- For any young and aspiring debutant captain embarking on a tough foreign tour such as Australia, South Africa, and England, it denotes initiation into a pressure-filled environment, but one that eventually shapes the career on the back of valuable experiences learned. When Shubman Gill was appointed as captain for the five-match Test series between India and England to be played in challenging conditions of the latter, it was assumed that the young cricketer would be tested by fire. Of course, Team India also witnessed the retirement of stalwart performers like R Ashwin, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma from Test cricket, making way for building a new team overcoming the transition. Head Coach Gautam Gambhir dislikes the word transition, though.
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- Cricket connoisseurs, experts, ex-players, and fans were apprehensive of Team India’s chances of not only living up to the challenges posed by the hosts in familiar conditions, but also leaving an impression and laying a solid foundation for building a team for the next few years. As the final wicket fell on the last day of the Oval Test, the fifth of the series, enabling Team India to level the series 2-2, captain Gill, Coach Gautam, and the BCCI officials/selectors must have heaved a huge sigh of relief with the eventual outcome. It’s worth mentioning that Team India not only showcased admirable fight, resilience, skillset, and gritty performances but also were right on the button, piling on the pressure on the hosts in literally every session of the well-fought series.
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- Team India showcased they were not pushovers any longer while touring yet again with the young cricketers. Some of the Indian youngsters were relentlessly aggressive without paying too much attention to the credentials of the opposition. Players of the caliber of Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Siraj, alongside Shubman Gill, were outstanding throughout the series. While Gill emerged as the top scorer of the series, the consistent batting efforts of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja were delightful. Jadeja’s second innings vigil was simply awesome to watch, while he went about guiding the lower middle order in notching up crucial runs, serving the team’s cause immensely.
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- The lion-hearted efforts of Mohammed Siraj deserve a special mention for running in hard every delivery to bamboozle the opposition batters. Remember, Siraj is always under the shadow of Bumrah but has shown enough gumption to step in whenever the latter is unavailable owing to injuries. And what a way Siraj ensured Team India crossed the final hurdle by producing one of the outstanding bowling efforts in recent times by claiming a five-fer in the last Test, enabling the visitors to level the series. From now on, the cricketing world will look at Siraj not as a support bowler to Bumrah but as an equally capable performer delivering the goods on his own. The England series offers a great template for Team India to build from in all their future endeavours.
