With the ICC contemplating four-day Tests, India and England have shown at The Oval that Test cricket is well and truly alive and kicking

When Team India left Mumbai for the five-Test tour of England, now christened the ‘Anderson Tendulkar Trophy’, no one in their wildest imagination would have expected Shubman Gill and his young side to deliver a 2-2 verdict and produce one of the most epic Test series of all time.

Not only did India play like a ‘gun’ side, as head coach Gautam Gambhir wanted the side to play, but they also manufactured every ounce of energy in their being to force a drawn series that culminated in a showdown for the ages at The Oval in London.

Mohammad Siraj emerged as the superstar India were desperately looking for in the absence of their pace spearhead and delivered the goods with a scintillating performance in the series with 23 wickets, knocking England out on the final day of the series with three crucial wickets.

With all the discussion around the International Cricket Council (ICC) contemplating four-day Tests to spice up the longest format of the sport owing to its waning interest among the fans with the advent of the extravagance of T20 cricket, and especially franchise cricket, India and England have shown at The Oval that Test cricket, in all its essence, is well and truly alive and kicking. 

It was a perfect advertisement for five-day Test cricket.

The series, in a way, has been a microcosm of all the beauty and romance that Test cricket can offer, with the pendulum swinging from one end to another with both teams in the race till the very end.

England took the honours in the first Test at Leeds, riding on their all-round brilliance, with Josh Tongue and Brydon Carse shining with the ball while Ollie Pope slammed a fine hundred in the first innings.

With a tricky chase, not too challenging in the ‘Bazball’ era, of 371 ahead of them, Ben Duckett rose to the occasion with a flamboyant hundred, staying true to the philosophy of Bazball as he took England home with the knock of 149.

India were not too bad, although on the losing side, as skipper Shubman Gill, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, and the swashbuckling wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant cracked fabulous hundreds in the first innings, as they struck a total of 471.

Pant came to the party again in the second innings with another fine hundred, scoring 118 in his typical, unconventional style with all the razzmatazz one associates with him by now.

Before the series began, Jasprit Bumrah and Pant were believed to be the two lynchpins and game-changing players for India if they were to be successful.

Although Pant’s two hundreds at Leeds went in vain, as India lost, he was part of India’s winning cause as well when they tasted victory at Birmingham.

One of the great spectacles of Test cricket is to see players overcoming and overwhelming their physical constraints and injuries and turning up for their countries.

Pant, who was involved in a horrific car accident in 2022, provided ample display of all that and more when he came out to bat hobbling with a fractured toe and cracked an unforgettable half-century in the first innings of the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester.

These are images that will stay with fans around the world when they relive this landmark series between two storied Test-playing nations. England had their share of dramatic moments too, with an injured Chris Woakes coming out to bat at No. 11 with a heavily strapped left arm in a sling underneath a jumper to add to the theatre of the fifth day at The Oval.

Although India was the triumphant side, thanks to Siraj’s fierce, workmanlike efforts, Woakes received huge applause when he came on to the middle to accompany Gus Atkinson on that manic Monday.

Moving on to one of the central characters of India’s hugely creditable performance in the series, Siraj, no words are too many for the irrepressible Hyderabadi.

With all the talk of workload management after Bumrah chose to play only three Tests in the five-match series, Siraj has been a revelation of sorts.

Having bowled 1113 balls and claiming 23 wickets across five Tests, turning up day in and day out for 25 days with absolutely no complaints and full of passion and unwavering zestful energy, Siraj is the way forward for India in Test cricket.

The 31-year-old spoke about his nervous excitement on the final day of the series, waking up at 6 am and changing his phone’s wallpaper to the famous ‘Siuuu’ pose of the great Portuguese footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo.

For what? Belief.

It’s a six-letter word written in gold as far as Siraj is concerned, and that simple yet core aspect has taken him to the heights in Test cricket. Players like Siraj, with the heart and belief to compete hard for India in Test cricket and win matches and series for the country, are the need of the hour, as Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill look to herald a new era for Indian cricket.

Workload management is not a bad phrase, but Siraj has proven that when it comes to national duty and crucial matches, there should be no ambiguity about playing and competing.

Apart from Siraj, India has unearthed some precious little gems for the future, with the likes of Akash Deep, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, and Jaiswal all shining bright with sparkling performances with the ball and bat.

Deep’s maiden Test fifty at The Oval was an indicator of how fiercely India have competed in the series, holding back no punches when the chips were down.

With the retirement of greats such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Gill’s boys, who have become men after the baptism with fire in England, would be eager to showcase their prowess and deliver in the series to come in the future. These are truly heady times in Indian cricket with an air of expectancy after what the young side has achieved in the Anderson Tendulkar Trophy with the 2-2 draw.