India pull off miracle at Oval

In a finish worthy of Test cricket’s most storied epics, India beat England by just six runs at The Oval on Monday — levelling the five-match Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series 2-2 and sealing a result that will echo in memory long after the scoreboard fades.

This was no ordinary Test, and no ordinary ground. It was at The Oval, after all, that India won their first Test in England in 1971 under Ajit Wadekar, when Bhagwat Chandrasekhar spun India into history. It was here again in 2007 that Rahul Dravid’s side sealed a series win. And now, in 2025, the site of those landmark moments has delivered another — a match of drama, resilience and raw nerve, decided by the barest of margins.

Chasing 374 in the fourth innings, England looked poised for a commanding win. Harry Brook’s masterful 111 and Joe Root’s stately 105 took them to 301 for 3 on Day 4. For a while, it looked like India were done, their bowlers tired, their body language sagging. The home crowd rose with every stroke, the tricolours in the stands outnumbered but undeterred.

Then came the turn. Then came Mohammed Siraj.

Running in with the intensity of a man possessed, Siraj summoned a spell of fast bowling that turned the match on its head. Figures of 5 for 104 only tell half the story. It was his final ball — a brutal delivery that crashed into Gus Atkinson’s off stump — that brought The Oval to its feet and left Siraj on his knees, overcome by tears. Nine wickets across both innings. A match-winner. A history-maker.

Siraj’s emotion wasn’t just about numbers. This was a boy from Hyderabad who rose through hardship, lost his father during the Australia tour in 2020, and kept bowling. On Monday, in South London, he didn’t just win a game — he completed a journey.

Credit, too, to Prasidh Krishna, who bowled with purpose and heart. His four wickets included Bairstow and Foakes — batters who could have anchored England home. He was the perfect foil to Siraj, showing that India’s pace bench strength, once a punchline, is now a quiet source of envy around the world.

At the centre of it all was Shubman Gill. Just 25 years old, leading in his first full Test series, Gill emerged not just as a batsman of classical grace but as a leader of composure. Four centuries across the five Tests. An average north of 75. But it was his field placements on Day 4, his trust in his bowlers, and his refusal to panic that defined him. Here was a captain who didn’t shout or gesticulate — but one who read the rhythm of the game and let it unfold.

India’s six-run win is now its narrowest in Test history. It edges out the famous 13-run win over Australia in 2004 at Mumbai and the 10-run miracle at Johannesburg in 2006. That it happened on English soil, against an opponent that invented the game, gives it an added sweetness.

At the final whistle, Indian flags waved in unison. Fathers lifted sons onto their shoulders. Strangers embraced. South London turned saffron, white, and green. The chants of “Jeetega bhai jeetega, India jeetega” rang out under grey skies. For the diaspora — taxi drivers, bankers, nurses, students — this wasn’t just a win. It was a moment of pride, connection, and return. A reminder that cricket isn’t just sport. It’s emotion. It’s identity.

For England, this was a hard pill. Root and Brook had played beautifully, but the lower order collapsed under pressure. That too is Test cricket. It waits, it grinds, and then it bites.

In the end, the series is drawn. There is no trophy lifted. But for India, this was more than enough. A win forged in grit, led by a new generation, at a historic venue — and earned the hard way.

Test cricket, we are told, is on the decline. Not on Monday. Not at The Oval. Not with two teams refusing to give an inch. And certainly not when an Indian side, written off by pundits just days ago, delivered the kind of comeback that will one day be told not through statistics, but stories forever.

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