The emergence of Ravindra Jadeja as a complete package, the arrival of the true Umesh Yadav and hosts' ability to take the toss out of the equation when it came to winning games were positives Kohli & Co can be proud of
Ravindra Jadeja
India's Ravindra Jadeja celebrates the wicket of Australia’s Steve O’Keefe during Day Three of the Dharamsala Test on Monday. Pic/AFP
While Australia came prepared the 2016-17 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, India arrived late. After beating England and New Zealand with minimum fuss, the result in Pune came as a rude shock and a timely reminder that every Test match has to be won and every opposition has to be respected. It also taught all of us in the media that Test cricket isn't so much about what happened in the past (Australia couldn't draw a Test in Sri Lanka and India didn't lose a single Test in over a year) but only about what happens on the day.
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Turning point of the series
After winning the first day of the second Test, Australia needed to win just one more day to seal the fate of the series, and that's why India arrived in the series. The way India bowled on the second day of the Bangalore Test revealed the true character of this young team.
It's not that they bowled Australia inside 50 overs and secured the first innings lead, but their desperation for the cause ensured that Australia didn't run away with the game. It was the turning point of the series from India's perspective. After conceding a slender first innings lead, once again, India dug deep with Pujara and Rahane to keep the game alive. Pujara went on to score a double hundred in Ranchi but his innings of 92 in Bangalore was not just his best innings of the series but also, one of the best Test innings of his Test career.
Jadeja, a complete package
For the longest time, Ravindra Jadeja remained Ashwin's understudy and assumed the role of the support cast. His six wickets in the first innings at Bangalore and a five-wicket haul in the first innings at Ranchi finally brought him out of Ashwin's shadow. Taking wickets in the first innings of a Test requires a lot of skills and guile because the pitch isn't as responsive.
He's started bowling a lot closer to the stumps and also, a little slower from time to time, which in turn has made him an all-weather bowler. In addition to his bowling, this home season saw him arrive and mature as a Test batsman.
Umesh has truly arrived
It's not often that you see an Indian seamer outpace and out-bowl his Australian counterparts, but the spell that sealed the deal for India in Dharamsala did just that.
There are certain spells in Test matches that leave an indelible mark on one's memory and his spell in Dharamshala will go down as one of them. Considering that it was the last match of a long home season (Umesh played 12 out of the 13 Tests), it was incredible to see that he had enough fuel left in the tank to bowl a fiery spell. Umesh has arrived at the International stage and once Shami is fit, will form a bowling pair to fear in the future.
Toss edge, what's that?
The highlight of this series was the fact that India lost three tosses, Kohli lost his form and then India lost him due to an injury and still the score line read 2-1 in the end. In fact, not just Kohli, Rahane and Karun didn't find their groove till the end, but that didn't dent India's belief and resolve.
Remember battle, not rows
Now that the trophy is won and the dust is settled, I hope that players and the fans remember this series for the exhilarating cricket it produced over the four Test matches. There hasn't been a single Test in the series that didn't provide opportunities to both the sides and in the end, it was only a matter of India seizing a few more opportunities than Australians. In the era of home domination, this series will go a long way to reignite the love for Test cricket.
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