England vs India 2018, 5th Test: It is a Nice Feeling to be Involved in Such a Great Series - Sam Curran

Hosts England registered a comprehensive 118-run victory in the 5^th and the final against India at the Kennington Oval despite heroics from KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. Sam Curran, however, named the player of the series.

The duo stitched together a 204-run partnership after the quick fall of Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari in the first session. The visitors, however, were in a precarious situation when they started off the day’s play.

England bowled tight lines

India began pretty well in the opening session of the final day’s play. Both KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane was hardly troubled by the English bowlers. KL Rahul continued his prowess from day four, as he managed to register his maiden Test century on the English soil. Later, the visitors lost two crucial wickets just as lunch was about to be taken.

Rahane got dismissed by Moeen Ali. Soon after Hanuman Vihari also fell without troubling the scorers. From there on, it was a magical partnership between KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant which brought back the game big time. It was a special display of batsmanship by the duo, as they smashed the England bowlers all around the park.

India fought really hard

Rahul reached his first century in England by smashing Ben Stokes for a couple of fours and a six. On the other hand, Pant started going after the hosts’ bowlers. Rahul took the defensive approach and allowed Pant to go after the bowlers.

However, Rishabh Pant reached a century with a six off Adil Rashid. He became the 4^th Indian batsman to bring up his maiden Test century with a six.

As Rahul was looking well set for his 150, he got castled by a dream delivery from Adil Rashid. The ball pitched way outside the leg stump,  and it turned sharply to take the off stump. Pant also fell in quick succession. However, Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma batted sensibly.

However, it wasn’t enough to save India from the defeat. Eventually, England ended up winning the final match by 118 runs.

Here is what Sam Curran, the English Man of the Series said at the post-match presentation,

“It is just nice to be involved in such a great series. It came off luckily. To win the series and send off Cookie, it is perfect. I was trying to keep it as natural as I can. Playing with the likes of Broady, Jimmy and Stokes, It has been a great learning curve. For Jimmy to go past the record was pretty awesome for me to see it. I have grown up watching them play and now playing with them has been pretty cool.

I think consistency is the main thing. If you look at the stats of Jimmy and Cookie, they are very impressive. Don’t want to look too far ahead. It is like if you can do it once, you have the belief that you can do it again. Hopefully, I can keep contributing. Missing out on the third game and then coming back to contribute was a great thing for me. As I said, I will take one game at a time.”

However, Sam Curran was the most influential player for England in the series. Had he not been in the team, England might have ended up losing the series.

The left-arm speedster bowled brilliantly in the 1st Test and scored a match-winning knock of 63 in the 2nd innings.

In the 4th Test, he bagged crucial wickets and also scored a memorable 78 which helped the hosts post a commendable target to the visiting team.

Despite getting dropped for one match, Curran was by far the main player for England. Just 20-year old, Curran impressed all and sundry with his exceptional all-round skills. This particular series will definitely give him a lot of confidence as he moves forward in his career.