A five-match Test series between England and India begins in Leeds on Friday.
It will be the first assignment of a new Test cycle, with India making a fresh start having failed to make it to the World Test Championship final.
Shubman Gill has been named the Test captain following the sudden retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
We take a look at what all is at stake for the Indian team.
No Virat Kohli, no buzz?
Late last year, reports emerged of tickets for the opening Test of the five-match series being sold out. It did not take a genius to figure out the reason behind it – Virat Kohli and possibly his final red-ball tour of England.
At that point, India were poised to make it to the WTC final and possibly give a grand farewell to one of the greatest cricketers produced by the country.
But in the intervening months, India's cricket world turned upside down. A disastrous Test tour of Australia pushed India out of the race for the WTC final and hastened the retirement of spin great Ravichandran Ashwin. And, shockingly, also of Kohli and Rohit from the Test format.
The absence of Kohli in particular is being felt, as there is a palpable lack of buzz. India's cricket fans had grown so accustomed to having superstars around the team; the sudden departure of Kohli and Rohit has taken a lot of stardust off the red-ball side.
Had either one of them been in England, it would have been a different story. But the fact is that new Test captain Gill does not have enough of a fanbase in India, so don’t expect those in England to fervently rally around the side under him.
Gill thrown into the deep end
By all counts, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was going to become the next Test captain, as he is easily the most valuable red-ball player in the country. But given his poor recent fitness record, the selectors looked beyond him.
Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was the next logical option, as he is a guaranteed starter in the format and accustomed to leadership role. If not him, then possibly KL Rahul. But the Indian management went in a different direction and picked Gill, a player who is not a proven match winner, nor is he the best batter in the side, or even the undisputed leader.
The selectors have gone really long-term here, as there are very few pressing reasons to make him the Test captain right now. Still, he has a more than capable squad, and England are not exactly world beaters, yet. So if Gill leads India to a respectable result, it would be a tremendous achievement and earn him the respect of the dressing room and doubters.
Who after Bumrah?
The next big question facing Indian cricket is – who after Bumrah? Not only in the bowling line-up but also in the coming years. Mohammad Siraj was the natural successor up until recently, but a lukewarm tour of Australia saw him slide a few steps down the pecking order of Indian fast bowling.
Mohammad Shami should have been the leader of the pack, but injuries seem to have set him back for good.
Left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh offers great variety and has emerged as the most potent alternative for English conditions. Right-arm quick Prasidh Krishna has made giant strides since his comeback from injury, turning up the heat in the IPL and offering a serious hit-the-deck option.
Right-arm pacer Akashdeep is another quality replacement for Shami, and should receive additional workload in the Test series as Bumrah is expected to feature in no more than three Tests due to workload management.
One fast bowler will need to step up to the challenge as it is going to be a long series, with the assumption that Bumrah’s Test career is now nearing its end.
Persistence pays off for Nair
Batting is where India will have to focus a lot of their energies, as they have lost two stalwarts together. Captain Gill needs to prove himself as a leader and also top-order batter against a good attack in seaming conditions.
The bulk of the responsibility, however, will fall on the shoulders of Rahul, who showed excellent technique and composure on really difficult wickets during the Test series defeat in Australia.
Vice-captain Pant will bat the only way he knows – attack – and it has frankly worked out for him.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is, in fact, the most bankable batter in the team across conditions. But the middle order is a bit too fluid, which is why the selection of Karun Nair, who was famously dropped soon after scoring a triple century against England in 2016, is interesting.
Nair has piled on the runs in domestic cricket across formats and divisions - he averaged more than 56 in the County Championship for Northants the previous season – forcing his way into the side as other younger players like Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel have not quite set the stage alight.
At 33 and with more than 100 first-class games under his belt, Nair can be backed to do the heavy lifting and also tackle tricky conditions; something the other, more flamboyant, batters in the team might not have the ability to do.
If nothing else, at least this is great reward for the years of toil in domestic cricket after becoming the forgotten man of Indian cricket.
