In the end, it came in a whimper. The record of not losing a single Test series in 12 years, which should have been protected and fought tooth and nail, if it needed to be broken, was squandered rather easily. The captain even had the audacity of saying that one series loss in 12 years is alright. For the millions of fans throughout the land, it came as a rude shock because no one expected India to lose even a single Test against New Zealand, leave alone the series. The manner of losing the series was even more hard to swallow. A proud record crashed in the turf of first, Bangalore and then, in Kanpur. The entire batting left a lot to be desired. The loss is so staggering that it is still taking time to get used to.
Here is a team, who has just lost a series in Sri Lanka 0-2 and who was beaten, of all teams, by Bangladesh in their own country not long ago, who were clearly the underdog and ready to the slaughter, made mincemeat of a team that did not have an answer to both the seamers and the spinners. The Indian display at Bangalore and at Kanpur was diabolical to say the least.
The erstwhile off-season
There was a time when Indians were regarded as the best players of spin bowling. From the days of Gavaskar, Vengsarkar, Mohinder through Azharuddin and to Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar & Laxman, they were all masters of playing spin. It is not the case any longer. Ever since, the Indian batsmen stopped playing Ranji Trophy, the rot clearly set in.
This was towards the latter stages of the Tendulkar generation. The social media is full of Tendulkar playing the Ranji Trophy even when he was at the age of 40 when the fact of the matter is that, he played just that Ranji game at 40 but wasn’t involved with Mumbai in anyway, whatsoever. As the number of games increased, the involvement in the Ranji Trophy reduced. They were all given a lot of leeway to skip Ranji but they were able to get through because of the superior skills against the spinners.
The BCCI must also be blamed for the series loss. They kept on scheduling games which had absolutely no context. Take the case of the 4 T20s in South Africa next month. Why would you send a team that far just for a handful of games? The insanity of the BCCI does not have a limit. A very longtime ago, there was an off-season. The players not only used that time to rest and relax but to work on their shortcomings. It proved crucial to the development of their game.
Nowadays, the off-season is taken over by the IPL which has occupied the centrestage. The youngsters, want to do is get some kind of an IPL contract and their life is settled. This is the mindset. Hence, none of the players is able to work on their game. As such, the faultline lived longer and grew deeper.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
The seniors who needed to show the way to youngsters on turning pitches, were themselves found wanting. Kohli’s rut has set in well and truly. He just is incapable of scoring runs anymore. It is us the fans of the Indian team, who will have to adjust to the new reality. Gone are the days Kohli scored those big daddy hundreds. We must be happy with the 20s and 30s and the occasional 50s but 100s are long gone. His lean run has continued unabated for 5 years. Just a couple of hundreds, one on an absolute horrid track at Ahmedabad and one against the West Indies.
Hardly noteworthy performances from a premier batsman. He seemed not to respect the game any longer as can be seen in his reluctance to play in Duleep Trophy before the season. This is not to say that if he had played, he would have negotiated spin well but atleast, he would have been in better frame of mind. Afterall, playing spin does not come in a game or two. It takes sustained exposure to such bowling on such pitches.
It really is a miracle, Kohli still commands a place in the squad. Just the two hundreds and a handful of 50s over 5 years is simply unforgivable. Pujara and Rahane, both of them averaged better than Kohli during the same period but are now out of favour. Their cricketing career is over. Whereas Kohli, despite his underachievement, he continued to be counted among the regulars.
As for Rohit Sharma, eversince he wanted to bat aggressively, seems to have only one way to bat. He plays a few eye-catching shots and is on the way to the pavilion. His twin hundreds against England in March has given him some breathing space
The stupidity of BCCI
The board in their own wisdom, decided to name the squad for Australia even before the current series is complete. Both Rohit and Kohli are in the squad and it will not make any sense to drop either of them from the final Test. Kohli, if he has some sense of shame, for having underperformed for such a longtime, will have to voluntarily sit out the game. He has become a walking wicket. The sight of Kohli used to send shivers down the spine of the opponents. Now, the sight of Kohli send shivers down the spine of the Indians.
Wrapping up a proud record crashed
No sooner the series was lost, media started the news about IPL. Who is retained by which franchise etc. No wonder, Indian cricket is digressing. As long as IPL is given way too much importance, Indian cricket will only go down further. One good thing about the series loss is that it is impossible for India to qualify for the WTC finals. They need 4 wins in 6 games which is, frankly, not going to happen. The players can happily play in the IPL and be done with it. The non-qualification will also deprive India of much needed game time before the England series.
Other blogs
https://icricketcritique.com/from-euphoria-to-misery/
https://icricketcritique.com/46-was-a-gigantic-hole/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-first-test-debacle/”