India won the fifth Test against England at the Oval by a narrow margin of six runs, thereby ending the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in a 2-2 draw.
When the Shubman Gill-led side landed in England, no one gave the tourists a chance following the retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin from the longest format.
However, the team in transition proved everyone wrong as they gave the hosts a run of their money in all five Test matches.
This outcome also prevented India from suffering a third consecutive Test series defeat under Gautam Gambhir, who expressed confidence in his team’s ability to dominate red-ball cricket, provided they maintain their work ethic and commitment.
“The way this series has panned out 2-2 is an outstanding result, congratulations to all. So remember, we will keep getting better, we will keep working hard, we will keep improving our areas – because if we keep doing that, we can dominate Test cricket for a very long period. People will come and go, but the culture of the dressing room should always be like that people want to be part of this culture, that is what we want to create. Good luck, enjoy yourself. You can take a couple of days off, and you deserve every bit of it. What you guys have achieved, you deserve every bit of it. Congratulations," Gambhir was quoted as saying in a Dressing Room BTS video shared by BCCI.
Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja presented the Impact Player of the Series medal to Washington Sundar for his stunning exploits on the tour. Sundar finished the series with 284 runs, including an unbeaten 101 match-saving knock at Old Trafford in Manchester.
“Obviously, it is a great blessing to be playing four games on the trot in a place like England. Always wanted to do really well here. And as a team, just the way we went about, every single day was amazing. The energy we created especially from a fielding perspective, the energy we created, we were always there for each other. Thank you so much for everything," Sundar said of his successful England tour.
(With IANS Inputs)
