The loss in Rajkot last week was painful—a true hammering, as I observed at the time—but overall, this series has not been as brutal as the two that came before it.
India and England are now closer.
They forced India to think by fighting valiantly once more on the fourth day of the series, especially considering their spinners’ low expectations going into the match due to their inexperience.
Sure, they have lost a series for the first time under Stokes’ captaincy and have missed chances, but they have a promising 20-year-old off-spinner in Shoaib Bashir.
In his second Test match, Bashir—who had only played six first-class games prior to being called up and was previously released by Surrey—took 3-79 in India’s second innings in addition to his first-ever five-wicket performance in the first.
He demonstrated his endurance and ability to spin the ball hard throughout a lengthy 31-over session on day two. That was sufficiently impressive.
However, bowling during the fourth innings when your team is up against a tiny target puts you under a lot of pressure.
