Goa, Aug. 5 -- While Gautam Gambhir named England's Harry Brook as his Player of the Series, Brendon McCullum had initially leaned towards India captain Shubman Gill. In fact, according to Dinesh Karthik, Gill was all but confirmed for the honour at the end of Day 4 of the fifth Test at The Oval.

"If the match had ended on Day 4, Shubman Gill would've been the Player of the Series. Brendon McCullum had said it. Atherton was ready with the questions," Karthik on Cricbuzz.

But everything changed on Day 5.

Mohammed Siraj turned the game on its head with a fiery spell, picking three of the four wickets India needed to pull off a historic six-run win-India's narrowest-ever in Test cricket. That performance made McCullum reconsider.

"In jus...