Despite the absence from the India-England series of star players Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami, very good cricketers KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja missing Tests through injury, and the resting of elite pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah, India are still a very good team.
They've unearthed talented players in opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan. Shubman Gill is a skilful batter and more responsibility on his shoulders should eventually pay dividends.
While the spin bowling has been in the capable hands of R Ashwin and Jadeja for a long time, the realisation that Kuldeep Yadav is a reliable wicket-taking option is a bonus for India.
One area of concern is fast bowling and the future support for the crucial trio of Bumrah, Shami and the feisty Mohamed Siraj. However, debutant Akash Deep quickly answered some of those questions, producing some skiddy fast bowling with the new ball in the fourth Test.
In the sudden shuffling of the Indian side after a prolonged period of selection stability, the leadership of Rohit Sharma is often overlooked. Rohit, in his quiet but efficient way, is a very different leader from the aggressive and highly visible Ben Stokes. His capable handling of the many changes to personnel and the tough loss of the first Test shows his resilience. He also produced a masterful century when the Indian team needed it, at the start of the third Test, to confirm he wasn't a ceremonial captain.
Rohit has a pedigree of leadership success and his reputation helped him guide a fluid Indian line-up in the right direction. Any failure in his leadership could easily have led this Indian team to faltering when the going got tough. Thanks to Rohit's strength under fire, it is now England who look to Stokes to provide the leadership to ensure there isn't a serious letdown after two consecutive Test losses, the second of which was a flogging. There is no doubt the elite skill of Bumrah and the talent of Jaiswal and the other inexperienced players India introduced to the team is helpful. However, it required the leadership guidance and the tactical nous of Rohit to ensure that a changing team retained belief in their cricket.
His clever use of Kuldeep during the third Test in the absence of Ashwin was a masterstroke in turning a potential disaster to the team's advantage. Rohit's ability to remain unyielding and calculating after a depressing loss in the first Test has helped his side bounce back against a competitive English team.
The outstanding success of Jaiswal at the top of the order has been crucial to India's new-look team finding success. Jaiswal will no doubt have down periods but he has the shots and all-round skill to be an overall success in any format. His tremendous success has been symptomatic of the evolution of the Indian team under Rohit.
By meekly capitulating against spin in the second innings of their devastating loss in the third Test, England left themselves vulnerable to another trial by slow bowling in the fourth match. This became pretty obvious once talk of Bumrah being rested reached a crescendo.
Part of the task for Stokes was convincing the batters - mainly Joe Root - to be more judicious if they must employ any "fancy" shots. Root was a mammoth and quick scorer batting traditionally and I'm not sure why he wanted to employ any premeditated and therefore risky shots. Whether he personally decided it or Stokes prompted some introspection, the talented batter returned to his roots to produce a telling century on an engaging first day, dragging England out of a perilous situation to ensure the visitors provided a challenging first-day total in Ranchi.
Captaincy didn't suit Root but sensible batting does.
Whatever the result, England have displayed their resilience under Stokes and the ability to not fold like a tent after a debilitating loss. Ranchi is shaping as yet another highly competitive Test featuring two very good Test captains.