Acrimony followed the sensationally concluded India-England Test series at every juncture, but the fellowship of cricket suffering never got eroded. Battered, bruised bodies and satisfied souls of fighting cricketers from both the Indian and England teams assembled on Monday, to end the series on a note of mutual respect and bonhomie. A memorable series where banter got bruising but not brutal, received a calm debriefing as war wounds were bandaged.
The English team invited the Indians over for the customary end-of-series tradition after the 2-2 parity was reached. They might have been involved in fierce fights, not ceding an inch but once The Oval emptied out, it was scenes of camaraderie and asking after the well-being of the wounded.
A team official told The Indian Express that while every Indian walked up to Chris Woakes who came to bat with a hand in a brace, admiring him for his courage, several English cricketers asked after how Rishabh Pant had been doing, given his broken toe. Both sides had given the world iconic images of broken warriors walking out to play their designated role, something that was appreciated most by the opposition.
