Just like Sachin Tendulkar securing his first Test hundred in Old Trafford 25 years ago to herald his arrival at the threshold of greatness; just like Sourav Ganguly furiously waving his shirt from the Lord’s balcony in 2002 after a cliff-hanger of a final; or, more momentously, like Kapil Dev’s “devils” raising the World Cup trophy to change the destiny of Indian cricket 42 years ago, a new age in Indian cricket dawned under a brooding English sky. Even though it’s a hollow claim to say that the result would taste as sweet as a triumph, the Test series that India drew could become a reference point, a metaphor of India’s reemergence, a precursor to better moments, even a watershed event in the country’s cricketing history. The team is not flawless, but it has forged an identity, shown spine and steel, a capacity to bite the bullet and an attitude to never surrender.
Doubts lingered when India boarded the flight to Heathrow nearly 50 days ago. Gill’s captaincy was untested; the batting was callow, the bowling group had injury concerns and ragged edges. Three stalwarts had recently retired and India had lost seven of its last eight games. But in the course of the English summer, the team cleared most of the doubts. Gill has the instincts, wisdom and poise to lead the side. The leadership responsibility elevated his batting too. Among Indian batsmen, only Sunil Gavaskar has scored more runs than Gill’s 754 at an average of 75.4 in a single series. Contributions arrived from the two openers too, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, and the effervescent Rishabh Pant, who captured India’s resilience by batting with a broken toe in Old Trafford, besides shellacking a pair of hundreds. Sai Sudharsan illustrated the virtues that could make him an ideal successor to Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara at one drop. Ravindra Jadeja, at 36, has light left in him; Washington Sundar could fill the R Ashwin-shaped hole. Mohammed Siraj, with his unshakeable grit and unflinching energy, emphasised that there is life beyond Jasprit Bumrah in the seam-bowling department. There is a fiercely combative coach in Gautam Gambhir. In the end, it was a triumph of collective spirit and individual splendour, blending frictionlessly.
The portrait, though, is both incomplete and imperfect. But it’s how great teams are forged. It may take months or years. It won’t be without fumbles and stumbles. India will have to keep its bowlers optimally fit for the big series, develop depth in the fast bowling department, polish some of the promising youngsters such as Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Anshul Kamboj, upskill some others. Gill, too, could be smarter with his bowling choices — which bowler to use, and when — as well as field placements. The journey will be fascinating, and at times frustrating. But there is boundless optimism as Indian cricket enters a new era. The age of Gill is upon us.
