Test Renaissance

For a format often dismissed as cricket’s quaint relic, the recently concluded five-Test series between India and England defied every dull stereotype. It ended, fittingly, in the most thrilling fashion. At The Oval, England needed just 35 runs on the final morning with four wickets in hand. While probability favoured England, Mohammed Siraj tore through the tail, bowling India to a sensational six-run win. It was India’s narrowest Test victory ever and a jolting reminder that the longest format of cricket can still deliver the tightest finishes.

But the nail-biting drama was not just confined to the finale. Over two months, the series produced generally decisive results. There were collapses, comebacks, centuries carved under pressure and spells of fast bowling that bent matches out of shape. In an era awash with T20 riches and attention spans trained on spectacle, England and India produced a reaffirmation of Test cricket’s unique, episodic theatre.

The Oval win, and with it the series draw at 2-2, signalled the arrival of a new Indian Test side. For the first time in over a decade, India played a major series without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma or R. Ashwin. Yet it was not a team in transition but a team transformed, and leading from the front was Shubman Gill.

Still only 26, Gill amassed 754 runs in the series at an astonishing average of 75.40 - more than any Indian or English batsman has ever scored in a bilateral series between the two countries. Only Don Bradman has made more as captain in a single series. Gill’s poise, fluency and appetite for runs silenced doubters and underscored a generational shift. India has not merely found a new captain but a new blueprint.

The other players rose to the occasion. Siraj, awarded Player of the Match at The Oval, took nine wickets, including a blistering spell on the final morning. Prasidh Krishna provided vital support. All this was achieved without Jasprit Bumrah, the leader of India’s pace pack. The players responded with performances that combined maturity with fearlessness.

For global cricket, the series was more than entertainment. It was proof of Test cricket’s viability that if supported and staged with purpose, the long form can be more engrossing than T20 or even limited overs. England’s ‘Bazball’, too, has changed the way the game is played.

But it is Gill’s India that may shape how it will be sustained. India now sits third in the World Test Championship, well placed to challenge again for the crown. The broader takeaway was that for a series meant to be a mismatch, India’s youngest Test side in decades pulled off a resurrection worthy of sporting folklore. It announced the rebirth of Indian cricket in its grittiest, most classical form. More importantly, the series revives the derided long-form while rebuking the notion that Test cricket is dying. If this is what the future of the five-day game looks like, then long live the renaissance.