One year on, Siraj's spell at the Oval still defines India's resilience

Mohammed Siraj's five-wicket haul on the final morning at The Oval sealed India's six-run victory and squared the 2025 Test series against England 2-2. England needed 35 runs with four wickets in hand when Siraj began his spell. Fifty-six minutes later, the off stump of Gus Atkinson lay uprooted and India had completed their narrowest Test win.

Siraj had woken that morning convinced he would change the game, setting a "believe" image as his phone wallpaper. He finished with figures that rank among the most decisive by an Indian fast bowler in England. The result capped a series in which India lost sessions, recovered from collapses and fought to a draw in Manchester before producing the decisive act at The Oval.

Yashasvi Jaiswal's second-innings hundred, Akash Deep's lower-order resistance and Prasidh Krishna's earlier breakthroughs all contributed to the outcome. The victory confirmed that India's new Test side could win from behind rather than relying on dominance.