Sunil Gavaskar, ex-India captain and one of the most outspoken voices supporting the team, was a smiling man on Monday after Shubman Gill and Co. did the unimaginable at The Oval. With only 35 runs to be defended and four wickets to be grabbed on the final day of the 5th Test match against England to tie the series, Indian bowlers arrived in an unprecedented fashion. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna's bowling appeared to be unplayable as England's fight did not even last one entire hour. India eventually defeated the match by six runs - the closest margin with which the team has ever won a Test match.
Gavaskar was unable to keep his emotions in check after the victory. He danced and sang. a video of the great singing 'Mere desh ki dharti' has gone viral.
Nothing lights up the little master like a #TeamIndia victory #SonySportsNetwork #ENGvIND #DhaakadIndia #TeamIndia #ExtraaaInnings pic.twitter.com/KrNQXygjx8
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) August 4, 2025
Siraj played all the five Tests of the just-finished drawn series against England and bowled 185.3 overs in aggregate, taking 23 wickets overall. But pace ace Jasprit Bumrah was fit for just three of the matches, missing the must-win fifth Test at The Oval under his workload management.
Gavaskar, however, clarified that his indictment was not against Bumrah, stating that his was a case of "injury management" rather than anything else.
"When you are playing for your country, forget the aches and the pains. On the border, do you think that the jawans are complaining about cold? What did Rishabh Pant show you? He came out to bat with a fracture. That is what you expect from the players. Playing cricket for India is an honour," Gavaskar told 'India Today'.
"You are representing 140 crore people and that is what we saw in Mohammed Siraj. I think Siraj bowled his heart out, and he debunked forever this business of workload."
