India defeated England by six runs in a dramatic fifth and final Test against England at The Oval. Needing to take four wickets on the final day, while England needed 35, the match ended up at a stage where England pacer Chris Woakes had to come out and bat despite having a dislocated shoulder. However, with Gus Atkinson trying to keep the one-armed Woakes off strike, India pacer Mohammed Siraj and captain Shubman Gill had hatched a plan to get Atkinson out. However, when the plan did not work out properly, Siraj had seemingly questioned Gill on the pitch. The Indian captain revealed the details of the plan and why it hadn’t worked after the match.
During the innings, Atkinson was aiming to take a single on the last ball of each over in order to prevent Woakes from having to face a ball. In the 84th over, Siraj and Gill had planned to bowl a wide yorker to Atkinson, to prevent him from hitting a six and to keep the run out option open.
However, despite Atkinson missing the delivery, the England batters managed to sneak a single as India wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel missed the stumps with his throw.
Gill later revealed that Siraj had asked for Jurel to keep his glove off and be prepared, but the message couldn’t be sent across to the wicket-keeper on time.
“He (Siraj) had told me to ask Dhruv Jurel to remove his gloves for the run-out,” Gill said.
“Jab tak maine Dhruv ko bola, ye bhagne lag gaya aur usko time nahi mila. Toh usne miss kardi and isne mujhe bola, ‘Tune bola kyu nahi? (By the time I told Dhruv, Siraj had already started his run-up, and so he didn’t get time to take his gloves off. Once he missed, Siraj questioned me, ‘Why didn’t you tell him?’),” Gill revealed in the press conference after the match.
As it turned out, Siraj managed to settle the issue on his own accord in his following over.
Siraj clean bowled Atkinson on the first ball of the 86th over, ensuring a six-run victory for India. Incidentally, wicket-keeper Jurel was the first man to run across to Siraj and begin celebrations.