If not for Team India's bowlers, Ben Stokes' men could well have scripted history becoming the first team since 2012 to win a Test series in the sub-continent nation. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja stepped up with timely performances and bulldozed England into making mistakes when they had an opportunity to put the hosts to the sword.
Not many backed England's largely inexperienced bowling crew to outbowl India; however, the difference has not been very stark, from the wickets' perspective. Despite an indifferent start to the series, Ravichandran Ashwin emerged as the highest wicket-taker of the series, hitting his stride in his 100th Test with a 9-wicket haul. With 26 wickets in 10 innings, he spearheaded the spin-bowling unit that aggregated 69 for India in the series.
Compare that with England's spin-bowling unit, they claimed 60 scalps despite not having Jack Leach for most part of the series and Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir coming in as uncapped players. Hartley finished with 22 wickets in 9 innings and remained at the top of the tree for most part of the series before Ashwin left him behind with a vintage display in Dharamsala.
Nevertheless, it's hard to judge Indian spinners' impact over their counterpart's based on statistics.
Jasprit Bumrah's spell from hell in Vishakhapatnam leaves massive gap between India and England pacers:
The bowling spell of the series arguably must be Jasprit Bumrah's in England's 1st innings in Vishakhapatnam, starting by leaving Ollie Pope's stumps in a mess with an unplayable yorker. He broke England's back by dismissing Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, and Ben Stokes in a six-wicket haul on a docile pitch that gave India a firm grip in the match from where they levelled the series.
Bumrah inducing the most debatable shot of the series from Joe Root in Rajkot yet again proved the catalyst for India's ascendancy. In fact, Mohammed Siraj rose to the occasion with a four-wicket haul to spark England's collapse from 224-2 to 319 on a surface with no apparent demons. India followed it with a power-packed batting performance to eventually hand the visitors a 434-run drubbing.
Both Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj went for above 4.5 an over on day 1 in Ranchi, but shared 5 crucial wickets, led by the new-ball burst from the former. Bumrah proved to be the kingpin for the hosts, claiming 19 scalps, but the remaining Indian seamers managed only 10 between them.
By contrast, the 41-year-old James Anderson had to burden their fast-bowling responsibilities, but could not be as penetrative as England hoped, accounting for 10 victims in 4 matches. The only other frontline pacer who featured in more than 1 Test in the series was Mark Wood, who only had 4 wickets to show for his effort in 3 outings.
Ollie Robinson had a forgettable outing in his only appearance in Ranchi, while Ben Stokes' impact was limited to that one stunning delivery to Rohit Sharma, making England wonder what could've been.
Overall, England's inexperienced bowling crew found it tough to bowl on surfaces that didn't assist a lot, but India's attack hunting in packs is what won them the series.
