Rohit's relaxed captaincy, youth and flair: How India defied all odds to halt 'Bazball' juggernaut

“To fill their shoes was not easy, but they responded really well.” – India captain Rohit Sharma was all praise for his team after they pulled off a remarkable come-from-behind victory against England in Ranchi on Monday, sealing yet another Test series at home in the process.

The Indians having now won every single Test series since a stunning 1-2 defeat against the Alastair Cook-led Englishmen in 2012-13, stretching the streak to 17. Moreover, the manner in which they’ve responded in this marquee series for the Anthony D’Mello Trophy — which still has one match left to be played in picturesque Dharamsala — only serves to highlight their dominance of their conditions.

Beating India in a Test series in India is perhaps cricket’s answer to climbing the Mount Everest, and the very best of sides — from the legendary Australian teams led by Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting to Ben Stokes’ ‘Bazballers’ — have fallen short despite their aura.

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What makes this Indian victory all the more impressive, which takes us back to Rohit’s aforementioned statement during the post-match presentation at Ranchi’s JSCA International Stadium, is the manner in which they’ve responded despite the odds heavily stacked against them.

This series win, after all comes at a time when the team is missing several first-choice players who have been critical to India’s success in recent years.

Bonafide match-winners Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant have been missing for different reasons.

KL Rahul could not play after the first Test due to injury and Jasprit Bumrah had to be rested at Ranchi due to workload issue.

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While none of Kohli’s direct replacements at the No 4 spot were particularly impressive in this series, both Shreyas Iyer and Rajat Patidar registering underwhelming returns, Shubman Gill’s brilliance at No 3 more than made up for it.

India’s young brigade shines

Gill, who shook off an extended lean patch with a crucial knock of 104 in Visakhapatnam, has also effectively cemented himself at the No 3 spot for now, making the possibility of Cheteshwar Pujara clawing his way back into the Test side extremely unlikely. The kind of temperament that he exhibited with his unbeaten fifty during India’s tricky chase of the 192-run target further establishes the fact that he belongs at this level and is more than capable of handling the rigours of five-day cricket.

While Bumrah has been brilliant in this series so far, and almost single-handedly won the game in Vizag from the bowling perspective, his and Shami’s absence allowed the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep to step forth and make their presence felt. Siraj with his game-changing spell on Day 3 in Rajkot and Akash with his three-wicket burst on debut at Ranchi.

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That’s not all as far as the match-winning contributions go, however. Yashasvi Jaiswal is in the middle of an unbelievable run, slamming back-to-back double-hundreds in the series in a feat that is reminiscent of Vinod Kambli at his prime in 1993. The Mumbaikar has had a terrific start to his career in the West Indies but has taken it to another level against England at home.

In Sarfaraz Khan, India have discovered a feisty option down the order following his sparkling half-centuries on debut in Rajkot, dominating the English spinners and giving the visitors a taste of their own ‘Bazball’ medicine.

The Indian spin department too had been written off at one point with their English counterparts appearing to outperform them two games into the series. The demolition jobs on the final day at Rajkot and the third day at Ranchi, ultimately served as a reminder as to who really rules these conditions. Both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have collected a five-for each at this point, but even more impressive is the manner in which Kuldeep has responded under pressure. And let’s not forget his contributions with the bat either, which however small, proved series defining in the end.

As for Pant’s absence, Jurel’s brilliance with bat couple with his fine wicketkeeping skills has certainly made it very difficult for the team to drop him, and chances are he might just get retained in the XI with Pant playing purely as a batter whenever he makes a comeback.

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Last, but not the least, there’s Rohit Sharma who’s been leading from the front and has been masterminding the epic comeback.

Rohit’s inspiring leadership

Not only did he score a century for the ages in Rajkot to allow India to post 445 from 33/3, it’s also his ability to marshal whatever resources are at his disposal and make full use of it that has allowed India to fight their way back from 0-1 down after their dramatic loss in Hyderabad.

His relaxed attitude and ability to bond with his team was clearly visible during the Men in Blue’s dominant march in the home World Cup last year, and it would’ve played just as important a role in helping India surge ahead in what is one of their toughest home assignments in years.

Not many teams can claim to pull off a victory after being reduced to 177/7 after conceding a first innings total of 353. It takes real strength and character to fight one’s way back from such a position, and to do so with an XI that is largely lacking on Test-match experience is every bit commendable a feat as a captain, and is reminiscent of how Ajinkya Rahane pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the iconic 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under.

“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,” Rohit had said in the post-match presentation, lauding his young outfit for the way they took the bull by the horns.

India haven’t really had much success when it comes to winning ICC titles, having finished runners-up in the World Test Championship as well as in the ICC World Cup last year. The events of the four Tests that we’ve witnessed over the past month however, are a strong indicator of the fact that the systems that have been set in place in Indian cricket are functioning well and continue to churn out one match-winner after another.