Gautam Gambhir Risked Wtc Points, Rejected Slow Over-rate Fix To Secure India's Historic Oval Test Victory

The final day of the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval turned into pure drama for India. They needed just four wickets to seal the win, while England required only 35 runs to clinch the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Every delivery mattered, but the India head coach Gautam Gambhir did something that has now turned heads.

There were four crucial ICC World Test Championship WTC points at stake, and Gautam Gambhir reportedly didn't care about those points and ordered the Indian cricket team to go for one of the most thrilling Test wins at the Oval last week.

On the Day 5 morning at The Oval, as India's players discussed their plan to finish the job, the match referee Jeff Crowe sent a strong message to Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill. They were told the team was six overs behind the required over rate.

Crowe warned that if India didn't make up the overs, they would lose four crucial WTC points unless they bowled England out at the Oval. This was the first Test series of the WTC 2025-27 cycle, and after missing out on the final last year, the Indian camp knew every point could make a difference.

Despite this, the Indian captain Shubman Gill, coach Gambhir, assistant coach Sitanshu Kotak, and a few others made a bold call that stunned Crowe. Someone suggested bringing on both spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, to speed up the over rate.

But there would have been a massive risk, as England batters Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton could have gone on a scoring spree without the pace attack and would have won the final Test at The Oval. And India was desperate to win the game and level the series, so Gambhir stepped in with a bold decision.

The head coach made it clear that they must forget about the over rate, even if the four WTC points are docked. Their only focus was to beat England. He set the plan to send Prasidh Krishna at one end and Mohammed Siraj from the other, giving the English batters a tough time.

As reported by Dainik Jagran, Gautam Gambhir clearly said, as quoted by the source, "I'm not worried about the over rate. If we lose four points, so be it-but we will play to win."

Even Gill backed Gambhir's idea despite the conditions slightly favoring batting early on Day 5. The heavy roller had made the pitch friendlier for the first half-hour, and the new ball was still 22 deliveries away. But Gambhir was confident that Siraj and Krishna could deliver with the old ball.

The gamble paid off. Siraj struck first, removing Jamie Smith, and soon after, sent Overton packing. India's hopes soared, and then Siraj and Krishna scalped the final two wickets to seal the game for India.