India celebrate with the trophy after beating West Indies in Delhi ©BCCI
Shubman Gill tried to administer the coup de grace with a six to cap a series dominated by his side. The India skipper did not quite succeed, but was it really a big deal? His side still won the Test comfortably and, more importantly, the series – Gill’s first in his nascent Test captaincy, ticking quite a few boxes in the process.
There were a few tricky questions at the end of the second Test against the West Indies, won by India by seven wickets, but there were many more answers and pointers for the future. The Gill era in Indian cricket has well and truly taken off after their 2-0 series win over West Indies at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
It had taken off in England itself, thundered Gautam Gambhir. “He has already passed his toughest test as captain. That was in England, five Tests away from home in tough conditions against a quality team,” the India coach said. “I think he’s worked hard, and I’ve said it, that he ticks all the boxes.”
It was a series where the Indian team sought to better understand their home conditions, particularly after their debacle against New Zealand last year. In that sense, they may have passed the test and earned 24 valuable WTC points – although the West Indies are not quite the quality that New Zealand were last year with South Africa expected to fare better next.
Sai Sudharsan, Kuldeep Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy were three positives from the two-Test series, each virtually sealing their place in the squad. Conditions apply of course – pun intended – but it would still be a surprise if they’re not in the XI for the next home Test, exactly a month from today, against South Africa in Kolkata. Coming into the Test, none of Sudharsan, Kuldeep and Nitish were a shoo-in the XI but the management, with Gautam Gambhir as head coach, has identified and nourished them.
Before the start of the Test, Gill had hinted that the team management was prepared to give the Sudharsan a long rope. The impression is he has the backing of the coach and the captain. But after his failure in the Ahmedabad Test, Sudharsan was still needed to perform – particularly with Devdutt Padikkal in the squad – to avoid being in undue scrutiny at No. 3. He redeemed himself with scores of 87 and 39.
Given his class and quality, Kuldeep was expected to cement his place in the XI in home Tests, particularly after R Ashwin’s retirement, and he did his chances no harm with 12 wickets in the series – a performance highlighted by the Player of the Match award in the Delhi Test. After his exploits in white-ball cricket, Kuldeep is now living up to his reputation in the longer format too.
There is a lot of investment happening on Nitish, one of the few all-format players in the Indian cricket set-up currently. Nitish did not have much to do in Ahmedabad but in Delhi he justified the trust with an attacking 43. Although he did not get to bowl in Delhi, there are high hopes for him from the management.
“He didn’t really get to bowl any overs in this match. We don’t want players to only play matches overseas. That puts a lot of pressure on the players. We want to groom certain players that we think can help us win matches overseas because that’s been the challenge for us,” Gill said clearly, post match.
The high returns from Dhruv Jurel (125 and 44) will give the team some headaches once Rishabh Pant returns for the South Africa series. But that is for next month. For the time being, the team will relish the continued rise of Ravindra Jadeja, who may be the best cricketer going around in the world currently. After a highly successful series in England (over 500 runs and timely wickets), Jadeja rode his run of form to walk away with the player of the series honours. He should be a contender for the ICC Test player of the year award too.
For Gill, it was the first home series as skipper and he came out flying colours both as a batter as well as a skipper. Some experts like Ian Bishop felt he was not exactly a pro-active skipper, but coach Gambhir gave him full marks stating that the captain is here to stay. “I think no one has done him a favour by appointing him the Test captain or one-day captain. I think he deserves every bit of it.
“I think he’s worked hard, and I’ve said it, that he ticks all the boxes. And for me as a coach, I think someone who’s saying the right things, doing the right things, working hard, work ethics, commitment, putting his body on the line, being the first guy on the field, what more can a coach ask for? And I know it’s tough for him. It was tough, and I’ve said it many times, that England was probably the toughest Test for him.
“Five Test matches over the course of two, two and a half months, against a quality England side. What more could he have faced? But then again, the way he handled himself, and more importantly, I think the way he’s handled the team, and more importantly, the way the team has responded. I think sometimes we only keep talking about the captain, but the way the team has responded to him, and to his leadership, is equally important.”
© Cricbuzz
