It’s been one of the most watchable series this country has hosted in decades.
England v India went the full distance, lasting five days in each of the five Tests and ending in a thrilling denouement at the Oval on Monday as Mohammed Siraj flattened Gus Atkinson’s off-stump to seal the closest victory in Indian history after the hosts had been forced to send a one-handed Chris Woakes to the crease.
So after a rollercoaster month, who were the heroes and the villains, who provided the shocks and who didn’t?
Never mind the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy – who wins the Inside Cricket awards for this epic series?
Mohammed Siraj flattens Gus Atkinon’s off-stump to leave England six runs short and secure a series draw for India
The captains Ben Stokes and Shubman Gill shake hands after one of the most thrilling series in recent memory
Chris Woakes coming out to bat one-handed in a sling was one of the enduring images of the entire series
Most predictable performance
Ollie Pope began this series with a Test average of 35.49 and finished it on 35.36, having performed entirely as expected.
But it wasn’t just the numbers: it was the narrative arc. Yet again, Pope began strongly, with 106 at Headingley, before producing only one more half-century in his remaining eight innings. He now averages just 16.7 in the fourth innings of Test matches, a particularly acute problem for a team that has a fondness for batting last.
England had been seduced by his 171 against a somewhat hapless Zimbabwe in May, which was bad news both for Jacob Bethell and for their Ashes planning. Bethell looked lost at the Oval, but that was hardly surprising given his lack of red-ball action.
England have spent a whole series arriving back where they started.
Ollie Pope flattered to deceive once again, and England made no progress on deciding their Ashes No 3 for this winter
Most surprising whinge
Imagine if Ben Stokes had accused India of disrespecting the spirit of the game: Indian and Australian columnists would have fallen over themselves to denounce him.
But because the accusation came from Shubman Gill, after Zak Crawley did what any self-respecting opener would do and tried to face as few balls in fading light as possible at Lord’s, it was glossed over.
Didn’t conform to the narrative, you see: humbug is interesting only if it’s English.
Gill pokes a finger in the face of Zak Crawley at Lord’s, when he was accusing England of timewasting
Most baffling selection
Or rather, non-selection. The slowness and lowness of the first four pitches cried out for a bowler capable of transcending the conditions, of offering something different, of making opponents think.
Yet, stung by their experience at Headingley, India grew so fearful of a long batting tail that the left-arm wrist-spin of Kuldeep Yadav never got a look-in.
Had he played earlier, especially at Old Trafford, India might even have won the series.
Leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav (left) was left as a mere spectator throughout the series
Strangest win/loss ratio
In Australia over the winter, Jasprit Bumrah had touched new heights with a haul of 32 wickets at 13, almost single-handedly averting a 5–0 whitewash.
And when he struck in his first over, turning round Zak Crawley with a searing leg-cutter at Headingley, it seemed England were set for the same treatment.
But when Bumrah played, India never won. And when he didn’t, they always won.
His 14 scalps included Chris Woakes three times, Josh Tongue, Jofra Archer and Liam Dawson.
Somehow, the best fast bowler in world cricket was 0-2 in the three Tests he played, while India won both of the matches he missed
Most captivating cricketer
Rishabh Pant first, daylight second.
From the first Test at Headingley, where he celebrated one century with a somersault and another with a salute, to his broken-foot bravado at Old Trafford, where his cover-drive for four off Ben Stokes was possibly the shot of the series, he demanded attention.
Even though he missed a game, his 17 sixes were five clear of the field.
Rishabh Pant celebrates his century on day two of the first Test at Headingley
Best pantomime villain
‘He’s got this fake angriness about him, which I can see straight through,’ said Joe Root with a (genuine) grin.
He was talking, of course, about Siraj, who emerged from six and a half weeks of hard labour as the hero of the series.
But it was a bumpy road. His in-your-face send-off of Ben Duckett at Lord’s was not his proudest moment, before he was last man out in a 22-run defeat.
Then he stepped on the boundary sponge after catching Harry Brook on just 19 at the Oval, which seemed to grow in significance as England’s chase progressed and Brook went to a rapid century.
But with four wickets needed on the last morning, Siraj blew away three of them – the last seamer standing after five gruelling Tests in the space of five weeks.
Siraj celebrates taking the final wicket of the series – he topped the charts with 23
Most serene batsman
A toss-up between Gill, who briefly threatened Don Bradman’s record 974 runs in a series, and Joe Root, who followed a game-sealing half-century at Headingley with hundreds at Lord’s, Old Trafford and the Oval.
Ludicrously, he now has 13 against India alone, more than some decent players manage in an entire career.
While Gill made the jump from unfulfilled talent to potential superstar, Root underlined his status as an all-time great, even if some pedants are still demanding a century in Australia this winter before they allow him access to the VVIP lounge. His series average of 67 was within touching distance of Gill’s mammoth 75, despite finishing more than 200 runs short of the India captain.
An honorary mention, at this point, should go to KL Rahul’s cover-drive, the smoothest shot of the series as the India opener helped himself to 532 runs at 53, with two centuries of his own.
Joe Root scored three centuries in the series, the last of which was a fitting tribute to his former mentor Graham Thorpe at the Oval
Biggest thorn in the side
Every time you looked up, Ravindra Jadeja was doing his sword celebration after reaching another landmark. He passed 50 six times in all, an India record in a series against England.
At Lord’s, he almost rescued a hopeless position, and at Manchester he was central to the Handshakegate drama, because of course he was.
Whenever tempers were fraying, Jadeja was usually there, a street-smart cricketer who made up for his lack of incision with the ball to correct his middling record in this country with the bat.
Ravindra Jadeja celebrates his century at Old Trafford, one of six innings in which he passed 50
Unlikeliest walk-on part
Surrey head groundsman Lee Fortis deserved better than to be patronised by Indian coach Gautam Gambhir in the build-up to the final Test.
After all, he provided the best pitch of the series, one with pace, bounce and carry that encouraged the seamers throughout.
For Gambhir to tell him to ‘stay in your capacity’ because he was ‘just a groundsman’ provided an unpleasant insight into the hierarchical attitudes that still govern Indian cricket, no matter what Fortis had done to provoke him.
In the end, Gambhir should have been grateful: thanks to Fortis’s pitch, Siraj still had seam movement to play with as late as the decisive fifth morning.
Gautam Gambhir (second left) engaged in an ugly spat with Oval groundsman Lee Fortis (right)
Biggest Bazball blow-up
England were generally on better behaviour this series, though claims that their run chase at Headingley proved they had matured, once and for all, proved too grand a claim.
On a featherbed at Edgbaston, they ought to have been able to bat out a little over a day for a draw after Gill’s crazy conservatism set them over 600.
But their failure was epitomised by the dismissal of Jamie Smith, caught on the boundary aiming for a third six off Akash Deep.
It was a stroke that didn’t read the room, and enraged Bazball’s critics.
Jamie Smith trudges off after being dismissed by Akash Deep on day five at Edgbaston
Most thoughtless gesture
When Stokes offered a draw at Old Trafford, he clearly didn’t know what he was about to unleash.
England’s subsequent sulk was unedifying, but it wasn’t half as bad as gleeful op-eds in Australia made out.
Stokes’ war of words with the India batters at Old Trafford kicked off another ‘Anyone but England’ debate
The ‘Anyone but England’ brigade is alive and kicking, as evidenced by a headline in the usually moderate Indian Express: ‘The mediocrity of Bazball.’
This, after a 10-man team came within seven runs of chasing down 374, and winning 3–1. England are judged by different standards, and Stokes’s mistake was to not realise this.
Gutsiest innings
Not much to choose between Pant at Old Trafford, where he batted with a broken toe, and Woakes at the Oval, where he emerged with his arm in a sling to a standing ovation.
Does Test cricket still matter to the players? Hell, yeah. And the administrators should never forget it.