I was at The Oval when Shubman Gill’s Team India found its new Test identity. One year later, it still matters

The loudest cheer at The Oval wasn’t when India completed a six-run win. It came a few minutes later, when Mohammed Siraj finally allowed himself to smile.

For five days, he had worn the look of a fast bowler carrying the weight of a series. He had dropped Harry Brook earlier in the Test, copped criticism for it and knew England’s chase could easily come back to that moment.

Instead, he produced one of the finest spells of his career, dismissed Brook when it mattered most and dragged India over the finish line.

By the time Shubman Gill lifted the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy alongside Ben Stokes after the series ended 2-2, it felt as though India had taken away something far more valuable than a drawn series.

It had found a way to win without depending on one man.

That tour had everything you would want from a memorable Test series. India lost the toss in every Test. It lost the opener at Leeds, bounced back at Edgbaston and then let Lord’s slip despite Ravindra Jadeja’s defiant fight. Old Trafford turned into a battle of patience before the rain had the final say. And at The Oval, with one last opportunity left, India refused to blink.

The scorecard will remember Siraj’s five wickets and Prasidh Krishna’s four. It will record a target of 374 and a victory by six runs.

It won’t tell you how composed Gill looked through the chaos, how convinced the dressing room remained that the game was still there to be won, or how every session seemed to throw up a different hero.

That, more than anything else, remains my biggest takeaway from that tour.

Previous overseas wins usually had one dominant storyline. Japrit Bumrah running through batting line-ups, Virat Kohli owning a series, or Cheteshwar Pujara batting England and Australia into submission.

This time there wasn’t one. Gill, despite new to the job, led from the front, Rahul looked at home, Jadeja kept chipping away and every now and then someone else stepped in. Washington Sundar, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna all had days when they shifted the narrative.

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Even with Jasprit Bumrah missing two Tests, including the series-decider at The Oval, as part of a workload plan, India found enough resources to match England blow for blow. It felt like the first time this young side knew exactly how it wanted to play Test cricket.

Twelve months later, that optimism has been tested.

India has since beaten a relatively inexperienced West Indies side. Then came the reality check: a 0-2 defeat to South Africa at home. It exposed familiar batting frailties, reignited debates around selection and left India’s World Test Championship campaign needing a lift much sooner than anyone had imagined after the highs of England.

That is why the tour of Sri Lanka, later this month, feels significant.

Not because it is another overseas assignment, but because it offers India a chance to rediscover its mojo. It wasn’t just the result at The Oval. It was the resilience to stay in the contest when England seemed to have the momentum, and the willingness of different players to stand up at different moments instead of waiting for one star to rescue the team.

England felt like the beginning for the young Indian team. In Sri Lanka, it needs to show that it wasn’t an exception.

Published on Aug 04, 2026