2015 - A memorable year for Indian Test Cricket
I had ended 2014 with a review of Indian test team’s performance and my parting comment was that I hope I don’t have any hesitation in writing at the end of 2015 - ““It’s been a great year! Thanks for being a part of it”.
Well, with 5 wins, 3 draws and only 1 loss in the 9 tests played by the Indian team it can be said that the test team had a great year. Also, given the fact that India had a new captain in Virat Kohli and a young team, this performance is indeed commendable.
Recap of the year
The year began with a draw against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was a high-scoring match where India settled for a draw after being asked to chase down 349 runs on the fifth day. India then travelled to Bangladesh for a one-off test in which India were denied of a victory despite forcing a follow-on due to rains.
Next assignment on hand was a 3-match test series in the island nation Sri Lanka and it turned out to be a historic series. The score line at the end of the series read as 2-1 in favor of India and this meant that India had won a test series in Sri Lanka after 22 years.
After a gap of 2 months since the Lankan series, Indian team returned in white clothing against the Proteas at home for a 4-match series. This was a series where the pitch got more credit than the Indian team got for its performance. Agreed, that the pitches were suited to assist spin bowling but this in no way undermines the good work done by the Indian players. They had comprehensively beaten the number one test side and the result of 3-0 was testimony of this fact. Had it not been for rain gods it could have been a complete whitewash of the Proteas.
Ashwin was the star performer
Although it was largely a team effort which led to consistent results throughout the year, the performance of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin stands out. With 62 wickets in 9 matches he emerged as the highest wicket taker for the year 2015. He took these wickets at an astonishing average of 17.2 and a strike rate of 36.4. He got good support from the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra and a resurgent Ishant Sharma. The good bowling performance once again justified the belief that in tests it is more often than not the bowlers who win matches for the team.
In the batting department, Ajinkya Rahane showed that he is ready to bear the responsibility of the middle order and probably is the true torch bearer of the once famed Indian middle order. Though Virat Kohli did not have a great year as a batsman by his standards he still managed to end the year as the highest scorer among the Indian batsmen.
Despite these good performances, the Indian team was at the receiving end of criticisms for a good part of the year. Some said that the results were not true reflection of the team as apart from one match against Australia all the remaining matches were played in friendly sub-continent conditions. The unsettled opening pair provided fodder to the critics.
“The boys have become men”
Now there’s no denial that the conditions in most of the test matches played by Team India were favorable for them. But this in no way should undermine their performance. It was no mean feat to defeat the number one test team by a margin of 3-0 which could have very well been 4-0 had rain not played spoilsport.
Similarly, the victory against Sri Lanka after being 0-1 down in the series showed a lot of character. As far as the opening pair is considered, though there were frequent changes but still batsmen like Shikhar Dhawan and K L Rahul have shown promise. One should also not forget that it was after many years that team India was without MS Dhoni; arguably their best wicket-keeper batsman ever.
And as Team Director Ravi Shastri said after the victory over the Proteas that “The boys have become men”. Now there is some time till India next plays a test match outside the sub-continent, so we will have to wait and see if the men can perform irrespective of the conditions. But till then it is time to celebrate the success of the entire year.