Mohammed Siraj the hero on gripping final day as India level series 2-2

It had to be Mohammed Siraj, didn’t it? At 11:56 am London time on Monday, the fifth day of a sapping 25-day Test series that has pushed the cricketers to their limits, Siraj dealt the final hand of the contest by bowling Gus Atkinson and seal a six-run win for India that levelled the first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at 2-2. 

Siraj, the unrelenting workhorse who bowled the most overs of these five Tests, who took the most wickets, who was also the unluckiest, and who on day four at The Oval misjudged a catch off the bat of Harry Brook that left him so distraught that before India showed up for the final day, Siraj downloaded from Google an image with the word ‘Believe’ written on it. 

That wicket of Aktinson was Siraj’s 23rd of the series and ninth of the match. It had to be him, redemption song and all that. Jasprit Bumrah or no Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj endured across all five Test matches – Chris Woakes is the only other pacer to do so, but his role at The Oval was cut short on day one until, his dislocated left shoulder in sling hidden under his sweater, he walked out to bat at No 11 on Monday – and fittingly ended up as the Player of the Match. 

He was, of course, the last Indian wicket to fall at Lord’s when a ball from Shoaib Bashir deflected off his bat and dislodged a bail, thus giving England a narrow, series-leading win. So to see Siraj shatter Atkinson’s stumps and break into his preferred Sui celebration was apt. 

A transitional Indian team, led by a 25-year-old in Shubman Gill, was not widely expected to compete in England but it has, thanks in no small part to team men like Siraj, bounced back from being 0/2 in its second innings of the fourth Test to level the series 2-2. This six-run win is India’s narrowest ever, and it was an apt way to close out what has been an engaging and very competitive five-match series. 

These 25 days, with some incredible and insipid cricket alike, ended with on a wet and overcast south London morning with 20,000 fans at The Oval. Across 56 minutes of edge-of-the-seat cricket, they were treated to a reminder of why there is no sport in the world quite like Test cricket when it goes down to the wire like this. 

As India’s choice for Player of the Series Brook said after the game, he expected England to come out and get the 35 remaining runs. After all, they had knocked off 371 to win the first Test in Leeds. 

When Jamie Overton took two fours off the first two balls of the morning, the England fans cheered in knowledge that 20% of the required runs had been scored. But then, in his first over, Siraj had Jamie Smith nicking off. To add to the tension, KL Rahul grassed a tough catch in the slips to give Gus Atkinson a life first ball. 

Siraj kept hammering away, soon enough pinning Overton lbw to leave England eight down with 20 needed. Dots and singles were cheered with equal gusto, oohs and aahs emanated from the stands as every delivery of the session became an event. Prasidh Krishna earned his fourth wicket of the innings when he bowled Josh Tongue for a duck, ushering in a slingshot Woakes to plenty of applause. 

With no option but to attack, Atkinson heaved Siraj for six to bring the asking down to 11 runs. Woakes grimaced as he ran a bye and single, from behind the stumps Dhruv Jurel missed a run out chance and Siraj was peeved. And so, he said enough is enough and ended the contest on his own terms, bowling Atkinson to send the Indian team into raptures. 

A remarkable end to a memorable series replete with some individual brilliance, dollops of needle and some nerve-shredding moments.