All that was missing was Bella the elephant.

You’ll remember that on the morning of their team’s fateful pursuit of its breakthrough victory on English soil 54 years ago at the Oval, Indian supporters paraded an elephant borrowed from Chessington Zoo — it was spied by Ajit Wadekar’s team, who took it as an auspice, as it proved.

This time, the omens were more prosaic: the cast of the clouds, the imminence of the new ball, the incapacity of one English batter, and the inspirational Ronaldo tile on Mohammed Siraj’s phone. But it was, again, the fans who filled the occasion with outsize hopes and dreams. Such expressions! Such agonies!

There were, Arunabha Sengupta’s delightful Elephant in the Stadium (2023) reminds me, only 7,000 people on the final day in 1971; this time, the storied ground was full, despite the inevitable brevity of the occasion. Verily Test cricket is a miraculous sport — you would not get football fans to pack a stadium for a mere fraction of a fraction of a game.

Into less than an hour (56 hours) was then squeezed more suspense than some Test series — every run an event, every wicket an insurrection, every ball portentous. The Dukes ball has been the summer’s party pooper, marring almost every day with its mishapings; suddenly, more than eighty overs old, it was part of the fun, hooping midst the whooping.

India players acknowledge the crowd following the team's victory in the fifth Test match against England, at The Oval cricket ground, in London, England, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. PTI

Again, what other game makes such a character of the ball? In T20, the ball’s job is simply to disappear out of the ground as often as possible. Only in Test cricket does it achieve a personality as an extension of the bowler propelling, here becoming an agent of Siraj’s jubilant, undying spirit.

It’s a travesty that Chris Woakes had to bat at the end. But, again, it was a travesty testifying to Test cricket’s brutal, attritional uniqueness, with which you tamper at your peril. Such moments, moreover, are moving — this one moved even the Indian players, a number of whom extended the wounded opponent chivalrous recognition.

The ultimate travesty, meanwhile, was avoided, which would have been had England prevailed 3-1; instead, if it’s possible to do so, India “won” the series 2-all. They had four of the top six run-scorers, and four of the top six wicket-takers.

Their captain, Shubman Gill, was a daily wonder, marrying modern power with traditional elegance as perhaps no other modern batter; it was no mean feat to overshadow his illustrious counterpart, whom India fought to a standstill at Old Trafford in order to keep the series open.

India also had the better stories — they always do, for their players must fight so damn hard to work their way to the top. Siraj, the autorickshaw driver’s son; Jaiswal, the friendless urchin; Akash Deep, the battler from the Bihari backwoods; Pant, the miracle road accident survivor, now turning celebratory somersaults; Jadeja, the ultimate cricket survivor, rolling on Monday into another vital save on the point boundary.

One Indian fan in the crowd, loving the moment, was holding a makeshift sign: “25 Great Days of Cricket. What Are We Going to Do Tomorrow?”

Indian team members pose for pictures following their victory in the fifth Test match against England, at The Oval cricket ground, in London, England, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. PTI

A couple of things come to mind. We could note that for all the energies being channelled into making the future safe and lucrative for franchise cricket, it cannot and may never attain the drama of nation versus nation. Eric Hobsbawm had football in mind, but his line fits cricket snugly: “The imagined community of millions seems more real as a team of eleven named people.”

Yet at the end of it, the fans of differing cultures and competing ambitions dispersed peacefully, feeling heartened and rejuvenated. In an increasingly zero-sum world, Test cricket is unusual in its generosity. Winning is great. But the game’s drama, beauty, complexity and opportunity provide satisfactions and consolations for all.

Memory too: Test cricket is a mass memory machine, always laying them down, always causing to call something earlier to mind, even Bella the elephant. As you scanned the faces of the children in the crowd, you wondered how this incredible hour would be recalled 54 years hence. Test cricket circa 2079 is almost inconceivable. But if it nurtures competition of this intensity and enchantment, don’t count it out.