How Indian Test team has risen above Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma stardom over the years

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Parthiv Patel was asked about the biggest focus point minutes before the start of the first Test between India and Bangladesh in Chennai. The former wicketkeeper-batter straightaway brought Virat Kohli in the picture. He said Kohli’s Test comeback after more than eight months would be the biggest talking point.

Tamim Iqbal - the former Bangladesh captain - who is in India working alongside Parthiv for broadcaster Sports18 Network, waited until the final day of the first Test, and said, "I come from a different country. What I always hear is Virat Kohlis and Rohit Sharmas but Ravichandran Ashwin is equally important in my eyes."

The two unchallenged kingpins of white-ball cricket have found some genuine contenders for the limelight in Tests. It's a different thing that the focus again shifts to them before the start of a fresh series, or even a match.

The latest instance being a 38-year-old Ravichandran Ashwin, who smashed a hundred in the first innings, and then took a five-fer with the ball in the second innings, to make the Chennai Test his own.

Clinical performances from Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, and Jasprit Bumrah and a thumping 280-run win meant no talking about the superstars Kohli and Rohit. Had India lost, they could have come under focus through intense scrutiny. The falling stocks of Kohli in Test cricket would have been the thumbnail for many.

However, we are witnessing an Indian Test team which Sanjay Manjrekar dreamt of in the 90s. This team does not rely on a couple of cricketers with cult following. Each of the other nine players have an equally big aura, and that has just gotten bigger over the years.

During India's 2020-21 tour of Australia, India were written off after they were bundled out for 36 in the second innings and lost the first Test by eight wickets. Rohit played just two Tests in the series but India still managed to win the series 2-1 under Ajinkya Rahane.

It announced the birth of several Test stars for India. Some like Hanuma Vihari and T Natarajan are out of the team for a long time now, but their names are etched in a proper folklore. People don't even talk about missing Kohli in the series.

Talk about England's tour of India in 2021, and one would remember the series for the 32 and 27 wickets taken by Ashwin, and Axar Patel respectively. Likewise, Australia 2023 tour of India was also dominated by Ashwin (25 wickets), Jadeja (22 wickets), and a superb batting run by Axar Patel, who emerged as the third-highest run-scorer in the series.

He scored 264 runs at an average of 88 in five innings. Kohli played six innings to score 297 runs at an average of 49.50. 186 of the 297 runs came in the final innings of the fourth and last Test of the series which ended in a draw.

Let's take into consideration a fresher series. England toured India for five Test matches early this year, and a young Yashasvi Jaiswal dominated the series with 712 runs at an average of 89. While Ashwin (26) was equally impressive, the southpaw with a stunning background story made all the headlines. Also, Bumrah picked 19 wickets - third-highest - in a series dominated by spinners, but it was the UP-born Mumbai opener who ruled the roost. Kohli missed the entire series as India won 4-1.

The same series saw Sarfaraz Khan and Dhurv Jurel make flamboyant debuts. The mention of Kohli came only before the squad announcement on two occasions. His unavailability did not bother India at all when the action was on.

Rohit Sharma's surge in Tests has been noteworthy but late. He has flourished as a captain and an opener, but so has Jaiswal, and so has Shubman Gill, who gave up opening and filled the big shoes of Cheteshwar Pujara at three.

The India Test team are leading the WTC standings despite their most revered batter delivering. Why? Because they have a spinner with more than 500 wickets and 3000-plus runs, another spinner with 299 wickets and 3000-plus runs, a wicketkeeper-batter with six hundreds and seven 90-plus scores in just 34 matches, the best all format pacer, another pacer from Hyderabad who bowls with as much intensity on a dust bowl as on a English green top, and a handful of others who are just waiting for Rohit to say 'dracarys' like one of the 'Targaryens'.