After winning the series against Australia, India learned three important lessons. The fourth Test match between India and Australia ended in a draw, and Australia won the series 2-1. The Indian team has now won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and has defeated Australia four times in a row with this victory.
Australia staged an impressive comeback in the third Test at Indore after the hosts dominated the first two matches.
The fourth Test played at the Narendra Modi Arena in Ahmedabad ended up being a run fest, as the two chiefs shook hands nearly 60 minutes before the planned close of play.
The World Test Championship final between these two teams will now take place at The Oval. As Rohit Sharma and his team get ready for the WTC finale, they will want to keep in mind a few points of conversation that came up at the end of this series.
#3 Shubman Gill deserves a long rope
India chose Shubman Gill to open the innings in the final two Tests after KL Rahul failed. In the fourth Test match, Gill, who has been in superb form this season, demonstrated his class with an emphatic century.
The right-hander appeared confident against spin and pace, and he should now receive a white long rope. He has a solid strategy for taking on pace, which should help him a lot when India travels abroad.
Gill is in an electrifying structure and has previously crushed a twofold ton in ODIs and afterward 100 years in T20Is. The management should be encouraged to back him and allow him the freedom to play his game after his assured century in the fourth Test match.
#2 Question mark on KS Bharat
Rishabh Pant’s absence from this Test team has created a significant void. After serving as Pant’s assistant for a considerable amount of time, KS Bharat took his place in this series. However, he made mistakes with his wicketkeeping and appeared to be having a hard time using the bat.
He didn’t swing with too much confidence and dropped quite a few catches. Having said that, the Indian team management might give him more time to play wicketkeeper.
But if Bharat wants to stand out in the upcoming challenges, he needs to work on his game, especially his batting. Bharat will be under pressure to perform significantly better in the subsequent series with Ishan Kishan on the bench.
#1 The development of Axar Patel into a reliable batsman
R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were always going to be India’s best spinners in this series. Despite his obvious underbowling, Axar Patel demonstrated his potential with the bat. He appeared to be the most assured batter on the turning tracks and saved the hosts from trouble in Nagpur and Delhi.
With 264 runs scored over five innings at an average of 88, he came in third in the series. He was never dropped for fewer than 50 runs, which should give Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid confidence to try him out as an all-rounder when they go overseas.
When he got rid of Travis Head in the final Test match, he also became the fastest Indian bowler to take 50 Test wickets.