Five things with the Indian Test team that the fans need to be patient about
No one can deny that Indias overseas performances have been diabolical of late, having won just one out of the last 19 Test matches that they have played away from home. What has been disheartening to see from the fans perspective, in particular, is the fact that the team has not even given a fight and meekly surrendered in many of those 19 Tests. Indias latest 3-1 series loss to England has probably been the lowest point in that sense, with the team embarrassingly folding in less than 3 days in the last two Test matches of the series,at Old Trafford and the Oval.The 4-0 defeats to England and Australia in 2011 were, to an extent, understandable as the much celebrated players of the 2000s were on their last legs. But the newer generation in Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane,etc., brought a lot of hope, especially after their performances in South Africa and New Zealand in the last 6-8 months, despitestill beingvery inexperienced in overseas conditions. With that being the case, the abject failures of a talented group of players in the just-concluded Test series against England has taken everyone by surprise.With the current team being very nascent and embarking on a tough tour of Australia next, it would be foolish on the part of Indian fans to expect any miracles from this team anytime soon.Here are 5 things about the Indian team that the fans need to be patient about:
#1 Opening batsmen
A crucial facet of success in Test matches is the performance of the opening batsmen. Every successful cricket team of the past has had two gun opening batsmen: Australia had Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden during their period of dominance, while West Indies had Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes in the 1980s.
On that count, the Indian team has found itself desperately short in spite of trying several different players in those positions. In the last 3 years, the biggest opening stand for India abroad has been 63, which was during the Lord’s Test against England in 2011, and that is the only 50+ opening partnership in that time period. Despite such poor numbers, it would be prudent for the fans to be patient with Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan. While they might have not been consistent, they have showed some promise at different times. Vijay looked good in South Africa and impressed during the early part of the England series, while Dhawan made scores of 115 and 98 in the series against New Zealand. It made little sense, then, to drop Dhawan after a few failures and bring back Gautam Gambhir after the 3rd Test at Edgbaston. Gambhir, after all, was averaging 20.21 from the 7 Tests that he had played in England and Australia and has only managed to worsen that average since with scores of 4, 18, 0 and 3 in the last 2 Tests.
There is no quick fix to the opening conundrums, but what fans should refrain from doing is demanding the return of players like Virender Sehwag and Gambhir every time that Vijay and Dhawan fail. These are relatively new players who are showing gradual improvement and need to be stuck with for a reasonable period of time before making a firm judgment.