Moments before lunch on the third day of the fifth and final Test, Shubman Gill comfortably defended a delivery from Jamie Overton, who followed through and glared at the Indian captain. Gill smiled back, utterly unconcerned. As a metaphor for the progress of this game, it was perfect.
While England have been all mouth and no trousers, India have played with a sense of purpose and pre-destiny, as if the fates could not possibly allow their efforts these past few weeks to amount to a 3–1 defeat.
Gill did fall first ball after the break, but he had already taken his summer’s haul to 754, the most in a series by a Test captain not called Don Bradman. Overton, meanwhile, would finish with match figures of two for 164 in his first Test for three years. Apparently Brendon McCullum is a fan. So, clearly, are India’s batsmen.
England deserve sympathy for losing Chris Woakes to a serious shoulder injury on the first evening, but his absence has only highlighted the fragility of an attack that should never have been cobbled together for a game of this magnitude in the first place.
Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue have had their moments, but Overton has looked short of Test class and the lack of a frontline spinner has placed an intolerable burden on the three remaining fit seamers.
As Washington Sundar’s late pyrotechnics extended India’s second innings to 396, it was clear that the gamble England had taken in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, by playing Jofra Archer in back-to-back matches and Brydon Carse in his fourth in a row, had backfired.
A smile from Shubman Gill while Jamie Overton glared at him summed up this Test so far
India have played with a sense of purpose and pre-destiny as they seek to claw a Series draw
A depleted, new-look England made some catches but also missed opportunities which may come back to haunt them
Ben Stokes (pictured) is out alongside Chris Woakes as he is nursing a shoulder injury
India are the side who have stepped up – and Australia will be taking note of that
Since both then had to be rested here, and with Ben Stokes nursing a shoulder injury, England fielded a new-look attack on a surface Archer and Carse would have loved. Having placed everything on black, they have been horrified to discover it has come up red.
That was not the only problem. For the first time in a home Test since 2006, they dropped as many as six catches in an innings, with Yashasvi Jaiswal alone put down three times and nightwatchman Akash Deep shelled by Zak Crawley at third slip only 21 runs into his career-best 66.
Those misses cost England 143, potentially the difference between a 3–1 win and a 2–2 draw.
With this series in the balance, it has been India who have stepped up – and Australia will have taken note.
