The India-England five-Test series has riveted attention from the day the first ball was sent down at Headingley, Leeds on June 20.

The first four Tests, with each one lasting five full days, have been truly gripping, with India turning out to be the surprise packet with its tyro captain Shubman Gill excelling with the bat, scoring four centuries, including a big double, and the likes of the experienced KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant rising to the occasion.

Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal - still on the learning curve - has sparkled on three occasions, and Washington Sundar has gained a reputation as a good all-rounder.

The bowling department has been put through the wringer by the home team’s experienced batters, but even then, India went on to level scores, winning the second Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been unlucky not to get into the team sheet of the four Tests where the conditions were “India-like”. With the fast and seam attack under pressure following injuries to Akash Deep and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh, India may have erred in blooding Anshul Kamboj within a few days of him arriving at Manchester.

Sharing the new Duke's ball with Jasprit Bumrah, he came up short at Manchester. He did not get to bowl in the second innings as England was not required to pad up the second time after piling up 669 in the first innings.

Hopefully, he will get a second chance at The Oval, where, according to former England seamer Stuart Broad, the fast bowlers will get some purchase of the pitch.

With a bit of luck India could have turned the tables on England at Leeds and Lord’s, but it made mistakes in the field (dropping one too many catches in the first Test) and it did not apply to a task in both innings of the Lord’s Test, unlike what it did in the second innings at Manchester when after losing two wickets for 0 went on to make 425 for four. It was a monumental effort by Rahul, Gill, Sundar, and Jadeja.

The strategy to pack up the team with batter-allrounders has been vindicated, but the absence of Yadav may have cost India and Gill two Tests and valuable World Test Championship points. There were opportunities to field him in the first and fourth Test ( for Shardul Thakur) and the second Test (for Nitish Kumar Reddy). But Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir thought otherwise. There is one more chance for the left-hand tweaker, a wrist spinner who has a better chance of taking wickets in a clutch than a finger spinner.

This Test series has also marked an emphatic change in narrative, moving away from the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, both of whom have had a dismal series in Australia. India chose Karun Nair, recognising his prolific run scoring in the domestic tournaments, and also the in-form Sai Sudharsan, who is likely to be in the playing XI at The Oval starting from Thursday.

The way India bounced back at Edgbaston after the first Test loss, with Gill scoring 269 and 161, and his tough nut to crack approach in the second innings at Manchester when he made 103, has justified the selection committee placing faith in the youngest as captain.

His 700-plus runs as captain in his first full series in England have seen him win more admirers. A positive outcome for India in the fifth and final Test will give him a good start as the leader of the Indian team.

The selection committee may now mull over him for the captaincy of the Twenty20 team for the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates in September. The committee would like to have one man as captain across formats. Gill was part of the team that won the ICC Champions Trophy last March.

The tour to England was an important phase for Indian cricket, especially with Kohli leaving a big vacuum in the middle order. After a lot of soul-searching, the team zeroed in on the captain himself to fill the big boots of Kohli. That aspect - who will be the No.4 - of the batting order has been settled once and for all. That will be Gill’s for some time to come.

India will persist with Jaiswal, who has scored one century and two half-centuries in this series as an opener. The left-hander has done enough to retain his position. Rahul has been in splendid form, a bullwark and an elegant stroke player. Pant did well before a foot injury ruled him out of the series ( for the Oval

Test). Jadeja has been quite spectacular, and Sundar has arrived now with a gutsy unbeaten century at Manchester. India has to take a call on its No 3. Sudharsan appears to have the skill and temperament, and he should get a few chances in the home series against the West Indies and South Africa.

The bowling department will keep changing, with Bumrah still not sure of how much workload he can take. One thing is certain in home conditions, though: the spinners will bowl more. But now the focus is on the fifth Test at The Oval with India looking to make it 2-2.