Spell-binding: What kind of magic was that at the Oval?

Thirty-five runs, four wickets, and the biggest battle of their sporting lives.

- Kunal Pradhan

While the rest of India nervously watched this ethereal equation unfold through the gaps in their fingers, paceman Mohammed Siraj and his band of brothers refused to believe they were beaten.

Over the next hour, every ball became an event, every boundary a knife through the heart, and every wicket delirium. Finally, after 53 remarkable deliveries at an Oval packed to the rafters on an overcast south London morning, Indian cricket turned a corner on August 4, 2025.

It is a date that will live on in the sport's annals. The headline may itself be unremarkable — a 2-2 draw in England — but it will live on whenever new generations of followers unearth the magic numbers hidden beneath the surface. And it will live on because those at the stadium, and the tens of millions who watched on television, will be able to recall where they were when Siraj uprooted Gus Atkinson's off-stump with just seven needed for victory after 25 days of gladiatorial Test cricket.

Twenty-five days of a young team, who weren't given a whiff of a chance, slowly coming of age.

The unlikely numbers