With India winning the last test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at The Oval, it means that the newly introduced trophy was shared by Indian captain Shubman Gill and England captain Ben Stokes. With England needing 35 runs to win the Test and win the series 3-1, Indian pacers Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna made sure that the Shubman Gill led Indian team did not lose the series and India tied the series with a six-run win. With Siraj being the leading wicket-taker of the series with 23 wickets and Gill being the highest scorer in the series with 754 runs, the series saw both the teams giving their best. Former England captain Nasser Hussain has termed it a ‘travesty’ had England won the series 3-1 and has hailed India’s effort in the Oval Test.
“It would have been a travesty had England won the series 3-1. India deserve to make to 2-2 for the amount of good cricket they have played in this series. The final scoreline was well and truly deserved by India, and it was very fitting for Siraj to get the final wicket,” Hussain told Sky Cricket.
With India losing the opening Test at Leeds by five wickets despite five centuries by an Indian batsman in the match, the Shubman Gill led Indian team would go on to win the second Test at Birmingham by 336 runs with Shubman Gill recording the second highest run aggregate in a single Test in Test cricket history. England would deny India a series lead chance at Lords with the Indian team falling short of the 193-run target by 22 runs to take the lead 2-1 followed by the Indian team fighting to a draw at Manchester with centuries by Gill, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja on the final day.
With the five-Test series seeing play on all the possible 25 days of play, Hussain termed the series as historic and called out England, India and Australia to keep an eye on the future of the format. “Why do people knock this format? It’s just so wonderful. But I’m afraid other countries don’t have the luxuries that England, India, and Australia enjoy. The crowds throughout the whole series – pretty much sold out every day. Even today, there was a sell-out crowd for just 40 minutes of play. Not every country has that privilege, so England, India, and Australia must keep an eye on the future of Test match cricket. If we let this go, we’re doing the game a disservice. We need to keep pushing it forward,” Hussein said.
India looked well behind in the game with Harry Brook and Joe Root taking the match almost out of India’s hands. But with the Indian pacers led by Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna making sure that India were in the hunt for the series-levelling win, the Shubman Gill led Indian team levelled the series 2-2 with the six-run win on Monday. Former England captain Michael Atherton hailed the effort of Siraj as well the fightback by the Indian team. “Congratulations to India. They’ve been competitive throughout. They looked dead and buried yesterday afternoon – the game seemed gone when Brook and Root were batting so magnificently. But they’ve come back through that man, Mohammed Siraj, who finishes with figures of 5 for 104. Brilliant. What a series it’s been. It’s been fiery at times, with tension and needle, but these two teams have delivered a magnificent contest.” Atherton told Sky Sports.
