India won the fifth and final 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. But the team in transition proved everyone wrong as they gave the hosts a run of their money in all five Test matches.
On the final day, the Three Lions were 35 runs away from chasing a 374-run target, with four wickets in hand. As the tension escalated on the field, so did the stakes off the field.
According to a Dainik Jagran report, match referee Jeff Crowe issued a warning to the Indian camp that they were six overs behind the required rate before the start of the final day's play. The consequences were serious—India stood to lose four crucial WTC points if they failed to bundle out England and correct their over-rate deficit.
Subsequently, captain Gill, head coach Gautam Gambhir, assistant coach Sitanshu Kotak, and others discussed a tactical switch. The report stated that one suggestion was to immediately introduce both spinners—Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar—to boost the over rate. But this came with obvious risk as England’s Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton could have taken the slow bowlers to cleaners to chase the target rapidly.
That’s when Gambhir took a bold call. “I don't care about the over rate,” the coach reportedly said. “If we lose four points, so be it. We are playing to win.”
Gill backed his coach, and the decision was made to use Mohammed Krishna and Prasidh Krishna in tandem, regardless of over-rate penalties.
It proved to be the right decision. Despite the new ball being due in 22 deliveries, both seamers kept the pressure on with the older ball. Siraj first removed Smith, then Overton, putting India on the verge of victory. The game reached a thrilling finish as Gus Atkinson’s big hit went for six after a misjudgment on the boundary by Akash Deep, and a run-out opportunity was missed by Dhruv Jurel.
Eventually, Siraj knocked over Atkinson, sealing one of the most dramatic Test victories. With this win, India not only levelled the series but gained a vital 28 WTC points.
Moreover, India avoided over-rate penalty thanks to the result, while England lost two WTC points for their own slow rate. The Shubman Gill-led side now sits third in the WTC standings behind Australia and Sri Lanka.
