India didn’t lose the 2014-15 version of the Border-Gavaskar trophy because of their batting performance. They didn’t lose it because of a lack of leadership, sub-standard fielding or their childish stubbornness on the use of DRS technology.
They didn’t even lose because of their notoriously atrocious touring attitude.
No, the root cause of Australia’s unassailable 2-0 series lead is India’s pathetic pop-gun bowling unit, so often their achilles heel away from the comforts of the subcontinent.
The long-thought theory in Test cricket that bowlers win matches may not ring entirely true anymore, but bowling well as a unit still holds weight when it comes to winning.
Australia, South Africa and even England a few years ago proved us that much. But India just don’t seem to learn their lessons.
They lack mongrel with the cherry in hand, bereft of aggression except for short spurts when their quicks huff and puff, full of false bravado, before realising their charade is as easy to see through as a pair of arseless chaps.
I’m struggling to recall a bowling attack that errs more in line and length and lets games slip away with poor, ill-thought out bowling plans such as the ridiculous first session in Adelaide where David Warner punished India for their uninspired around-the-wicket tactics.
In fact, there’s about five examples of such tactics in this series alone.
India employed short-ball bowling, and poorly, to an out of form Brad Haddin for too long, and sledged Mitchell Johnson, kicking the sleeping dogs that dragged Australia back into two matches.
Part of that rests on the now-retired MS Dhoni, but honestly there’s been just as many instances of Australians throwing away their wicket as the Indians earning them.
Ryan Harris may be a handy lower-order player, but the fact he scored 95 runs in two innings (27 more than Dhoni’s haul from four innings) is indicative of India’s insipidness with ball in hand.
And until the BCCI does something about India’s woeful fast-bowling stocks and development, they will be left to languish in the dull afterglow away from cricket’s centre stage.
Because for the Indians, batting has never really been issue since they began their ascent into world-cricket relevance a few decades ago. Save for the embarrassing tour of 2011-12, when India’s old guard had hung around too long, their batting performance is normally streaks ahead of their bowling.
It is their fast bowling that has, and seemingly always will, deny them access from the lucrative upper-tier of Test cricket. It’s almost tragic comedy that a nation of one billion has produced one, maybe two world-class quicks in its cricket story.
While Zaheer Khan could be a very dangerous bowler, India has been lacking a true demolition man in their attack since Kapil Dev left the Test arena with a then world record 434 wickets.
In this series alone, India has bowled Australia out just twice, for first innings scores of 505 and 530, and the pace battery has leaked an astonishing 1554 runs for their 33 wickets. Mohammed Shami awkwardly boasts the best figures of the summer, a sheepish 4-138 in which he was punished for 23 boundaries and watched as Steve Smith played the knock of the summer.
It must be frustrating for Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane, who with a combined run tally of 1249 have scored 305 less runs than their fast bowlers have conceded.
It must have been frustrating back in 2007-08 too, when Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman finished second and fourth respectively among the top runscorers while Ishant Sharma and Khan managed only 11 wickets between them.
What’s worse, the fact India’s fast bowlers leaked a whopping 5958 runs in their last four Australian tours, or that they only claimed 94 wickets out of a possible 270 and failed to dismiss Australia on six occasions?
India spent nearly two years atop the Test rankings between December 2009 and August 2011 despite their high percentage of drawn Tests, trailing only England over the last 10 years in that category.
Perhaps it’s telling that India draw so many Tests, even at home, when you consider their inability to bowl opposing sides out. In the last 10 years, India have failed to dismiss their opponent 24 per cent of the time in the 104 Test matches they’ve played.
And while India’s crumbly clay decks have always suited spinners, it’s still alarming that their turners have in fact taken more wickets (859) to fast-bowlers and medium-pacers (801) since 2005.
Regardless of their skill, every side needs a cohesive fast-bowling unit that can bust through the door to claim vital wickets when needed. Every Test playing nation has its traditional strengths and weaknesses but there are exceptions to every rule.
Pakistan produced two of the best bowlers of their generation in Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram despite growing up on tracks that generally offered little assistance. Australia produced the greatest spinner of all-time in Shane Warne, despite playing on surfaces that generally didn’t assist spin until day five.
In the current cricket environment, where teams travel so often and techniques and roles are constantly changing, it is India’s turn to offer up something outside the box.
We’re used to the dead-eyed hitters and the nifty spinners, but in order for India to be a consistent threat in Test cricket, it’s time for them to muster up a pace attack with at least a hint of venom.
Stanley
Guest
You would have been killed by a hardcore Indian fan if he had saw u laughing at that !
JMW
Guest
Great article...this in particular was the highlight for me... "...They lack mongrel with the cherry in hand, bereft of aggression except for short spurts when their quicks huff and puff, full of false bravado, before realising their charade is as easy to see through as a pair of arseless chaps." Keep 'em coming.
Marees
Guest
the story of India's tour has been that whatever the Indian top-order scored against Aussie bowlers, the Indian bowlers have given it away to the Aussie lower order
Andrew
Guest
I loved when Haddin said to Kohli "It's all about you". For 30 seconds, I couldn't stop laughing.
Statistic Skeptic
Guest
Their drop from the number one ranking was swift and brutal as well - 4-0 whitewashes to both Australia and England away being the catalyst.
Mitch Sabine
Roar Rookie
of course it's simplistic. that's the point. if the BCCI still hasn't realised that maybe they keep losing overseas tours because they can't play two spinners every game then they don't deserve to be considered the best. period. and I totally disagree that it's something that can't or shouldn't be fixed. that attitude screams of a nation content to just be good at home and never have a true period of dominance. one of the first things the sides under mark taylor and particularly steve Waugh addressed was their need to be better away from home, and knock off teams who had beaten them badly in the past. physicality wise, umesh yadav is built like the proverbial brick shithouse and is pretty quick. likewise varun aaron who bowls 145 kmph +. ishant sharma has a glenn McGrath build. physicality isn't their issue. it's their heads-down, woe-is-me attitude. bowling two good balls an over isn't how you win Test matches.
Mitch Sabine
Roar Rookie
I probably should have mentioned that I absolutely detest the fact they were number one for such a long period of time, in fact at all. It was an absolute joke and purely based on the fact they played so many Tests at home. and of course nations will always produce players that best suit their conditions, I'm not even trying to argue that. but if you simply play to your strengths and don't address your weaknesses, you'll never be considered great.
Matt
Roar Rookie
Part of their problem is also tactical. They tire of bowling plans quickly, and they set defensive fields far too quickly under Dhoni. Maybe it's a product of their home conditions, but Indian domestic cricket is undergoing a huge push into fast bowling. Perhaps it's their focus on limited overs cricket that prevents them from executing disciplined fast bowling spells in tests.
Matt
Roar Rookie
I remember hearing Dravid say on ABC radio that 9 of the 10 top wicket takers in the Ranjit trophy (India's Sheffield Shield) are pace bowlers, and I've heard quite a few Indians say that the push for fast bowler's wickets in the domestic comp and IPL has hurt their spin bowling stocks. Definitely makes it interesting that we go over and get put to the sword by the spinners, but the last time they prepared a green top was in 2004 and it gave us our famous tour victory in India. The "22 yard suicide note" quote sticks in my mind from that time!
spruce moose
Guest
Agree. India's bowlers have been the big let down. But not just in the wayward bowling, but with their truly abysmal batting. The real difference between Australia and India is the lower order batting. The top order has matched Australia's (if not exceeded it)...but the lower order batting has been shocking. The Indian tail legitimately starts at 7 while Australia no longer has a tail. Josh Hazelwood and Nathan Lyon are reliable bats. They can be called upon to last 5-10 overs, and score the odd run. Ishant, Kumar, Yadav, Aaron cannot be called upon to last 10 balls. Australia twice managed to score 500+ totals precisely because of the lower order. India 3 times have been 3 or 4 for 300 and have failed to push onto 500. Once the 5th wicket falls for India, the innings comes to a very quick close. 3 times Australia should have been dismissed for near 300 but their lower order batting is just SO good they were allowed to escape. Steve Waugh's greatest legacy in Australian cricket was ensuring that the lower order chipped in with the bat. He encouraged Glenn McGrath to succeed with the bat, to practice batting in the nets. I've seen the Indian bowlers batting in the nets....there is no discipline or any semblance or seriousness to the practice. They are in there trying to belt everything to a new timezone. A bit more discipline with the bat and they would have won in Adelaide and would have stayed competitive in the Gabba. India's lower order have been living in the 70's too long where the tail wasn't expected to pull it's weight. The modern game now asks for everyone at least down to No.10 to be able to bat.
Jamie Singh
Guest
Indians just don't care about tests anyway. And when Cricket is the only sport for that country... It is pathetic. MS Dhoni retiring and the constant push for the IPL is a good indicator of where Indians are with cricket. Why play test when you can make more money at home and occasionally tour a ODI? You would think with the arrogance of Australians and a history of poor sportsmanship India would come all out and well prepared. But the reality is while Australians think of Australia vs. India as a huge match, BCCI and the Indian cricketers don't care. India is the dominant country for cricket but they are disappointingly insular and narrow minded. T India should be leading the growth of Cricket in T20 and ODI but instead fixate over the IPL and it's corrupt and Bollywood influenced ways. Australia and NZ at least have pushed cricket in PNG. India could for example have numerous minnow countries represented at the IPL - Netherlands, Nepal, Afghanistan, PNG etc should have top players being mentored and Indian money pouring into their home countries. Nope! India prefers like Australia to be big fish in a small pool. For the cricket elite regardless of India winning or losing they get millions so who cares? They seem to only care at home. As an Indian sports fan India has ignored every sport bar Cricket like retards. Martial arts in India are great but completely ignored as are boxing and wrestling. Soccer is shameful with a goddamn rank of 172! tennis, badminton and MMA fighters all have to leave India and find their own money - most are rich. The fact that the Indian Olympic Committee was banished for most of the Winter Olympics is a good sign of where sports is.Indians have maintained the colonial mentality of punishing the country while creating false idols to worship, they are not whites anymore but Bollywood and cricketers who do nothing . I hope India doesn't make it past the group stage at the world cup for several years. Maybe then Indians will wake up and support other sports or be forced too.
Winston
Guest
This is a bit simplistic. Clearly fast bowling is their weakness, but that doesn't mean it's something that can or should be fixed. It my well be something which is too hard to fix and therefore better off not fixing and concentrating on strengths instead. Would it be fair to say that Indians as a population just aren't suited to fast bowling - much like the reverse of how Jamaicans seem to be particularly suited to sprint running? Fast bowling seems to require the bowler to be tall, strong, running in fast, strong arm, strong torso - these are not things you would normally associate with Indians as a stereotype. Of course they can trawl through their 1bn population and there would no doubt be some tall people there, but that's a very difficult task, much harder than say you were going through the Netherlands population to find tall guy. So rightly so the Indian bodies (not just the BCCI, but all the structures from grassroots level) wouldn't focus on fast bowling. With limited resources and time, it's much more fruitful for them to concentrate on other things. As bad as they have been this tour, India at home is still one of the toughest assignments for any touring party.
Dean
Guest
Why would any Indian kids want to become fast bowlers when they'd spend their whole domestic career bowling on Indian pitches? The only way for the Indians to bolster their fast bowling stocks is to identify any good young fast bowlers and ship them off to England or the West Indies for further development (funded by the BCCI).
Bakkies
Guest
I take it Kumar is injured as he bowled well in England. Aaron has a bit more zip but is raw in terms of experience.
Andy_Roo
Roar Guru
You are correct in saying that India have a weak pace bowling attack which is their Achilles heel away from home. But each team, at national level and even at state level produces players who are best suited by their local conditions. They should not be criticised for that alone. You say that India's weak pace attack will always deny them access to the top tier of test cricket, yet you also acknowledge that they were the no.1 test team for two years in 2010-2011. This contradicts your own argument.