Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
Multi-dimensional cricketers! They add value to their teams by performing multiple duties, playing different roles. Needless to say, they are assets for the sides they play for because of this ability to contribute with the bat and the ball. They are called all-rounders. This special talent makes them sought after characters. All teams, at every level, crave for at least one such player.
This current Indian team is fortunate to have not one or two but three, who qualify in this category. All of them being spin bowlers mean their services cannot be utilised when playing away from the sub-continent. But in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or even Pakistan or the UAE, this is a luxury India can afford. This troika makes their team an enviable entity against any opposition.
The first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy demonstrated this is in the best possible manner. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel played pivotal roles in handing Australia an innings and 132-run drubbing with a session to go on the third day. In varying degrees, the contributions of all three were instrumental in India’s resounding win which put the team in a good position to reach the World Test Championship final.
We all know, there is no chance of all three playing in that final to be staged at The Oval from June 7 to 11. Maybe, only one of Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar will make the XI. But that’s not what we are discussing here. To reach the World Test Championship final this year and in the coming years, India have played and will play a number of matches in conditions that suit them. That’s where they have made an impact and will continue doing so.
This is a bit too good for a country which has rued missing an all-rounder since the retirement of Kapil Dev in 1994. Because the legend was a fast-bowling all-rounder and India never found someone like him after him, we tend to think that we have never had another of his kind. In doing so, what often goes unnoticed is, a spinner who can perform two roles is also a valuable option. Yes, their services cannot be utilised in every country, but in a lot of places they can deliver.
There could not have been a better example than the Nagpur Test. Three wickets in the first innings, making 23 and frustrating the Australians as a night-watchman during the first hour of the second day when India did not lose a wicket and then running through the opposition in the second innings with the 31st five-wicket haul of his career, Ashwin showed why he is regarded as India’s best finisher with the ball. Add to 457 wickets five centuries and 13 half-centuries and his case needs no arguing.
And what do you say about Jadeja, a southpaw who made an early name for himself as a limited-over specialist? From there to become one of Test cricket’s most prolific all-rounder of his time as well as an asset in all three formats, this is a transformation which has few parallels, if any, in contemporary cricket. His contribution of five wickets in the first innings in Nagpur, an invaluable 70 with the bat which helped India reach a commanding position and then two more with the ball in the second innings fetched him the player of the match award. Don’t also overlook that he has a Test century and five fifties in SENA countries.
Last on the list but not the least is Axar. Unless Ashwin or Jadeja is unavailable, he will make it to the XI only when India field three spinners. And he is making sure that it has to be him with each outing. He did not get to do a great deal with the ball in Nagpur, but proved his worth with a knock of 84 which was instrumental in India putting the issue beyond Australia. The way he went about his task against the odds and with the No 10 and 11 was sensational. Yes, most of his 48 wickets in nine Tests came in conditions tailor-made for him, but his wicket-to-wicket, no-nonsense bowling will always be productive on pitches that offer a bit of help to spinners. Not a great turner, he is a smart learner.
And one should not forget Kuldeep Yadav. Unfortunate to miss out because the team has three ahead of him, this left-arm unorthodox guy has 34 wickets in eight Tests. He made 40 in his last Test appearance in Bangladesh where he was the player of the match. And in first-class cricket, he has a hundred other than six half-centuries. Potential match-winner with the ball, he is no mug with the bat either. That India can leave him out and still win Test matches convincingly, shows the kind of bench strength the team has in this department.
There are teams from the sub-continent boasting of enviable reserves in the spin department. Pakistan and Bangladesh are examples. But none of them have spinners who can make such a telling impact with the bat. That sets India’s reserves apart from other sides. Whining for a long time that there are no all-rounders, this Indian team suddenly finds itself facing a problem of plenty. They are to an extent condition-specific and cannot be used universally, but wherever conditions permit, they make India an unparalleled force.