Fascinating finale: On India's cricketing tour of England
In the distant past, a tour of England featured additional warm-up games against the Counties. The length of the tour helped players rest and regain form. Modern-day players have no such luxuries as a cramped year-long schedule that packs in T20s such as the Indian Premier League, means that every overseas trip becomes a rushed affair. That Jasprit Bumrah could only play three Tests and even Stokes had to skip one at the end, is a reflection of how cricketers have no time to pause and remain injury prone. Seen in that light, Mohammed Siraj turning out for five Tests and bowling with verve and skill, is a huge testament of his fitness. India has much to cherish as Gill amassed 754 runs, and K.L. Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal excelled with the bat. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar offered depth in the batting order, even if the tail below wilted. The injury to Rishabh Pant was unfortunate but he is bound to return in a while. India missed Mohammed Shami and much hinged on the fiery Siraj, who with 23 wickets, stepped up even as his fellow seamers lost their radar at times. A team in transition is bound to have teething issues. However, through their rugged fight, these players offer hope for better days ahead.
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Hindustan Times
30 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
India pass transition test, but with lessons to learn
In January, an India team with a multi-star cast lost the tour of Australia 1-3 with the captain Rohit Sharma missing the first Test and sitting out of the last. Ravichandran Ashwin shocked the world by retiring midway into the series. Jasprit Bumrah broke down in the final game and Virat Kohli went off the boil after starting with a hundred in Perth. India captain Shubman Gill and teammates Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna celebrate after beating England. (ANI photo) Seven months on, India have squared a series in England in the absence of Kohli, Sharma and Ashwin, winning two Tests not featuring Jasprit Bumrah, one of them also without Rishabh Pant, and amid much criticism over their cautious selection strategy that refused Kuldeep Yadav a place in all five Tests. This has also been a sensational coming of age for Shubman Gill, breaking Sunil Gavaskar's record of most runs by an Indian captain on a single tour. In Washington Sundar, India have found an allrounder willing to graft valuable partnerships when not drawing batters out of their crease with loopy off-breaks. Once again, Ravindra Jadeja proved his worth with five fifties and a resilient hundred that allowed India to draw the Manchester Test and take the series to a decider at the Oval. Also Read: Gambhir's epic reaction to Oval miracle, speaks about renewed 'ideology': 'This team will never be individual-centric' At the top, quietly but surely India have forged an all-weather opening combination with Yashasvi Jaiswal as the aggressor and KL Rahul as the anchor. Between them India got four hundreds, four fifties and 1664 balls faced across five Tests. On the bowling front, India can finally breathe easy now that Siraj has established himself as the go-to man for breaking partnerships or just putting in long spells. Biggest takeaway? The belief that no adversity can be daunting enough for this team. If India's batting rearguard at Old Trafford was admirable, their fightback at the Oval with just 35 runs in the bank was simply breathtaking. 'This morning kind of summarized what this team is all about,' Gill said after the match on Monday. '70 odd runs, 7 wickets in hand. The way Brook and Root were going, not many teams in the world would have given themselves a chance. But this team believes that whenever we have some kind of an opening, we can make that, we can get through that opening.' That said, India still have a few problems to sort out. There is a visible indecision over the No 3 spot, with both Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan putting in some good work. Nair's technique came to India's rescue in the form of a gritty fifty at the Oval but if India are to build this team for the future, they have to think more long-term with Sai Sudarshan who is a decade younger than Nair. The elephant in the room however is the strategy behind picking India's bowling attack. Be it in Australia or in England, India have leaned towards making the line-up batting heavy. It didn't work in Australia. England witnessed mixed results. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur haven't really aced the medium-pace allrounder job, meaning India's fast bowlers were often stretched in England on flat pitches that offered no assistance at all. It was a miracle that Siraj got through all five Tests unscathed but worrying was how the comparatively untested and better rested Akash Deep was prone to breakdowns. Trying Anshul Kamboj at Manchester was a punt gone horribly wrong but more deflating was the pace with which he was bowling as the third change fast bowler. The bigger reason why Jadeja and Washington were picked together was the solidity they added to the batting line-up. And while India may have passed this test by the barest of margins, they might want a relook at the strategy behind benching their best spinner on some tracks that could have easily been passed off as Indian.
India Today
30 minutes ago
- India Today
Statpack: India's resilient performance on England tour told through numbers
India managed to draw their second successive series in England as they registered a thrilling six-run victory in the fifth Test at the Oval by six runs. The Shubman Gill-led side came into Day 5, needing four wickets to win with England 35 runs away from a India held their nerves as they put up a performance for the ages to register their narrowest victory margin in Tests. Mohammed Siraj emerged as the knight in shining armour for the visitors as he picked up a five-wicket haul to help India defend the fourth innings target of India's young brigade was successful in avoiding a series defeat on the back of some phenomenal performances throughout the five-match affair. Every time the team was down and out, a new hero emerged to bail them out of trouble as they etched their name in history books with their remarkable performances. Here's a look at India's remarkable performance in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in numbers:754 – Shubman Gill registered the most runs by an India captain in a Test series and the second-highest tally for an India batter in a series after Sunil Gavaskar (774 runs).23 – Mohammed Siraj registered the joint-most wickets by an India bowler in a series in England along with Jasprit Bumrah, who achieved the feat during the 2021-22 series.6 – India won at Oval by six runs, their narrowest win in Tests.1 – First time four Indian batters registered over 400 runs in a Test series. Shubman Gill (754 runs), KL Rahul (532 runs), Ravindra Jadeja (516 runs) and Rishabh Pant (479 runs).12 – India registered a total of 12 centuries in the series, the most by them in a single series.2 – Ravindra Jadeja (72 and 61*) became the second Indian batter to register 50-plus scores in both innings at Lord's after Vinoo Mankad.336 – India registered the highest victory margin in away Tests with their 336-run win during the second Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham.10/187 – Akash Deep registered the best match figures for India in England, during the second Test.5 – India recorded a total of five centuries in the first Test at Headingley, Leeds with one each for KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and twin hundreds for Rishabh Pant. It's the most India have ever recorded in a Test match.2 – With his twin centuries in Leeds, Rishabh Pant became just the second wicketkeeper batter in the history of the game to hit centuries in each innings of a Test match after Andy Flower. He was also the seventh Indian to achieve the feat.4 – KL Rahul scored two centuries during the series and registered most hundreds as an Indian opener in England.- Ends
Hindustan Times
30 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Gambhir's epic reaction to Oval miracle, speaks about renewed 'ideology': ‘This team will never be individual-centric'
Gautam Gambhir got the much-needed breathing space as the Test coach after Shubman Gill's India levelled the five-match Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy by winning the Oval Test by six runs. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna pulled off a minor miracle as the duo got the final four wickets on Day 5, rounding off one of the most memorable Test wins for India. Heading into the final day, England required 35 runs while India needed four scalps. Gautam Gambhir had a blockbuster reaction to India's win in the Oval Test(Action Images via Reuters) Siraj got the three out of the remaining four wickets on Day 5 as he registered a five-wicket haul. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, the pacer led the attack really well, taking nine wickets in the Oval Test. Siraj, rightly so, was adjudged as Player of the Match. After the game, Gautam Gambhir had a blockbuster reaction to the epic victory, saying his team will never be about individuals. He also stated that his side truly 'deserved' this result as they fought really hard in all five Tests. Gambhir might have won the Champions Trophy as the head coach earlier this year, but he faced a lot of scrutiny heading into the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy because of underwhelming results in the longest format. Before the series against England, India lost the series at home against New Zealand and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin all retired from Tests, and a young side led by Shubman Gill had the burden of expectations. However, the team stood up to give England a real run for its money. Also Read: Morne Morkel lifts Gautam Gambhir like a baby, India head coach screams in his ears 'It's going to be the ideology of this Test team, where it won't be about individual-centric, it will be about the team. The way the boys have fought. I've always been a big believer that you should always get what you deserve, not what you want. And I think the guys deserved it,' said Gambhir in a video posted by BCCI. Shubman Gill's reaction Shubman Gill, who was adjudged as India's Player of the Series, scored 754 runs in the five-match series, including four centuries. His highest score of 269 came in the first innings of the Edgbaston Test, which India eventually won by 336 runs. In the same Test, Gill had also scored 161 runs in the second innings. The 25-year-old entered the series with questions over his SENA record. However, he answered his critics in style by smashing a century in the very first innings of the series. Speaking about the Oval Test win, Gill said, 'I'm feeling very ecstatic and high right now and very happy with the way everyone performed. Very happy with the way everyone contributed throughout the series. Different people stepping in at different moments.' 'This is what you want as a captain, and I'm very happy with the way I performed as a batter as well,' he added. For India, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja scored more than 500 runs in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy as the team put in a complete team performance to walk away with a 2-2 draw.
