"Quality Not As Good": Batting Great Rates This Series Over India vs England 2025 Tests
Down 1-2 after the Lord's Test, India showed incredible resilience to fight back and level the Anderson-Tendulkar series 2-2.
- Shubman Gill captained India to a 2-2 draw against England in his first Test series as captain
- Michael Atherton called the series the best since the 2005 Ashes but not better than it
- "I don't think the quality was as good as '05. I don't think I've seen a better series than the '05 Ashes
The recently-concluded Test series between India and England had experts and spectators on edge throughout the course of the five-match rubber. In his first series as captain of India, Shubman Gill led from the front to silence his doubters, who had questioned his batting and leadership credentials ahead of the tour. The 25-year-old not only guided the visitors to a 2-2 draw, but also emerged as the leading run-scorer of the tour with 754 runs in five matches.
Down 1-2 after the Lord's Test, India showed incredible resilience to fight back and level the Anderson-Tendulkar series 2-2. On the back of incredible bowling by Mohammed Siraj, who ended the series as the highest wicket-taker with 23 scalps in five Tests, with figures of 4-86 and 5-125 across both innings of the fifth and final Test at The Oval, and that too in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah who sat out of the final game citing workload management.
Following India's stunning win in the series-decider, many fans labelled the series the 'best' in recent memory. Reacting to the same, former captain Nasser Hussain asked his ex-teammate Michael Atherton if it was the best series since the 2005 Ashes, or even better.
Atherton, however, was of the opinion that the India-England series came close to Ashes '05, which according to him is the best series of all time.Â
"I don't think the quality was as good as '05. I don't think I've seen a better series than the '05 Ashes. It was a great team on the decline and the emerging team, absolutely great players at the top of their game. But it was probably the best series since '05," said Atherton.
"The 2023 Ashes was a fantastic Ashes, but I'll put this series as the best series since '05 because of those dramatic moments, like Woakes, and like Rishabh Pant. And the twists and turns of the series," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.
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