Job well done: Rohit & Co revel in Indian Test team's youth power

When Dhruv Jurel, playing only his second Test, turned Tom Hartley behind square on for two to score the winning runs, it was a solid statement by the youth of the Indian team that they are here to stay.

By winning their 17th consecutive Test series at home in an emphatic fashion against England, the young Indian team proved that they can win even in the absence of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, and on occasions even without Jasprit Bumrah.

When Dhruv Jurel, playing only his second Test, turned Tom Hartley — the highest wicket-taker of the series at 20 wickets — behind square on for two to score the winning runs, it was a solid statement by the youth of the Indian team that they are here to stay.

With the series sealed at 3-1 in favour of India in Ranchi on Monday afternoon, with one more to be played in Dharamsala from March 7, India will go all out to make it 4-1, as the points will add to the World Test Championship tally and the position.

At the start of the series, doubts were cast on whether the Indian team would be able to put runs on the board in the absence of Kohli, who made himself unavailable for the entire series. Questions were asked about how India bowlers, minus Mohd Shami, will tackle England’s Bazball approach.

As of Monday, India did put up runs on the board as well as take 20 wickets in each of the four Tests. And the youngsters did come to the fore with the guidance of the seniors in the group.

In a series that saw India hand over maiden Test caps to four players — Rajat Patidar (second Test, Vizag), Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan (third Test, Rajkot), and Akash Deep (fourth Test, Ranchi) — they have outgrown their own expectations. Captain Rohit Sharma could not have asked for more, and the youngsters have lived up to the faith he reposed in them. India’s three wins — 106 runs in Vizag, 434 runs in Rajkot, and five wickets in Ranchi — after losing the first Test by 28 runs in Hyderabad came without KL Rahul.

The biggest gain in this series has been the performances of youngsters, especially Yashasvi Jaiswal and wicketkeeper-batsman Jurel. For Jaiswal to learn from his mistake of throwing it away after making 80 in Hyderabad and making it big in the next two Tests — 209 and 214 not out — he has made the cricketing world sit up and take notice of his talent.

Jaiswal, only 22, has amassed 655 runs in the series so far, at an average of 93.57. That Jaiswal has singlehandedly scored nearly one-fourth of the team’s total runs in the series, and that the next highest run-getter in the series is India’s No. 3, Shubman Gill (342), speaks of how dominating the young left-hander from Mumbai has been.

Jurel was brought into the Test 11 purely because he is a better batsman than the first-choice KS Bharat. While there was nothing to choose between the two as far as wicketkeeping was concerned, Jurel has proved that he is indeed a better batsman than the Andhra gloveman. Scores of 46, 90, and 39 not out in his three Test innings amplify his batting talent. Jurel showed tremendous character on a Ranchi pitch with variable bounce. The Player of the Match award was an apt reward for his all-round performance in Ranchi.

Sarfaraz Khan’s cricketing attitude is something to be admired. He scored two fifties in his first Test and will put the learnings from the challenging Ranchi Test to good use in his future matches. His near-4,000 runs in first-class cricket have given him the confidence to take to Test cricket as smoothly as he did.

Pacer Akash Deep may not have bowled as brilliantly as the world’s No. 1 bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for the fourth Test, but he showed the world what he is made up of. By picking up three wickets with accuracy in his first-ever spell in Test cricket and dismissing the top three England batsmen on the first morning of the Ranchi Test, India unearthed another player who has gone the distance in the domestic circuit.

The stubbornness shown by Shubman Gill in the run chase in Ranchi brought out the new character of India’s No. 3. Just as wickets were falling at the other end, he stuck it in brilliantly, even if it meant consuming deliveries.

The emergence of Ravindra Jadeja at No. 5 as a batsman and his all-round abilities, the wicket-taking abilities of Ravichandran Ashwin, crossing 500 Test wickets in the process, the support role of Kuldeep Yadav, and the spell in Rajkot by Mohd Siraj showed that India were not anymore dependent on one or two players to do the job. India’s ability to bounce back, be it after the first Test defeat, even after being dominated by England in the first innings, or after being behind in a session, spoke volumes about the team's character.

All this would not have been possible without the leadership of Rohit Sharma and the belief he had in his players. Sharma believed in his team even after the first Test defeat and ensured that the same mistakes were not repeated and the errors were kept to a minimum. He can pat himself on the back for a job well done and retaining the Anthony de’ Mello Trophy, which is fought for in the Test series between India and England in India.