Can Virat Kohli & co. lead India to the top in Test cricket again?
India registered a comprehensive Test series victory on Sri Lankan soil, coming back from behind to beat the hosts 2-1 and win a series on foreign soil after four years. It was also India’s first Test series win on Sri Lankan soil in 22 years.
As we celebrate and savour this hard fought win, let us dare to dream a bit and ask ourselves. Can this team of young, aggressive-minded blokes, lead India back to the top in Test cricket?
Nobody symbolises the new age Indian youth more than Virat Kohli. He is brash, confident and aggressive. He has already tasted great success in international cricket, being a member of the World Cup winning squad of 2011 and the Champions Trophy win in 2013. His eyes and actions display a great desire and passion to become the very best in the world at what he does.
Now as he leads this young team of players, who are just embarking upon their cricketing journeys, it would be interesting to see how his team shapes up in coming future. Can they become world beaters? Can they lead India back to the pinnacle of Test cricket? Can India improve their much deplorable Test history and record under this team and rewrite a new golden chapter?
The history and present state of Indian Test cricket
Now, why did I say our Test history is deplorable?
Because it is. Kind of a dirty truth, which most Indian cricket experts ignore or try not to talk about. If we look at our Test history, we have a win-loss ratio of 0.78 in Test matches, and have won 25.5% of our Test matches. On both these parameters, we are ranked seventh out of the top eight Test playing nations.
The top side Australia has a win-loss 1.75, almost double that of India. Only New Zealand fares worse than us on these two parameters. And these are the two most important stats to judge any team’s Test mettle.
Can India under Kohli improve this poor history by their performances? All the indicators seem to suggest that they can. Kohli himself is a very pro-active captain, and always looks for ways to win a contest, rather than applying the safety first approach, which unfortunately most Test captains in the last two decades have adhered to. He also seems to learn fast from his mistakes, and that is a great sign for a young captain.
The team has good mix of stroke makers and solid batsmen
Fast bowling also seems promising with Ishant Sharma performing consistently now. He has gained lot of experience already in his Test career, and must now look to be a consistent performer. Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron possess great pace and zip.
But the problem for these two has been the tendency to bowl poor balls after producing few great ones in any given spell. Right now they lack any consistency to put the ball in the same spot and create pressure on good batsmen. However with the right coaching and efforts, these two have the potential to turn into world class fast bowlers.
If India has suffered historically in our Test results, it has been mostly due to lack of match winning fast bowlers. We have always produced great batsmen and spin bowlers in every era. However the fast bowling plate has always left a lot to be desired. If we can improve in this area, most of our problems will be solved.
Our spin bowling is in good hands with R. Ashwin leading the pack. Young spinners are also there aplenty in domestic cricket and with proper exposure and experience, they can mature into good players for Test level.
Lessons the current team can take from history
And these guys have fortunately one Indian side to look at who reached the pinnacle in Test cricket. Under MS Dhoni’s calm and calculated leadership and helped immensely by the destroyer Virender Sehwag at the top of the innings, India reached top of Test cricket in 2009 and stayed there for 18 months.
What can Kohli’s boys learn from that side? One lesson which is pretty obvious is the benefit of having an attacking opener who can give the side a fast start, as well as put the opposition bowlers under pressure right away. For Dhoni’s team, Sehwag did that job brilliantly.
Sehwag literally tore apart bowling line-ups, smashing many good balls for boundaries and made the bowlers quiver in their boots. That often made things much easier for the middle order, most of whom feasted upon bowlers already scarred by Sehwag onslaught. Can Shikhar Dhawan play that role for Kohli’s side? If he manages to do so, things would be much simpler for Kohli and his team.
If all these things happen together, India may well get back to the top again in Test cricket and stay there for a longer duration this time. Hope Kohli and the boys are eager to achieve that. They have seen some of their ex-teammates reach the pinnacle of Test cricket and would take inspiration from them to lead India back to the top.