India, Aug. 5 -- In January, an India team with a multi-star cast lost the tour of Australia 1-3 with the captain Rohit Sharma missing the first Test and sitting out of the last. Ravichandran Ashwin shocked the world by retiring midway into the series. Jasprit Bumrah broke down in the final game and Virat Kohli went off the boil after starting with a hundred in Perth.

Seven months on, India have squared a series in England in the absence of Kohli, Sharma and Ashwin, winning two Tests not featuring Jasprit Bumrah, one of them also without Rishabh Pant, and amid much criticism over their cautious selection strategy that refused Kuldeep Yadav a place in all five Tests.

This has also been a sensational coming of age for Shubman Gill, breaki...