NEW DELHI: India came into the two-match Test series against West Indies with a series of questions, some requiring immediate answers. Right at the top was managing the home transition in red-ball cricket. R Ashwin, an Indian cricket stalwart, had featured in all of India's previous 65 home Tests since the off-spinner had made his debut against the same opposition in 2011.
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This was also going to be their first home series without both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. While their returns did dwindle over the last few series, they have set-up big wins. Even otherwise, losing both of them at the same time has led to an inexperience in the leadership group as well as the batting group.
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It's fair to say that one of India's biggest plus points from their 2-0 series win was they managed to put a tick against most of the questions they had coming into the series. There's certainly an element of having to caveat this particular series with conditions as well as the level of opposition but as far as results and the performances go, this was pretty much the more desired outcome.
"It was important to win this series at home," coach Gautam Gambhir said in the post-series press conference.
Under a new captain, especially when the new leader is young, it's important to learn the grammar of winning all over again. One can argue that only B Sai Sudharsan and Nitish Reddy haven't been part of a victorious series from the 11 but that's not the point. For all practical purposes, this is a new group playing under a new regime.
When a new group tries to build their own house, there's new plans in place. In essence, Gill, Gambhir & Co are trying to create their own legacy. The 26-year-old captain alluded to this point when he was describing the kind of cricket he wanted this group to play under his leadership.
"We are looking to play some hard, grinding cricket," he had said before the first Test at Ahmedabad. "Over the past few years, if you see the Test matches, they haven't got to five days. So what we are looking to do is play some good, hard cricket. All the Test matches that we played in England went pretty deep (all five Tests went the distance). And I think what you can expect from us is good, hard, grinding cricket and we won't be looking for any easy options.
"And I think we have the skills to dominate in any kind of situation and the kind of talent we have got in the team, we can turn around from any situation, so that's what we will be looking to play."
Across the last four days, this side has also learned something invaluable along the way. How to win a Test at home in conditions not conducive to spin bowling. In terms of a Test in India, the one in Delhi was only the fifth time that a side has lasted more than a 1000 legal (1211 to be exact) deliveries across two innings in India since January 2020. This is exactly what Gill meant when he said 'hard, grinding cricket'.
And, at some level, this isn't what even the likes of KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Gill himself and the rest of the leadership group have been used to in recent years. Under previous managements, the focus has been on producing turning tracks, pitches with some juice in them for the spinners. They may veer away from this strategy going forward. Jadeja said they had asked for slow turners, one of the first times somebody of the leadership group had admitted something like this.
If this is something the Indian team wants to consistently do going forward — they may well be tempted to have a few turners when South Africa come calling next month — they will have to be prepared for the hard grind so this was a good starting point.
Sudharsan, without ever really catching the eye, caught the eye at No. 3, a crucial link position between the openers and the middle-order. A legacy role in the Indian side, the southpaw handled the opposition spinners in the second Test apart from emerging as a solid option as a close in fielder, an important fielder in these conditions. He will go back to the grind of Ranji cricket for his state but expect him to retain his place for the two games against Proteas.
Gambhir praised the current group's work ethics and hinted that this group will retain their place for the foreseeable future. "For me," he said, "I think giving them a longer run is very, very important because as we all know that international cricket is a very insecure environment because only 15 players can go on to represent the country and there are so many people waiting for their opportunity. So, make sure first you pick the right characters and then if you see that, try and give them a longer run so that they themselves should be content and happy that they've got a longer run rather than just chopping and changing as well. Sometimes it's difficult as a head coach and a team management where you will have to sometimes leave out players.
"I don't like using this word, dropping players because you don't drop players, you only select players. And more importantly, when you leave out a player, as a head coach, I should be emotional about it rather than just being very ruthless. And I feel emotional when I leave out any of the guys not being part of the playing eleven or not being part of the squad."
All in all, the last two weeks represent a quiet tick mark, a solid base to kickstart Gill's tenure at home.
