So far on this England tour, India has aced the numbers game and ruled the individual statistics charts. Skipper Shubman Gill and vice-captain Rishabh Pant lead the run-makers’ list. Indians have hit eight hundreds, including one double ton. Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep are the top three wicket-takers and have four five-wicket hauls among themselves. Among the many records broken, there is also one about coach Gautam Gambhir – he has smiled the most on this tour. But will he have the last laugh? Manchester would decide that.
The series that England lead 2-1 presents contrasting possibilities for the next two Tests. What’s the best or the worst that can happen to this Indian team in transition? Since neither of the two teams prefers draws, here are the permutations and combinations.
If it finishes 3-2 in England’s favour – it will be the classic ‘boys played well, they will learn’ tame end to the tour. No tears will be shed, neither of joy nor sorrow.
In case India win both the games, make it 3-2 and pull off a dramatic comeback, the open-top bus in Mumbai might have to be readied. That scoreline will provide the writing on the wall – buffering is over, the new team is well and truly downloaded and the transition smoothly completed. Don’t be surprised if there are calls to replace Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in ODIs too.
But what if everything goes horribly wrong for India in Manchester and then at The Oval next month and England win the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with a 4-1 margin?
The knives will be out but the core of this young team would be spared. Captain Gill has runs, and sympathy. It’s just one series, they will say.
But the other team in transition, the coaching squad, might have to face repercussions. Coach Gambhir’s record would get murkier. A 4-1 loss would mean India, under Gambhir, would have lost a third straight series. Played 13, Lost 10, Won 2, Drawn 1 aren’t numbers that bring a smile on anyone’s face, certainly not Gambhir’s.
Positive mindset
But this young team doesn’t seem to be the kind that would spend a disproportionate amount of time thinking of worst-case scenarios. It helps that virtually every key India player in this series has at least one sparkling individual performance to trigger the necessary dopamine and drown doomsday thoughts.
Since captain Gill is head and shoulders above the rest in terms of performance, he has an aura of unquestionable authority around him. Same is the case with his deputy Pant who, with two hundreds in the first Test of the series, announced his entry into the team’s decision-making group.
The two go back a long way, they share a cordial working relationship. If Gill is walking up the dressing room stairs, Pant can ask him to take his wicket-keeping gloves along. “When you have a great relationship outside the field, it helps … We were having fun, having chats, talking about the game, and staying relaxed. At the end of the day, we both knew what we wanted to do,” Pant has said about their bond.
The two seniors – Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja – have been incredibly consistent with their contributions to the bigger cause. They too seem to be relaxed, often seen talking to juniors in their respective departments – spin and pace. Jadeja keeps mentoring Washington Sundar, Bumrah is constantly in the ears of Siraj, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna.
Bumrah and Jadeja can also be seen having long discussions with coach Gambhir and even sharing a joke or two. The other day at the nets, Gambhir beamed as Sundar came across for a chat. Even when the players are in the middle of their ‘football-meets-volleyball’ fun drill, the coach chips in with quips for the team to be in splits.