Let’s go back to 2007, when India won a Test series in England for the first (and last) time since 1986. It was a three-match series. Only one Indian scored a century back then. It was Anil Kumble. India still won 1-0. In fact, in one of the matches, India amassed 481. Nobody scored in triple figures, but all of them contributed.
Cut back to India’s greatest Test series win. The final Test in Brisbane in 2021. They made over 300 in both innings. No one made a hundred. It was a complete team effort, in batting and bowling. Not often do you come across such instances.
What we are trying to say is, a team does not necessarily need towering contributions from individuals to win Test matches. Quite often, a concerted team effort does the job. What you need is everybody chipping in with whatever they can. That is the essence of team sports. And this is exactly what the Indian team needs in the World Test Championship final against Australia.
Individual brilliance will be there, inevitably. And those efforts will surely be lauded. Cricket is perhaps the only team game where a person plays for himself or herself, not in a selfish manner but just to demonstrate their skills. And that will not change because the nature of the game is such. This is a historical truth, which will remain as long as cricket is played.
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But collective contributions will be of immense importance in this one-off Test against Australia starting at The Oval on June 7. The conditions may not provide scope for huge scores from the bat. In that case, runs from everybody will become important. Someone getting a century and others failing will perhaps not work. What you need is runs across the board.
In India, there is a tendency to glorify centuries and somewhat undermine efforts which fall short of three figures. This is somewhat unjustified. Yes, batters will make hundreds or even more, and those will be appreciated. But that cannot be an end in itself. What matters at the end of the day is how the team has done.
When India won at Lord’s in 2021, they made 298 in the second innings. Nobody scored a century. When Anil Kumble’s team achieved that landmark victory against Australia in Perth in 2008, there were no triple-digit contributions. What we had instead was a cluster of handy knocks. That is what did the trick. It was the sum total which towered above individual performances.
Come June 7 at The Oval, India will need something similar. This is not the time to think of who made how many. It’s important to fire in unison. Yes, there might be batters notching up hundreds, and those will be precious, no doubt. But the crux of the matter is that they have to go out there and deliver as a unit, as a team. Then only will there be a result which can be cherished for a long time.
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