The rise and rise of Indian Cricket in 2019
At the post-match presentation in Cuttack after the conclusion of the series-decider between India and the West Indies, captain Virat Kohli evaluated that 2019 was one of the best years in Indian cricket apart from that 30-minute mayhem at the World Cup.
The Indian captain was spot on with his observations as the Men in Blue completed a remarkable year achieving stupendous success across formats. Virat Kohli led from the front with 2455 international runs in 2019 across formats and finished with most international runs in a calendar year for the fourth time in a row.
In this article, let us analyze Team India’s performances across formats in 2019.
Test matches
Played – 8, Won – 7, Drawn – 1, Win Percentage - 87.50.
The year 2019 started on a disappointing note for India in the sense that they could not force victory against Australia at Sydney after scoring 622 in the first innings and restricting the opposition to 300. After enforcing the follow-on, India could not complete the task as rain played havoc on the fourth and fifth days resulting in a total loss of 170 overs. However, Kohli’s team still went on to become the first Indian team to win a Test series against Australia in Australia.
India went on to win the next 7 Test matches in 2019, 4 of them by an innings, a new record in Test matches. By beating Bangladesh at home, India achieved its 12th consecutive home Test series win. India has now won 28 of their last 35 Test matches at home with a solitary loss against Australia in 2017.
Positives for India in Test matches
#1 The surfacing of Rohit Sharma as a Test opener
The emergence of Rohit Sharma as a successful Test opener has been the biggest positive for Team India in the year. After being asked to open the innings against South Africa at Vishakhapatnam, Rohit scored 529 runs in 4 innings at 132.25 with 3 centuries including a double hundred. Rohit achieved this feat against a decent South African bowling line up.
His opening partner Mayank Agarwal was equally impressive having aggregated 754 runs in the year with 3 centuries. Their successful opening partnership eased the demands on the middle-order concurrently facilitating the team to field 5 bowlers to take 20 wickets in Test matches.
#2 The collective efforts of the fast bowlers
The Indian pace bowling quartet of Mohammed Shami (33 wickets), Ishant Sharma(25), Umesh Yadav(23) and Jasprit Bumrah(14) combined to take 95 wickets in the year. They were relentless with their pace and accuracy and were coming at the opposition batsmen in rotation.
Bumrah could play only 3 Test matches in the year due to injury but his replacement, Umesh Yadav made use of the opportunity presented to him accounting for 23 wickets at an average of 13.65.
Mohammed Shami was the leading wicket-taker for India with 33 wickets and the 6th leading wicket-taker in the world in 2019, while Ishant Sharma occupied the 11th position.
The domination of the Indian fast bowlers was complete in the first day-night Test match in India at the Eden Gardens, Kolkatta against Bangladesh. It was in this Test match that the fast bowling trio of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, and Mohammed Shami took all 20 Bangladeshi wickets. It was also the first time in the history of Indian Test cricket that the Indian spinners went wicketless in a Test match at home.
#3 Wriddhiman Saha’s comforting presence behind the wicket
When Wriddhiman Saha returned to Test cricket in the series against South Africa in October, Kohli expressed that Saha was the best wicket-keeper in the world. The diminutive wicket-keeper lived up to his Captain’s words by taking some blinders behind the wicket.
Playing in his 37th Test match at Kolkatta, Saha completed his 100th dismissal in Test cricket. The comforting presence of Saha behind the wickets worked in favor of the Indian bowlers and lifted the overall fielding standards of the team.
Looking back, the year 2019 was a near-perfect year for the Indian team in Test matches.