Bazball is out, Bossball is in

A new aggressive Team India led by a combative and wily Rohit Sharma notched up one of their most noteworthy wins in Test cricket at Kanpur on Tuesday More than the opponents it was the paucity of time due to inclement weather that India had to race against over the last two daysBangladesh are no pushovers having defeated Pakistan in Pakistan in a twoTest series before coming here This series win is thus all the more creditable for India their 16th on the trot at homeRohit Sharma amp Co celebrates Indiarsquos 20 Test series victory over Bangladesh at Kanpur yesterday PicAFPThere was no respite for Bangladesh as Rohit amp Co did not take their foot off the paddle for even a moment on the final day They kept up relentless pressure even when some of the Bangladesh batters were showing signs of resistance Rohit handled his bowling resources well to unsettle the opponents invariably leading to a wicket time and again Having taken two wickets before the close on the penultimate day India cleaned up the remaining eight in an extended prelunch session and notched up the 95 runs for victory inside 18 overs winning by seven wickets They thus remain atop the World Test Championship WTC rankings as they now await the arrival of New Zealand for a threeTest series later this monthAlso ReadRohit claims India were willing to be bowled out for 100 to secure a resultA great team effortIt was indeed a great team effort as there were contributions from almost every Indian player be it in the batting or bowling department Their fielding was superlative too having pocketed some outstanding catches in the match Jasprit Bumrah as usual spearheaded the attack bagging three wickets each in both innings He was well supported by the experienced spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin mdash named Man of the Series for the 11th time in his Test career mdash and Ravindra JadejaThough Rohit did not flourish with the bat in the series he more than made up for it with the way he led the team especially by going for glory despite eight of the nine sessions being washed out here in Kanpur With only six sessions left most captains wouldrsquove just played out the time However not for a moment did Rohit consider the match dead and went allout to subdue the visitors across a mere fouranda half sessions on the last two daysBangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto is clean bowled by Ravindra Jadeja yesterday PicGetty ImagesOn the final day India needed to see the back of firstinnings centurion Mominul Haque as soon as possible For that they laid a trap by keeping a leg slip given he has the tendency to sweep the spinners Mominul fell for it and was caught by KL Rahul off Ashwin That was the start India were seeking Thereafter Shadman Islam and Najmul Hossain Shanto put up a solid resistance to keep the Indian bowlers at bay However once Shanto fell to a beautiful delivery from Jadeja things quickly went downhill for Bangladesh From 913 they collapsed to 947 and were eventually bowled out for 146 Jadeja triggered the collapse after which Bumrah did the cleanup act In pursuit of the winning target of 95 Yashasvi Jaiswal picked up from where he left off in the first innings and kept finding boundaries at will In trying to go for a winning shot however he fell on 51 but had done the job for his team by then Virat Kohli also had a decent time at the wicket and seems to be getting into the rhythm for the important assignments ahead the most important being the fivematch Test series for the BorderGavaskar Trophy in Australia later this year Another plus for India was the return of Rishabh Pant to Test cricket and his batting form and wicketkeeping augur well both for him as well as Team IndiaAlso ReadIndia strengthen WTC final hopes after Bangladesh series sweepFearless KL augurs wellAlso the aggressive manner in which Rahul batted in the first innings was heartening and would have given him loads of confidence after he failed to find a spot in the team for the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies His presence during the Australian tour will be vital Before that though he will have to show his form against the New Zealanders in the upcoming series Things are looking good for Team India in Test cricket but they cannot get complacent in their remaining eight Tests in the runup to the allimportant WTC final at Lordrsquos from June 11312No of balls India batted in this Test the fourth fewest in menrsquos Tests in a winning cause11Player of the Series awards won by Ashwin in Tests jointhighest with Muttiah MuralitharanBrief scoresBrsquodesh 233 amp 146 S Islam 50 M Rahim 37 J Bumrah 317 R Ashwin 350 R Jadeja 334 lost to India 2859d amp 983 Y Jaiswal 51 V Kohli 29 M Miraz 244 by seven