The juggernaut rolls on and on. Indian cricket keeps scaling new heights and the current squad has maintained the tradition. A 2-0 series win at home over Bangladesh might not be by itself a reason to go gaga but the methods they adopted in winning the second Test at Kanpur has to be ranked as among the boldest and bravest decisions in Indian cricket, says Partab Ramchand
Any other team would have accepted the result as a dull, drab draw once play was cut short by more than half on the opening day and then when there was no play on the second and third days due to rain and the wet condition of the playing area. There were just two days left, the first innings of the Test was just about midway through and the game had the word DRAW written all over it.
Deep inside though, the Indian players and the management still nurtured hopes of the match going their way. And being confident of this they now approached their task in the remaining time with a sense of urgency the kind of which had not been done previously in Test cricket. It is one thing to plan a certain strategy quite another to put it into practice. But then, the Indian squad in recent years has achieved several feats that have been beyond the reach of other teams. They needed just two clear days to get the job done and so superbly did they perform that they accomplished the task in just about a day and half. In effect, they won the Test in roughly two days playing time.
Having dismissed Bangladesh for 233, the batsmen found an avenue and the Indian first innings was straight out of the T-20 format. All sorts of records went overboard as India raced to a total of 285 for nine declared in just 34.4 overs. A rate of 8.22 is something unheard of even in these days of Bazball. The 50-run partnership for the first wicket coming up in three overs is straight out of the fiction books. From the moment Rohit Sharma hit sixes off the first two balls he received, there was no slackening in the tempo. The pyrotechnics continued unabated and records were set right down the line – fastest 50, fastest 100, fastest 150, fastest 200, fasted 250 in Test cricket history. The Indians made it clear that they were not going to be bothered if they were bowled out cheaply while adopting this devil-may-care approach. They wanted to win the match in the limited time remaining and to that extent they would go all out.
Fortune favours the brave and the Indians were indeed rewarded sooner rather than later. The no-holds barred onslaught so shook Bangladesh that they had had little fight left and midway through the final day, the Indians wrapped up the game by seven wickets. In its meticulous planning, the audacious approach and the strategy and tactics through which it was achieved this has to rank as one of the most unbelievable victories in Indian cricket.
At the moment, given its stature in international cricket, there is nothing that this Indian team cannot achieve. The ICC rankings have India at No. 1 in both ODI and T-20 and second behind Australia in Test cricket. India has now registered its 18th successive Test series triumph at home besides performing commendably abroad, the ultimate proof being two successive wins in Australia. The team has already virtually made sure of qualifying for the World Test Championship final for the third successive time.
Indian players are setting records left, right and centre. Indian cricket has had some purple phases over time but it has really excelled these past few years. The successive Test series wins in Australia, shared rubbers in England and South Africa, finalists in the ODI World Cup, winners of the T-20 World Cup are feats the players can be proud of. Whether the captain has been M.S. Dhoni, Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, the success graph has registered a steep upward climb and this has been the case whether the coach has been Ravi Shastri, Rahul Dravid or Gautam Gambhir who has just taken over.
What it even more heartening is that the bench strength is very strong. This is symbolised by the fact that Sarfaraz Khan with a first class career average of 70 is unable to break in and bowlers like Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel cannot be regulars in the playing eleven despite stellar performances. In addition, there are a number of talented youngsters waiting to don the India cap but cannot as the present lot is doing such a sterling job. Under the circumstances, Indian cricket is poised for even headier days in the near future.
(The writer is a veteran sports writer who spent his career working for The Indian Express and The Telegraph/ Sportsworld.)