The overload of left-arm spinners at the Indian team nets at the Wankhede Stadium two days before the start of the third Test against New Zealand was a compliment to Mitchell Santner. As Indian batsmen did their sessions, sweeps – conventional and reverse – were in vogue, from Virat Kohli to Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and Washington Sundar. An overseas spinner, who didn’t have a four-for in Tests before this series, out-bowling his more fancied Indian counterparts in Pune was a rarity. Externally, the Indian team management has kept a stiff upper lip even after the series defeat, but deep down, panic seems to have set in.
This is an unfamiliar territory for India. For 12 years and 18 series, they were invincible at home. Now, they will be playing the Mumbai Test to avoid a home series whitewash. The last time it happened, against South Africa in 1999-2000, it proved to be seismic. Sachin Tendulkar would soon relinquish captaincy, with Sourav Ganguly taking over. The turn of the century was a period of transition, and upheaval, in Indian cricket. Circa 2024, and the Indian team stands on the cusp of another transition.
The hard numbers from the ongoing series have been quite startling. After two Tests, Rachin Ravindra is the highest run-getter, with 247 runs at an average of 82.33. Devon Conway has scored 201 runs at an average of 50.25. As far as India are concerned, Sarfaraz has made 170 runs at an average of 42.50, and that is chiefly down to his 150 in the second innings in the Bangalore Test. Only two other Indians have reached three-figures, over four innings – Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant. Kohli has 88 runs from four innings, while Rohit Sharma has made 62.
Moving to spin bowling, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have 12 wickets between them from two Tests. The former’s average is 43.50, while Jadeja has taken his wickets at 37.50 apiece. Santner has 13 scalps from two innings at 12.07.
For the Latest Sports News: Click Here
On the face of it, the third Test is a dead rubber. But playing for World Test Championship (WTC) points makes it hugely important for the hosts. India will play another six Tests before the WTC final next year and they need to win four of them to be certain of their ticket to Lord’s. Not impossible, but at the moment, it looks a tad improbable.
The marquee five-Test series Down Under will come on the heels of the ongoing assignment. With an eye on that, India need a turnaround in Mumbai. Another defeat, and negative vibes and sinking morale might accompany the Indian team to Australia.
For Abhishek Nayar, however, every cloud has a silver lining. India’s assistant coach rewound to India’s loss in the 50-over World Cup final last year and then the turnaround at the T20 World Cup. “I think when India lost the World Cup in India, that was a low point in Indian cricket for everyone; for the fans, for the players,” Nayar told reporters. “In the same breath, a few months later, they were T20I world champions.”
The assistant coach missed an important point. India played brilliant cricket at the ODI World Cup en route to the final. The title showdown was one bad game. India have been playing poor cricket in the ongoing series against New Zealand.
They will have to regroup, and the inspiration should come from the galacticos, Rohit and Kohli. They are out of form and low on confidence. Kohli’s technical tweak – standing on the leg stump line and playing away from his body against the spinners, with DRS at the back of his mind – hasn’t worked well either.
Maybe, the veteran duo needs to look back to India’s Test series in Australia in 2003-04 to move forward. India went to that series on the back of a humiliating defeat to the Aussies in the TVS Cup (an ODI tournament) final, with Ricky Ponting predicting a clean sweep Down Under. In the first Test at the Gabba, with the tourists reeling at 62/3, Ganguly walked out to bat and scored a scintillating 144 off 196 balls. That was the turning point. India went toe-to-toe with Steve Waugh’s all-conquering Australia and the series ended 1-1.
The skipper led from the front back then. The current captain and his predecessor should show the way now.
Also Read: Playing well more important than losing sleep over nature of pitch