India vs England Test series: Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh didn't waste much time and reminded Michael Vaughan about how the latter's Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy predictions ended up being totally wrong. Before the five-match series between India and England had even began, Vaughan had confidentally predicted the Three Lions to win by either 3-0 or 3-1. However, Shubman Gill & Co. proved these predictions wrong by drawing the series 2-2 following a nail-biting final day of the Oval Test.
England were the favourites coming into the fifth day of the final Test as they only required 35 runs to win while India needed to pick up four wickets. Despite the equation not favouring them much, the pace bowling duo of Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna put in a fantastic performance to bundle out the hosts for 367 while chasing the target of 374. The former in particular was the star of the show as he took three out of the four wickets on Day 5 and recorded figures of 5/103.
Siraj was the hero for India in fifth Test
Siraj was the one who picked the final wicket of the match and dismissed Gus Atkinson as the Indian team celebrated a famous victory at The Oval. After the win, Harbhajan reminded Vaughan about his Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy predictions and remarked that the Indian team had proven him wrong in stunning fashion.
“I feel there is a big win hidden for India here. Yes, the scoreline shows 2-2. Michael Vaughan and many others predicted that it would be 3-1 or 3-0. I would tell them to look towards their side a bit and where England cricket stands. Our warriors have shown the level of Indian cricket,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
“Unbelievable Test match and the way India have played the series, they deserve praise. When the team went to England, many people said it was young and there were no seniors. But see how the young team created history,” he added.
Following the retirements of both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, many wrote off the young team led by Shubman Gill for the series against England. However, the side showed incredible grit throughout the five Tests and even though they weren't able to record a series victory, they still ended up shutting down many of their doubters.
The Indian team's next Test series will be a two-match tour against West Indies which is set to commence from October 2 later this year. The last time that the Men in Blue had travelled to the Caribbean for a red-ball assignment was in 2023 and they had emerged victorious in the two-match series by 1-0.