Introduction

India vs England – As India’s bright young talents Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel dashed across the pitch to secure a five-wicket and 3-1 series victory over England, the national team locker room spilled onto the play. The significance of the occasion could not be overlooked. After a mini-collapse at lunchtime, India was 120-5, but Gill and Jurel led the team to 192 in the fourth innings with an undefeated partnership of 72 runs. India, not known for chasing down tough totals in pressure conditions, had scored a remarkable victory. And thanks were due to a group of sportsmen in their twenties.

The 3-1 result had undone England’s much-publicized aggressive style of cricket, in addition to emphasizing the youthful team’s success. It was also a clear declaration that the nation no longer relies on rank turners to ensure its domestic security. Captain Rohit Sharma hinted that the Indian Cricket team would continue to include these bright young talents in the future.

India had not been in such a buoyant state of mind early in the series. After losing the first Test in Hyderabad, they reflected on their future. The players are aging, and the team’s MVP, Virat Kohli, was expected to miss the entire match. Old hands Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have both been pensioned off; the transition does not appear to be going smoothly.

In this style, India appeared to be going through a period of instability. But at the end of the fourth day of India vs England, you could sense a fresh surge of vitality. In Jurel, 23, they discovered a calm head standing in front of the stumps and fast hands behind them. The 90 and 39 not-out scores were priceless, earning him a Player of the Game title in the  place which His idol, M S Dhoni, calls home. “A home built with the dreams beyond imagination,” he told the broadcasters.

Gill, 24, stood by him at the presenting ceremony, wearing the exact same helmet he wore throughout the hunt. He had been laughing like a teenager, comfortable and carefree. The India vs England series was a relief for him. After suffering in the first Test and having his ability to bat against the the spinning ball called into doubt, he rebounded with scores of 100, 91, and 52 not out, demonstrating that his game is adaptable and that his mind is open and hungry to improve his technique.

In the post-Kohli-Sharma era, Gill might be the shining beacon of Indian batting, following in the footsteps of Yashaswi Jaiswal, who amassed 655 runs in the current set with one Test remaining. 

Jaiswal, 22, demonstrated the attributes of solid technique, alert thinking, and robust perseverance in stacking up two double hundreds, which might very well secure him a long and prosperous career at this level.

Sarfaraz Khan, 26, another series discovery, demonstrated his worth and the level of batters emerging in domestic cricket with consecutive half-centuries in Rajkot.

In Ranchi, he made up for his modest scores with strong covering at short leg. India may have found the wiggle space to rest established match-winners Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah much more frequently by bringing in bowler Akash Deep, who made a stunning debut here. With spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has become a more formidable batter, the Indian spin partnership has an indestructible aura.

Another encouraging part of the India vs England tournament were the pitches, which were not as difficult as the ones England faced until 2021.

Rohit would describe this as a unique series. Decades later, certain younger cricketers might look at their careers and declare that they played in the series that defined them. And Stokes would be wondering how they lost the chance of breaking into the last frontier, which has endured many a battle.

What Rohit Sharma had to say –

Here is a gist of what he said: “It’s been a very hard-fought series, so to come on the right side of it feels very good. A lot of challenges thrown at us but we responded and were quite composed. These guys want to be here, growing up in the domestic circuit, local club-cricket, and coming here. It’s a big challenge, but the responses I get are encouraging.

We have to give them the environment they want to be in, we can’t just keep talking to them, they are very clear in what they want to do. Jurel showed composure, calmness and shots all round the wicket. His first-innings 90 was crucial, and again in the second innings along with Gill.

It’s always not pleasing when you miss key players, but there’s nothing we can do as a group. To fill their shoes was not easy, but they responded really well. When you make a mark like that, you hold yourself in a good position for a long career. This will motivate them. We turn up to every Test thinking we want to win, this is a great series, want to turn up in fifth and put our best foot forward. Confident we will put on a good show.” (Via Hindustan Times)

Ben stokes reported –

“I think it was a great Test match. If you see the scoreboard, it’ll say India won by 5 wickets, but it doesn’t give credit to the way things unfolded, the ebbs and flows on every single day it happened. I can only be proud of my team, we ‘ve had some inexperienced spinners (Bashir and Hartley), but I’m proud of their efforts, they came here without a lot of exposure and the way they kept bowling, I can’t ask for anything more.

Part of my captaincy is allowing the young guys to revel and the freedom to play in some difficult and intimidating conditions in India. I am a massive Test cricket fan, the numbers of youngsters coming along in both teams sets things up nicely for the future of Test cricket. If you look yesterday, anything was possible, it was incredibly difficult batting against the spinners (Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep), scoring became difficult and so was rotating the strike. We knew the pitch wouldn’t get any better, as we saw today.” (Via Cricbuzz)

India vs England Scorecard :

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-4th-test-1389402/full-scorecard

Watch India vs England live match :

India vs England, ICC Overall Analysis of 2024 Test series :