Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar lauds Shubman Gill-led side for their thrilling win in the fifth Test match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. Manjrekar also shut down the debate over Test cricket's future after stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from the longest format of the game.
When BCCI announced India's squad for the five-Test match series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, there was chatter around the team's future in whites as Rohit and Virat announced their retirement before the series and veteran speedster Mohammed Shami missed out from the squad, and Jasprit Bumrah confirmed that he won't be able to play all five matches. India levelled 2-2 in the five-Test match series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, and interestingly, the Shubman Gill-led side won those matches without Bumrah.
Manjrekar took his 'X' formerly known as Twitter to pass the verdict that no individual in Indian cricket is indispensable.
"Series drawn with 2 wins that didn’t feature Rohit, Virat, Shami & yes BUMRAH too! Great win for Indian cricket & great LESSON for Indian cricket. No individual is indispensable. Well done team India!" posted Sanjay Manjrekar.
Coming back to the fifth Test match, Mohammed Siraj picked up a fifer as India beat England by six runs. During Day 5 of the play, England needed 35 runs with four wickets in hand but Siraj picked up three wickets on the last day of the fifth Test match to complete his fifer in the series. He also removed Gus Atkinson to bowl out England. Siraj was the highest wicket-taker in the five-Test match series with 23 scalps in 10 innings. He bowled 185.3 overs.
With this win, India surpassed England (26) in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table tally with 28 points behind Australia (36) and Sri Lanka (16). India's next Test assignment will be against the West Indies, which is scheduled to start from October 02.