One of the most pleasing aspects of the Ranchi Test was the partnership between Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav in the first innings. Both represent Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket and came together with India tottering at 177/7, having lost their last three wickets for 16 runs.

All of India's the top order batters were back in the hut, England were still ahead by 176 runs, the wicket was aiding the spinners, the odd ball was staying low and a huge first innings lead would have meant almost certain defeat. In that moment, when everything seemed to be stacked against them, Jurel and Kuldeep decided to get stuck in; to not give up; to fight. It may not seem like much, but when one sets out to evaluate players the two most important qualities to consider are skill and heart. Skill is relatively simple to appraise. A player seems comfortable in the middle, the time they have to play a shot, the footwork, the timing, the defence, the technique, the power... these are rather obvious. You watch for a bit and you know. But heart, or the lack of it, is more difficult to discern. Put someone in a spot and see how they react. Do they go purely defensive or lose the desire to fight back? Do they lose the initiative when the going gets tough? The ones who have heart become stronger through adversity; they raise their level, and in doing so, the signal they send to the opposition is just as important. At Ranchi, England were crushing it. Ben Stokes was ringing in the fielding changes almost every ball, Shoaib Bashir, a County reject, was bowling in a manner that would have done R Ashwin proud. But suddenly, their momentum ran into a dead bat.