India Pull Off The Oval Stunner

Siraj Sinks England With a Five-Wicket Haul; India Score Their Narrowest Test Win

- S KANNAN

NEW DELHI: Transition versus Bazball—if that is the catchword for the India versus England five-Test series—new captain Shubman Gill and his men can take pride in forcing a 2-2 draw in a hectic contest. At The Oval on Monday, when play was limited to less than a session, India defeated England by a wafer-thin margin of six runs in front of a delirious crowd.

The win was India's smallest in terms of runs in Test cricket, surpassing the 13-run victory that they had achieved against Australia at Mumbai in 2004. Success has many fathers, and failure none. Although cricket is a team game and the Test format retains its pure, untainted essence, one man—Mohammed Siraj—stood out like a beacon, driven by a big heart, relentless hard work, and an unflinching readiness to bear the burden. Celebrate the effort of the lion-hearted Hyderabadi who plotted India's victory.