There's been a familiar refrain at the end of the recent India-England series. Someone invariably steps up to say the final scoreline doesn't quite tell the story. Think back to 2018, when India lost 1-4 but Sam Curran was the sliver of difference between them and at least two more wins in Birmingham and Southampton. Think 2021 in India, when Ravi Shastri insisted the scoreline didn't reflect how hard England had pushed his bubble-weary team, still riding high on their historic triumph in Australia.

Even last year, when India won 4-1 at home, there were murmurings that the Bazballers had pushed them closer than the result suggested. So in that context, there seems to be rare agreement that 2-2 is a just scoreline for a series that swayed both ways, decided as much by moments as by the men.

India should celebrate what was, by every measure, a truly stirring series. They should take pride in this 2-2, and how they achieved it with a side clearly in transition and under a young new captain. Theirs is a team still learning how its moving parts might click together into something greater. The wait for a series win in England since 2007 may stretch on, but winning two Tests and drawing level, under the circumstances, is no small feat.

But once the applause fades, the introspection must also begin. India are now winless in three straight Test series and even with the miracle of The Oval, have just won three of their last 13 Tests.

After that historic six-run win at The Oval, Shubman Gill allowed himself a moment to glance at the future. He didn't get into specifics about what the series had taught him or what he still had to learn in his five-game tenure as captain. But both he and head coach Gautam Gambhir will need to begin charting a path forward for India's Test cricket.

On the surface, the series finishing all square felt fair, because it was a contest between two evenly matched, equally flawed teams. Both carry frailties in the bowling department, the part of the game that ultimately wins you Tests. England are still in search of a bowling identity in the post-Anderson-and-Broad era, trying to find one that aligns with their playing philosophy and the kinds of home surfaces they trust. Ironically, these very pitches place relentless demands on their seamers. Their spate of injuries in recent years is not all .

Gill and Gambhir have a bowling transition to manage too, but their more urgent challenge lies in team construction - and whether the current formula can hold over time. Ahead of the series in Leeds, Gill had spoken of his willingness to play four frontline quicks, even if it meant fielding a tail of No. 11s. It sounded brave. But it remained just that, talk.

At Headingley and Old Trafford, India came closest to that vision. Shardul Thakur was the fourth seamer, a bowling all-rounder on paper. But he was barely used - a telling sign that Gill didn't fully trust him to deliver breakthroughs, preferring instead to ride his main bowlers, even at the cost of over-bowling them. At Edgbaston and Lord's, Nitish Reddy was the chosen batting all-rounder. He did reasonably well bowling seam, especially on Day 1 at Lord's, but there's still work to be done if India are to consistently extract wickets from him.

At The Oval, with the series on the line, India opted for boldness, just three seamers, one of whom had played every game. Gill explained the logic to it. They saw a green top, and figured three seamers might suffice. Beefing up the batting, especially in Rishabh Pant's injury-enforced absence, seemed prudent. Karun Nair's first-innings 57 even vindicated that call.

But as the pitch flattened and bodies tired, the gamble teetered. Had Mohmammed Siraj not summoned a performance for the ages, stretching himself to the limits, India could well have been caught short. They also got a touch of fortune - England, who had picked four seamers after taking the risky call to go spin-less, were hamstrung on the opening day when Chris Woakes dislocated his shoulder.

India are lucky to have two spinning all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar who, on current evidence, could be picked as batters alone. But as Gill will discover, away from home, fielding two spinners can feel like a luxury. At home, he can pair them with Axar Patel and run a side that boasts nine batters, three quality spinners, and two quicks for new-ball bursts and reverse spells. That very logic - of having so much depth - is what continues to keep Kuldeep Yadav out, home or away.

But since their last tour of Australia, India have preferred to err on the side of caution, prioritising all-rounders over strike bowlers, the ones who can take 20 wickets and do it quickly, to ease the burden on batters. Assistant coach Sitanshu Kotak even spoke about the need to score 550 as the reason to do so. It's curious that even in a series where five batters - Gill (754), KL Rahul (532), Jadeja (516), Pant (479) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (411) - aggregated over 400 runs, they didn't shift the balance towards more bowling depth. And not just depth for depth's sake - relevant depth. The Oval pitch rendered both Washington and Jadeja ineffective with the ball.

Gill and Gambhir must now also shape the contours of India's pace future. Jasprit Bumrah, and now Siraj, have shouldered far too much of the burden. There's a clear need for a pipeline, and a clear pecking order. Akash Deep seems next in line, Prasidh Krishna after him. But Akash looked to be carrying another niggle in the last Test, while Prasidh was bypassed in Manchester by a debutant who flew in just ahead of the Manchester game. Anshul Kamboj came with glowing reviews and solid numbers - clearly, the team management liked what they saw. But when a bowler starts flat, the selection and leapfrogging can suddenly seem reckless.

India's red-ball team now gets a breather until the home season - West Indies and South Africa await. They'll remain in Asia for another 15 months, with an away tour to Sri Lanka next year, before the next big SENA test in New Zealand, in October 2026. By then, Bumrah and Siraj will both be nudging 33. By then, India's next pace core must not only be in place, it must be protected.

But before they go there and sketch the long-term vision, India can allow themselves a moment to revel in a series that throbbed with life. It gave us a captain growing into his voice, a team finding its shape in the fog of transition, and a final act that turned on the thinnest sliver of light. In time though, India will want this 2-2 to be remembered not just for how it ended, but for what it revealed, the questions it asked, the ideas it nudged into motion.

For now, the page turns. The dust of England will settle. The new ball will next be taken under home skies. But echoes of this English summer - of Siraj's sweat, Gill's steel, of Rahul's class, Pant's bravado and the quiet shaping of something new - will linger a while longer in the corners of Indian cricket's imagination.