Why India's young Test team looks set to conquer the world

For a setting that was as heroic as anything in sport could offer, the last few overs of the fifth Test of the bruising India-England series were also a bit comic, apart from the pathos. Here was a one-handed batsman coming out to bat to help score 16 runs to win. The injured Chris Woakes was also trying to be heroic, but he needed more than one hand for that. Grimacing in pain from the dislocated shoulder, Woakes had his bowling partner, Gus Atkinson, for company. They were up against two top fast bowlers,

Prasidh Krishna from Bengaluru and Mohammed Siraj from Hyderabad, who had already brought England to this dire situation, taking four wickets apiece. Both were breathing fire. But it was Siraj who took out Atkinson with only six runs left to win, with a daring yorker which an expert batsman could have converted into a full toss and whacked. But Atkinson cross-batted and the ball went past him to knock off his off stump, one of the most beautiful pieces of bowling that has been seen in cricket for a long time. It was art, craft and pace — a sight etched into memory for eternity.

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India's glorious draw

It was Siraj’s 31st over, and he bowled his heart out. The fifth day at The Oval was different. Earlier, the same bowling from Krishna, Siraj and Akash Deep had been whacked by Joe Root and Harry Brook for an incredible 195-run partnership that took them to the doorstep of what would have been a 3-1 series win. But the last day was different. New heroes had emerged, and the Gods that oversee such things had changed sides.

The series ended 2-2, but it looked as if India had won the series for just the incredible nature of the team's fightback. The way it was going, it should have been 3-1, with England reaching the doorstop of a huge and incredible victory by scoring 367 runs when 374 were needed. It was another of the heroic efforts that one saw in the series — a series that would be remembered for long and debated in late evening soirees in drawing rooms across the cricketing world, be it Lahore or Edgbaston or Sydney or Mumbai’s uppity Cuffe Parade.

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Heroic series

When India landed in England, no such heroism or teeth-grinding effort could be foreseen. The team had a new captain in Shubman Gill, a gaping hole in the middle order after Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket, leaving fans heartbroken. The top bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, is not sure of playing all five Tests to protect his injured back, and a few novices who were sure to be bundles of nerves on England pitches. This was not the team that had "Invincibles" written on their caps. They were the "Doubtfuls".

As the series progressed, England showed that they were a team of "Powerfuls". Led by a resurgent Ben Stokes, who was peaking beautifully during the series, England were dangerous. They had seven batsmen who could take apart any attack: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith. They had the ability to treat spin and pace with equal disdain, and here was India, in their den, ready to be mauled. After the first Test, which England won by chasing down 371 runs at Leeds, it was expected that the series would go according to dire predictions: a victorious England standing atop a grovelling India.

But unlike in cinema, in sports, scripts undergo dramatic changes: heroes become villains, side actors occupy the main stage for considerable time, and some reach divine levels.

Team India's young invincibles

Though the series was drawn, India came back victorious. The Doubtfuls are now Hopefuls, or maybe the Young Invincibles, led by Shubman Gill — only a baby-faced 25-year-old. There are a few home series coming up and the team suddenly looks all set to take on the world. The team needs a few repairs, especially in the middle order batting which does not look solid enough. Both Karun Nair, who was given a second life in cricket, and debutant Sai Sudharsan were completely nervy and tentative in England but at home they are what is known as domestic tigers. But surely, the team is likely to try out a few more batsmen to give solidity to the middle order. Sarfaraz Khan looks a surety, just as Shreyas Iyer is.

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Do away with selection panels

The Indian team selectors should be throwing into the dustbin the philosophy that red ball and white ball cricketers are different in nature, temperament and performance. There is no reason to believe that Shreyas Iyer, and Surya Kumar Yadav and Sanju Samson cannot play in Tests. For top cricketers, white and red balls are just colours, and surely they have the game to adjust for the little change in wobbling that this colour change and different seams bring to the balls. A big hitter in the short format can easily transform himself into a patient run-gatherer in Tests.

Also, India should do away with selection committees and leave the selection of the team to the team director or chief coach, like in other countries. If it can be done here for football, then why not cricket? Why this overwhelming feeling that the chief coach is a biased man and the committee will help neutralise all his biases? The more the cooks, the more distasteful the broth.

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No format specialists

The Indian team's bowlers are largely the same for both the short and long formats, and that should be followed in the batting lineup too. A look at all the cricket teams gives us the same verdict: most top players can play both formats comfortably. A classic example is wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant, who bats in Tests like it is a one-day game — constantly stepping out to hoick the ball over the long-on boundary, often with the bat dangling in one hand and sometimes with the bat landing somewhere near square leg, as it happened in England. If top batsmen are written off from Test cricket based on an unproven theory, then India will not have a settled middle order for some time. If Yashasvi Jaiswal, just 23 years old, can adjust to all formats, why not more senior batsmen?

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Captain Shubman Gill, who was the Man of the Series with an incredible 754 runs, including a 269, has made us forget that there was, till a couple of months back, a player called Virat Kohli. He has shown maturity and a sense of boyish-smile humility that has held the team together in England — and his big scores helped too. That is the biggest plus that Indian cricket now has, apart from, of course, the emergence of Mohammed Siraj as a top-line fast bowler, who is now also a legend. Looking ahead, the Indian team can be full of hope and cheer.