India pulled off one of the most memorable comebacks one could ever get to see in Test cricket to beat England by six runs at The Oval and draw the five-Test series 2-2. They were down and out and England were seemingly home and free for much of the fourth day but a late flurry of wickets, alongwith Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna suddenly stopping the flow of runs put England under pressure. The pair then tightened the noose in the short but immensely dramatic Day 5 and astonishingly, India went on to win by six runs
This is despite England needing just 74 to win at one point on Day 4 with as many as seven wickets in hand while Joe Root and Harry Brook were on a partnership of 195 runs in 210 balls. Naturally, this has led to reactions from across the board in the cricket world and beyond. India legends Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were among the first to post.
Here are some of the reactions from former cricketers on X:
Test cricket… absolute goosebumps.
Series 2–2, Performance 10/10!SUPERMEN from INDIA! What a Win. ???????? pic.twitter.com/ORm1EVcbRH
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 4, 2025
Fantastic from Team India . Test cricket ,best format by far..congratulations to all members and coaches led by the fantastic shubman gill..Siraj has never let this team down any part of the world..such a treat to watch .well done prasidh,Akashdeep,jaiswal @mdsirajofficial…
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) August 4, 2025
Test cricket at its finest with Siraj’s fiery bowling, stubborn partnerships and every series has that one moment etched in memory, for this one, it’s #AkashDeep’s exceptional knock. A reminder of why we love this game 🏏
@BCCI #INDvENG #TestCricket #TeamIndia— Jhulan Goswami (@JhulanG10) August 4, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Test cricket doesn’t get better than this. Tense finish, pressure moments, and character on display. Well done @BCCI.
— Ajinkya Rahane (@ajinkyarahane88) August 4, 2025
Incredible series! Well done, Well done.
— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) August 4, 2025
Historic win! ????
Belief and character shown by the team was brilliant to see! Fitting end to what has been an incredible series.Nothing quite like Test Cricket! ??#ENGvsIND pic.twitter.com/Ma6lVXWHlL
— Cheteshwar Pujara (@cheteshwar1) August 4, 2025
Brilliant from Siraj and prasidh . What a win for us ???? . Great Test match . @mdsirajofficial @prasidh43 @BCCI
Congratulations to every member of the team @ShubmanGill Tum sab ne jeeta DIL . Love you guys— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) August 4, 2025
???? believe in Mohammed Siraj! https://t.co/8s4Qs5qIGr
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) August 4, 2025
Cricket. Is. A. Ridiculous. Sport. #ENGvIND
— Alexandra Hartley (@AlexHartley93) August 4, 2025
Test cricket ??
— Faf Du Plessis (@faf1307) August 4, 2025
Siraj’s lion-hearted effort that helped India turn things around from a seemingly hopeless place on Day 4 and fittingly, it was the 31-year-old fast bowler who took the final wicket at the Oval and sealed a memorable win for the visitors. With England six runs away from victory, Siraj torpedoed in a low full toss first ball of the 89th over and uprooted Gus Atkinson’s off stump to send the Indian fans at the ground and his teammates into a tizzy.
Siraj had started the proceedings on Day 5 by dismissing Jamie Overton, who had made the match look rather academical after hitting two boundaries early on. Prasidh would strike soon after when he rattled Josh Tongue stumps with the visitors needing just 1 wicket to win. This forced Chris Woakes to walk in with his hand in a sling and tucked away in his sweater. Atkinson did fairly well after that to farm strike and protect Woakes. However, it wasn’t to last too long and England, incredibly, lost a Test match despite needing just over 70 runs to win with as many as seven wickets in hand at one point on Day 4.
