Team India's show of bench strength eases transition concerns

NEW DELHI: India may not be actively considering the post-Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli era at the moment, but the robust performance of their fringe players against England has likely alleviated concerns about how they will fare when the experienced duo eventually steps aside.


With Kohli, aged 35, absent from the five-Test series for personal reasons, the 36-year-old Rohit has taken on the dual responsibilities of captaincy and leading India's batting lineup.

Challenges in the middle order arose with 29-year-old Shreyas Iyer finding it difficult to adapt to the demands of Test cricket, and 31-year-old KL Rahul grappling with fitness issues. India also faced the task of finding a suitable replacement for the proficient wicketkeeping and aggressive batting style of Rishabh Pant, who has been sidelined since a serious car accident in 2022.

However, as the series against England progressed, most of these concerns seem to have found resolutions.


Yashasvi Jaiswal, who burst onto the scene with a debut Test score of 171 in the West Indies seven months ago, showcased his talent by recording back-to-back double hundreds against England.

In the third Test in Rajkot, the 22-year-old smashed an unbeaten 214, including a record-equalling 12 sixes, drawing comparisons to former India opener Virender Sehwag known for his aggressive batting style.

"India has a new @virendersehwag...," former England captain Michael Vaughan posted on X, formerly Twitter, calling Jaiswal "a player who will destroy many attacks in all formats exactly like Viru used to do".

In seven Tests, Jaiswal has passed the 100-mark three times and converted two of them into double hundreds.

India will also take heart from the performance of two players who made their Test debut in Rajkot.

Middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan has been knocking on the door for a while, and his twin half-centuries left many wondering why it took so long to blood the 26-year-old.


Wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel also impressed in replacing Srikar Bharat, who played the first two Tests against England.

Jurel occasionally struggled to read left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav in the first innings but his glovework was significantly better in the second.

That improvement was highlighted by the run out of Ben Duckett, Jurel rushing in to collect Mohammed Siraj's full-blooded throw on the bounce and breaking the stumps while going to the ground.

Jurel has honed his six-hitting skills in the Indian Premier League and he smashed three of them in his first-innings 46.

Rohit said the new faces had fit right in.

"A lot of credit to these young boys who have come in and shown a lot of character," he said after India went 2-1 up in the series.

"Looks like they belong here, and they want to stay here as well.

"We always talk about the bench strength. Today and even in Visakhapatnam, we got to see a lot of bench strength."

(With inputs from Reuters)