By N Chandra Mohan
India’s improbable win at the Oval—which levelled the series at 2-2—should set all doubts to rest regarding the edge-of-the-seat entertainment potential of the longest format of the game. This match represented test cricket at its finest as both teams fought hard as the game went into the fifth day. England needed only 35 runs to triumph in this five-match series with four wickets in hand. But that was a bridge too far with the devastating spell of swing bowling by Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. Siraj’s 5 for 104 runs won the match for India when his perfect yorker castled Gus Atkinson. Krishna took four wickets for 126 runs. Cricket is a game played with the thinnest margins as India was victorious with a six-run victory over England.
A Young Leader Steps Up
India’s performance against England should be a shot in the arm for the country’s cricketing establishment as they fielded a much younger side led by Shubman Gill. Expectations were typically low as the old stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had retired. Gill’s prior experience in captaincy was in the Indian Premier League series when he led the Gujarat Titans. But he grew into his role throughout the five-match test series in England. He led from the front with his classical batting and amassed 754 runs with four centuries at an average of 75.40 runs. This sort of performance evokes memories of Sunil Gavaskar’s exploits against the West Indies in 1970-71. The fact that he achieved all of this with the pressures of captaincy is truly remarkable.
Gill’s exploits with the bat was part of the 21 centuries struck in the series, a performance that emulated the five-match series between Australia and West Indies way back in 1955. But it is not just Gill but others like Yashasvi Jaiswal, vice-captain Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul also struck centuries. In the first test at Leeds, there were in fact five centuries struck by Indian batsmen, including those by Pant in both innings. Despite this problem of potential plenty, India lost that match by five wickets. England secured the advantage as they skittled out India’s middle and lower batting order. With seven wickets being lost for 41 runs in the first innings and six wickets folding up for 31 runs in the second innings, that match was lost.
Bowling Wins You Matches
India under Gill responded thereafter with its middle and lower order stepping up when the top batsmen floundered. It says a lot when a draw in the fourth test in Manchester felt like a victory. That was no mean achievement as India responded to the England captain’s heroic exploits in that game with Gill scoring 103 and centuries by Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar in the second innings forcing a draw. Jadeja hit five 50s in the whole series. Another big find for India was the all-round capability of Sundar who ensured that the middle and lower order held up. For such reasons, Gill clearly showed his mettle as captain and ensured that the performance at Leeds was not repeated in the subsequent test matches.
More than India’s batsmen, it is our bowlers who ensured a series-levelling win. India no doubt had the services of strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah but he did not play at the Oval. Hailed by the Guardian’s cricket writer for his exploits in 2021 as “cricket’s master of disguise who takes on at least half a dozen guises: talisman, calm head, tail-end swing guru, new ball craftsman, reverse swing guru, yorker-summoning necromancer”, he tormented England’s batsmen in this series as well with 14 wickets at an economy rate of 3.04 runs. Siraj’s feats, however, define India’s performance with the ball as he emerged as the highest wicket taker in these five matches. Siraj bowled India to victory at the Oval but his best performance was six wickets for 70 runs in the second test at Birmingham which India won by 336 runs.
The writer is an economics and business commentator based in New Delhi.
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