Mumbai, Aug. 7 -- It will be near impossible for any Indian Test win to touch the heights of Gabba 2021 because of the acute scarcity of resources with which it was achieved. But the Oval Test win on Monday that levelled the series presented serious challenges to the bowlers, and the manner in which India's pacers passed the endurance test has earned them a rightful place in the echelons of the country's best Test performances. Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep bowled 126 of India's 136 overs at The Oval. In the England second innings, the trio was forced to go to 'dark places' as Ben Stokes had described his travails taking on a heavy bowling workload after breaking down before the final Test. Deep, who suffered a groin strain at Lord's, needed injections to play in the final Test. Siraj, in his fifth successive match, refused to give up belief. Prasidh, battling issues with accuracy, persevered and ultimately found his sweet spot on the pitch. The strain of chasing 20 wickets with fewer frontline bowlers was accentuated in the series finale, but it was felt all the way through with India seeing greater merit in adding batting depth. That India could still win two Tests - the other came in the 2nd Test at Birmingham - in the series was down to one or the other fast bowler rising to the occasion at different times. Siraj was a key contributor in both the wins, picking up seven and nine wickets respectively. Besides, Deep emerged as wrecker-in-chief at Edgbaston, taking a 10-fer. He did most of the damage with the new ball. At The Oval, Prasidh, despite being expensive, found ways to exploit the carry on the pitch, and later, uneven bounce for his eight wickets. Deep with the new ball and Prasidh with the old became India's mantra to make things happen in the two Tests spearhead Jasprit Bumrah missed. So much so that in the final analysis - not just in those Tests India won - Deep held the best new ball numbers (avg 28.4) and Prasidh caused problems with the older ball, averaging 28.54, next only to Bumrah (22.12), but inducing more false shots (28.2 to 23.4%). To manage his workload, Bumrah had to be restricted to three Tests. The lead pacer was still very good, averaging the best of the lot, but his limited role forced the others to push their limits. This is where workhorse Siraj rose to the occasion, not only bowling 14 spells of more than 5 overs, but also finishing as the highest wicket-taker. How far India's tactics stretched their bowlers can be understood by a comparative look at the last tour of England (2021-22). It was also a five-Test series, the result (2-2) was identical, and the frontline bowlers took the same number of wickets (65). The key difference was the workload of the main bowlers, which was well spread among the experienced lot. Bumrah and Siraj played all the Tests, Mohammed Shami was there in four, Ishant Sharma played two and Umesh Yadav in one in which he made his presence felt. In three matches in this series, India played three all-rounders (including spinners), and two in the other games. Spinners made a limited impact in both series. The all-rounders bowled 7% more overs than three years ago but returned a poorer bowling average (54.3 to 43.14). While output comparison in absolute terms would not be accurate as the pitches this time were mostly batting friendly, it's worth noting that Shardul Thakur was a more effective bowler earlier. With England laying out flat decks barring The Oval, India's strategy to shore up batting had some merit. Their batting depth bailed them out on a few occasions. Washington Sundar produced important cameos besides the unbeaten century at Old Trafford. But data suggests India could have shown more faith in their batters though they lacked the experience of 2021- the top five scored more heavily (2,643 runs) than England's (2,076). Contributions of No.6-8 of both teams (India - 823, England - 844) were nearly the same. This margin might have swelled if India had picked an extra frontline bowler - a fourth pacer at The Oval and wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav in some of the other Tests. But the bowling averages could have improved and the lead pacers could have been sharper. "That's something we will reflect on when the tour is over, on things we could have done better," Morne Morkel, India's bowling coach, had said after Day 4 of the final Test. It didn't matter to Siraj, who took it upon himself to win the final morning of the pulsating series. It is because of lion-hearted performances like his that India competed in every Test....