Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif lavished praise on the Shubman Gill-led side for emerging victorious in the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The victory saw the Men in Blue level up the series at 2-2 which led to the trophy getting shared by the two sides.
It was quite a stunning victory for India at The Oval as they looked to be down and out on the fourth day. With England requiring 35 runs on the final day while having four wickets in hand, it is safe to say that they were the favourites to win the match. However, a brilliant bowling effort from Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna saw the hosts fall short of the 374-run target and get bundled out for 367.
Kaif was thoroughly impressed with the Indian team's performance in fifth Test and pointed out how they were written off by many experts even before the biginning of the series against England. He further highlighted that this was a side which travelled to an overseas tour without the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin, but still pulled off two victories.
"First of all, I don't think many people gave this Indian team a chance. They went to England without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and R. Ashwin. Shubman Gill was a new captain, and there were questions raised about that, too. Some experts predicted a 3-1 or 4-1 loss. But this Indian team showed that matches are won on the field — not on paper," Kaif told IANS.
Pathan also heaped praise on the Indian team
Another former Indian cricketer who showered praise on the Men in Blue was Irfan Pathan. He stated that the England series proved that the Indian team is a good touring side and also hailed the team management for sticking to their decision of playing more all-rounders for batting depth and not caring about the 'outside noise.'
"This Indian team doesn't give heed to outside noise. The outside noise asks them to play Kuldeep Yadav from the first Test to the fifth Test. India didn't play him. What they wanted was to increase batting depth. They backed it and drew the series 2-2 to prove they are a good touring side,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel.
"Shubman Gill will keep the No.4 spot for so many years. [He] Scripted records after records. He was equally impressive as captain, especially today [under pressure on Day 5 at The Oval],” he added.
Meanwhile, the victory at The Oval saw India make massive gains on the WTC points table and move up to the third place with a PCT of 46.67, which is superior to that of England, who stand on fourth place with a PCT of 43.33.