Giving up was never on India’s mind as Shubman Gill finished his maiden Test series as full-time captain with his head held high on Monday at The Oval. Defending just 35 runs on the final day of the fifth Test against England, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna shared the final four wickets to help India win by six runs and draw the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2–2.

Earlier, India had won the second Test in Birmingham and drawn the fourth Test in Manchester. Under the guidance of head coach Gautam Gambhir, the young Indian team, sans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, never shied away from giving it back throughout the series, a trait instilled in them by their outgoing seniors.

Without Jasprit Bumrah on the side, the Indian pacer trio of Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj did the job to eke out a narrow win. Asked what would be his takeaway from the last six weeks of gruelling Test series, Gill was pretty blunt in his reply and said, “We never give up.”

Captaining the side for the first time in his career in Tests, all eyes were on Gill. He kept his captaincy aside from his batting with 754 runs, which included a double hundred and three centuries. As a captain, Gill never backed down from taking tough decisions and was spot on with his decision-making.

“Very rewarding, my aim was to be the best batter this series and getting there is very satisfying. It’s always a matter of sorting things out technically and mentally; they are correlated,” added Gill.

Siraj is a captain’s dream: Shubman Gill

Speaking on Siraj, Gill said the Indian pacer is a captain’s dream. Playing all five Tests, Siraj finished the series as the top wicket-taker with 23 scalps, including nine wickets in the Oval Test. “When you have bowlers like Siraj and Prasidh like that, captaincy looks easy. I think the way we responded today was magnificent.

“We were confident, even yesterday, we knew they’re under pressure. We wanted to make sure it stayed throughout. Siraj is a captain’s dream. Gave it his all every ball and every spell he bowled. 2-2 is a fair reflection,” added Gill.