The final day of the fifth India vs England Test was a cliffhanger. India needed four wickets to win the match and level the series while England need just 35 runs to win the contest. However, what happened in the first hour of the final day of the 5th Test at The Oval is a stuff of legends. Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj bowled their hearts out as they combined to scalp the required wickets as India registered a win by six runs – the narrowest victory margin in the team’s Test history. For a team devoid of stars Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and even Jasprit Bumrah, the fifth Test win was a confidence-booster that would serve them good in times to come.
However, India entered the field on Day 5 at The Oval with a huge warning from ICC match referee Jeff Crowe hanging over their head. According to a report in Dainik Jagran, quoting Indian team sources, Crowe had warned India of deducting four WTC (World Test Championship) points because their over-rate was slow by six overs. The condition was simple, either India took the England wickets or they needed to improve their over-rate to avoid the point penalty. Every point in WTC counts.
The senior team management – including Gambhir, assistant coach Sitanshu Kotak, Shubman Gill – into a huddle. There, one member suggested that spinners should be used from both ends as they would take lesser time to complete the over and the penalty will be avoided. However, Gambhir said that the team should go for win and not think about the over-rate. On the final day, only pacers Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj bowled and it took them less than an hour to pick the remaining four England wickets.
Gambhir’s decision was vindicated and India did not get any penalty too. Currently, India are third in the WTC points table behind Australia and Sri Lanka. The top two team will qualify for the 2025-2027 WTC final.