of the day, bowled by Krishna, for a boundary past square-leg.
The second ball hit his inside edge and went for another boundary. However, there was no way Siraj and Krishna were letting England get away with chasing down another 370-plus target, like they did at the start of the series in Headingley.
'Each and everyone in the dressing room had the belief that we'll win the match from here. When you have bowlers like Siraj, 35 runs look a lot.
Even when there were 50-60 runs left, we knew we had enough to play with,' Gill said. Siraj, hurting ever since he stepped on the boundary line while catching Harry Brook on Sunday, was keen to make amends. 'I was feeling, why did it happen to me? God must have written something good for me,' Siraj said later.
The weather gods did seem to conspire to favour him, with overhead conditions getting so heavy that Siraj could dart the ball around at will.
Siraj and Krishna had the time to recover fully from the wounds inflicted by Brook and Joe Root's centuries on Sunday afternoon.
On Day Five, England were guilty of being nervy, edgy and in a hurry to finish the game. Atkinson nailed a square drive off Krishna, only for Ravindra For the first time, India have won the Jadeja to glide across the turf from third-man to stop the ball at the point boundary.
Siraj kept egging the crowd on even as Jurel missed running out Woakes while stealing a bye to keep Atkinson on strike. It seemed everyone on the field was about to wither under the extreme pressure of the situation. But Siraj held his nerve and delivered the knockout blow.
Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
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