India Shining: Positives for India after the Border-Gavaskar series
The recently concluded Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia resulted in a thumping 4-0 triumph for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men over their Aussie counterparts. Despite all that talk of this Aussie team being one of the worst ever, there is no doubt that this 4-0 annihilation by the Indians will go down in their cricketing history as one of their most dominant performances ever. Coming after a prolonged period of disappointing performances, this series seemed almost surreal to the Indian fans; something they can cherish for a lifetime.
A victory so commanding and comprehensive would surely have many a heroes emerging from its team. Let us briefly have a look at some of the positives that came out from India after the end of the series.
Murali Vijay at a practise session
The opening pair: Though it would be prudent to celebrate this as the answer to our opening woes, there is no denying that things do look good in that end after Sehwag and Gambhir’s departure. Murali Vijay’s composed and classy knocks and the scintillating debut by Shikhar Dhawan augurs well for India. Though the duo got only one chance to bat together, they made it count by putting together a whopping 289 run opening stand. It does seem that this right and left hand combination would be the way to go for India; at least for some time. Though both have looked a tad circumspect outside the off-stump, that is something that can be sorted out. However, it remains to be seen how these two perform over a period of time and especially on overseas tours.
Ravindra Jadeja: Probably the most ridiculed and criticized player in recent memory, Jadeja let his performances do the talking and has justified the constant faith bestowed on him by the captain. He was unfairly labelled as the captain’s favourite and has been the butt of some truly repulsive jokes in the social media. However, with 24 wickets in the series, second only to lead spinner R.Ashwin’s 29, Jadeja has taken a giant leap towards establishing himself as a permanent member of the Indian Test team; something which was quite unimaginable even two months from now. It is not just the amount of wickets he took, but it is the way he took those. He bowled with supreme confidence and troubled even Michael Clarke, getting him out 5 times in 6 innings. The fact that he is an electric fielder is an added advantage. His batting too should improve with time and then he can perhaps be the all-rounder we so desperately seek.
Cheteshwar Pujara: It is unfair on him to be compared to the batting legend Rahul Dravid, whose spot he is occupying now in the batting order; but given what one sees, it does look that Cheteshwar Pujara is here to stay. With over 400 runs in the series against Australia, Pujara has shown he can be a reliable number 3 and can perform even under pressure. His unbeaten 82 in the last day of the final Test Match on a really tough pitch at Delhi was a classic innings of confident yet elegant batting. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders and has the proper technique and a wide range of shots to go with it. Though people keep saying that oft-repeated line that his true test would come in South Africa and other overseas tours, one feels that Pujara should do well in those places as well. For now, it does seem that the backbone of our middle-order is being well taken care of by Pujara.
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar: His T20 and ODI debuts were impressive, but the young lad from Kanpur has announced himself to the world with some notable performance in the Test series against the Aussies. In a series highly dominated by Indian spinners, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar impressed one and all with his swing and seam. He troubled the Australian top-order repeatedly with his sharp swing in wickets not considered ideal for seamers. His wicket of Steven Smith in the Mohali Test was a sight to savour; the ball pitched on middle and swung to uproot the off-stump from the ground. In fact, it was his three wickets in the second innings of the Mohali Test that gave India the chance to bowl out Australia early and eventually win the match. He should do even better in the South African and English pitches, which bodes well for India. Like Kapil Dev said, if he can add some muscles to his arms and an extra yard of pace to his bowling then he can be one potent bowling force for India.
Ravichandran Ashwin: His Man of the Series award, with 29 wickets against the hapless Aussies who were all at sea against his spin, would do him a world of good. The England Test series at home a few months earlier hadn’t been too good for Ashwin, finishing with just 14 wickets at a very high 52.64 runs per wicket. He needed to make this series count. He did so and how! He has learnt from his past mistakes and was giving the ball a lot more air and was getting the batsmen through his guile. One hopes that this continues and Ashwin keeps learning and adapting to help India achieve success wherever they go.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Undoubtedly the man of the moment, Dhoni has answered his hounding pack of critics, who have been baying for his blood for a long time, in such a resounding way that most of them now are scurrying for cover. His 224 in the opening Test in Chennai set the tone for the series. It was a knock full of determined aggression and scintillating shots that left the Aussies badly wounded, never to let them get up again. That innings was also a slap in the faces of those who were claiming that he is not fit enough to be a Test batsman. His captaincy too was refreshing to watch; being pro-active and aggressive in the right measure, and leading from the front. This series whitewash is another feather in the cap for Dhoni whose cupboard of achievements is overflowing now. As has always been the case of Dhoni critics, they behave like ostriches; submerging their heads on the ground and refusing to look at his success come what may. However, that would hardly bother Dhoni as he is focused on building his team which is in transition and with what one sees now, things should be brighter in the days to come.
Any negatives? It is hard to find negatives in a series where one team wins so comprehensively. However there were some issues that needs to be looked over.
Ishant Sharma is yet to be the lead bowler that the captain wants him to. He was wayward and did not seem to have enough variations in his repertoire. He was good in patches and needs to be consistent.
The batting of the lower middle-order too was inconsistent in almost all the Test matches. Once the upper middle-order would give the team the bright starts, the following batsmen could not really capitalize on it in the way they should have. Virat Kohli for one, despite all the talent he possesses, needs to be more consistent as a Test batsman before we can comfortably say that he is India’s next best product.
Sachin Tendulkar, all his humongous contributions to the country notwithstanding, too looked a tad uncomfortable and patchy in some of the innings. However knowing him, we can be sure that he will not go out without a bang, which does not seem far now.
One has to understand that some issues will always remain in a team; but if Team India wishes to see itself on the pinnacle of all the cricket teams, it would do well to iron out its flaws now with an eye on the future.