India v England Test series 2024 review - youngsters turn it on for India

 

Finally the gruelling 5 test series between India & England came to an end with India going from strength to strength & winning the series 4-1 after losing the first test .  India were without 3 of their 1st team superstars in test format for the whole series. Virat Kohli had opted out due to personal family issue while Shami & Rishabh Pant were recovering from injuries . KL Rahul was injured after playing the first test and missed thd whole series . Ashwin had family health issue in the middle of the 3rd test but returned in the 4th innings . India even showed the audacity to rest Jasprit Bumrah for the 4th test with the series in balance at 2-1 . This move was criticised but Rohit had the last laugh , winning the 4th test and wrapping up the series with one test to go  and then butchered England mercilessly in the last test as the visitors looked mentally jaded with the series already lost . 

The 4-1 series result doesnt reflect the close battles that happened at different points in  the series . England were on the ropes in the first test trailong by 190 when Ollie Pope played an outstanding knock of 196 to turn the test around and with 231 runs needed to win Indian batters  choked and lost by 28 runs . However India bounced back strongly at Vizag on the back of a brilliant double hundred by Jaiswal as he started to put his stamp on the series . With Gill getting a crucial ton India set a 399 target for England who fell 106 runs short .

The Rajkot test began well for the tourists as they had India at 33/3 when Rohit and Jadeja rescued India with their respective 100s . England and Ben Duckett replied strongly but Siraj mopped up the tail quickly and then Jaiswal's 2nd double ton of the series put England out of the contest as they lost by a big margin . 

With Bumrah rested for the 4th test England were dominating the early part with Root's much awaited hundred . Chasing 353 , India slumped to 177/7 in the first innings before Dhruv Jurel played a special knock of 90 to rescue India . With India limiting the deficit to 46 , the spinners Ashwin and Kuldeep got into the act to knock over England for 145 . Indian middle order made heavy weather of a  192 target after a great start  before Gill and Jurel bailed out India to win the series after a gripping test match . The tourists after that 4th test defeat  got mentally jaded and lost the 5th test heavily to lose the series 4-1.

From the above summarisation it is clear that certainly the 4-1 scoreline dont reflect some of the close moments of the series. There were moments in the 3rd & 4th tests when England had a decent upper hand but India's team effort consisting of the seniors and juniors alike performed during the crucial moments to take the team out of trouble . In batting Jaiswal , Gill along with Rohit  performed many times when the team looked in trouble and series  debutant  Dhruv Jurel was outstanding with the bat & gloves in the 4th test to haul India out of trouble in the 4th test with the series in the balance . Jadeja scored a crucial 100 in the 3rd test with the team in trouble. In bowling the Indian quicks abd spinners picked wickets at crucial moments . England simply could not drive home their advantage at various times during the series after their unexpected and memorable comeback win in the first test. The tourists in particular missed to seize their moments in the 4th test that would have levelled the series 2-2 .

Getting into the individual performances  , for India Yashasvi Jaiswal was outstanding with a mindboggling 712 runs in 5 tests with a strike rate of 80 . He looked in menacing touch and blew apart the english bowling whenever he was in the attacking mood . 2 double hundreds in the series , Jaiswal also showed solid defence when various phases in the series needed batting with care . Only Sunil Gavaskar managed 700 plus runs in a single series (twice) in India's long test history . A fine backfoot player Jaiswal will be closely watched in the next Australia series down under as well as in other overseas series.

Shubman Gill  came into this series under a cloud but has acquainted himself well in this series with 2 centuries at crucial periods and a highly satisfying match winning unbeaten 52 to win the 4th test from a crisis situation . Gill scored 452 runs at 56 average in this series and appears to have sealed the number 3 spot for now . 

Skipper Rohit Sharma was coming off a dissappointing series in South Africa with the bat but his two crucial hundreds when the team needed most ensured that he is not lost any of his ability as an opening batter in test cricket . Rohit has scored 400 runs in the series at 44.44 avarage .

The 2 debutants Sarfaraz ( 200 runs at 50 avg) and keeper Dhruv Jurel ( 190 runs at 63 average ) were highly impressive . Both ahd Jurel in particular performed when the team needed the runs most . Jurel's two match winning knocks in the gripping 4th test were highly impressive . 

Amongst the other debutants Paddikal performed in the single innings he played scoring 65 . Patidar ( 63 runs in 6 innings ) could not perform upto expectations and Akashdeep (3 wickets) bowled well in the single test he played . 

Amongst the bowlers Ashwin took the highest 26 wickets at  in 5 tests and was as skilful as ever while Jadeja ( 232 runs , 19 wickets) genetally performed his allrounder role well while Bumrah (19 wickets in 4 tests ) and Kuldeep (19 wickets in 4 tests) had some outstanding bowling spells in the series. Axar Patel (133 runs , 5 wickets ) & Siraj  ( 6 wickets ) had relatively quiet series.

England team was at their full strength  . However after a sensational comeback from behind win in the first test they could not produce the result despite enjoying several moments of ascendency.  They could not drive home several big moments and their seniors were found wanting.  Zak Crawley and the two spinners  Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley were the shining lights in an otherwise dissappointing series for England who had a great chance to win a series against a depleted Indian side without some of their big stars . Crawley (407 runs , 40.7 avg) performed superbly and his driving was a treat to watch . However the other batters had only one or two big moments in the series which doesnt win a 5 test series . Pope (315 runs, avg 31.5) declined after his heroic 196 in the first test. Joe Root (320 runs at 35 avg ) performed well only in the last two tests. Ben Duckett (343 runs at 34.3 showed glimpses of his promise with 1 brilliant attacking 100 in the first test .Bairstow (238 runs at 23.8 avg) and skipper Stokes ( 199 runs at 19.9 avg) had underwhelming series . Foakes (205 runs at 20.5 avg) played a few good hands as a keeper without getting big scores . 

On bowling side of things  the pacers were underwhelming with Anderson bowling well in patches (10 wickets) and finally getting to the coveted 700 wicket mark in test cricket . The spinners were better . Bashir took 17 wickets in 3 tests and showed promise. Rehan Ahmed (11 wickets) proved to be expensive but the biggest gain for England on this tour as Tom Hartley ( 185 runs & 22 wickets ) . Hartley contributed well with the bat and was very good with the ball. Both the tall spinners Bashir & Hartley bowled well using their heights to good effect . England needs to look after them. 

This was a great test series for Rohit & his men . India has proved that they have a strong depth of players to choose form and most of their inexperienced players fired. As for England it was a tale of missed opportunities after the first test despite have decent luck with the toss .