57 minutes of madness: Mohammed Siraj’s fire seals historic turnaround at the Oval

Mohammed Siraj’s fire seals historic turnaround at the Oval

57 minutes and not one minute could be counted as a lull. Hearts thumping in our chests and hearts in our mouths, we watched a miracle unfold and history being made. A young team making it back from almost having lost the series, and the one and only Mohammad Siraj finally emerging from the shadow of Jasprit Bumrah as the series decider.

A large part of this frenzy was the raw emotion of Mohammad Siraj that emanated from his body and radiated into each one of us that was praying for India. From yesterday’s lost catch on the boundary and the sense of guilt on him, to today’s ‘junoon’ in his eyes- he built the drama with his every movement and every spell he bowled.

With a dropped catch by Dhruv Jurel or Akash Deep the cameras caught him in a moment of despair and then in the same moment re-building his resolve. With every new ray of hope as another wicket got taken, there was frenzied supper from the stands and the media box. Today if on any such day, Indian fans have showed the kind of support we generally admire in English fans- for the way they are known to egg on and support even loosing sides.

Yesterday as well, when loss seemed imminent and a matter given, fans did not stop calling for ‘Siraj’, ‘Akash’ or ‘Jaddu’. It was something to experience - Indian and English supporters jostling shoulder to shoulder, each side doing better than the other every time there was the need to pump up their heroes.

Did that energy move into the field and into a Siraj or a Prasidh Krishna? We have seen this energy exchange between the English team and their supporters or many occasions. At the Oval the Indian supporters did better.

Drama of such a high level can have its health implications for those hanging onto every ball! One or two colleagues in the press box complained about feeling faint from the pressure- or almost. Others had every anti-jinxing move in operation, one being to instruct others to not move from where they were seated in case that tilted some delicate cosmic balance that existed in India’s favour! Truly such drama is not for the weak hearted and for those on the field today was a day of their true mettle packed into 57 minutes.

For those of us who have had the opportunity to cover this series, today has been a day to remember. While we might have won and not drawn the series remains a matter to be debated, or team selection and the issues around bowling, what stood out was this morning and the note on which it all ended.

The game of cricket in all it’s beauty and unpredictability - of rain making it into the fifth day here at the Oval. Possibly yesterday was a day the gods had blessed England and today we were the chosen ones. And what made it imminently more beautiful was the nerve-raking drama- killing and liberating at the same time!