For the past few months, particularly before the English reached Indian shores (this time), pundits were obsessed with a few things which don’t seem so important any more.
In fact you could call them shattered myths.
Rank turners and dust bowls – there haven’t been any. The five pitches have perhaps been as fair as any team has been offered in about 10 years. Pitches don’t get any better in India. The first innings scores have been testimony to that.
Cook’s dominance against spin – between Ravi Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin, Cook, otherwise a good player of spin, has been made to look pedestrian, and one occasion when he was bowled through the gate by Ashwin.
Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson’s ability to bowl the opposition out on the most unresponsive of pitches – Anderson has been pedestrian, and Broad, semi effective at best, on the rare occasions he has not been injured.
But the biggest one of them, was: lose a toss in India, and you lose the match.
That has not only been shattered, but ground to dust beneath the collective boots of India’s batting order.
On four occasions out of five, lady luck has not favoured Virat Kohli.
On four occasions out of five, Alastair Cook has batted first, following conventional wisdom.
On three of those four occasions, Cook’s boys have scored over 400, batting first.
None of those numbers are anything to be scoff at.
And yet, England is down 3-0 and in real danger of losing the series 4-0 when the Fifth Test at Chennai comes to a close.
If England does lose this Test, and if it does lose it by an innings (which is not completely unlikely), it would in fact be the first time in the history of Test cricket that a team loses by an innings after scoring more than 450 in the first innings.
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
This Indian team has turned a lot of conventional wisdom on its head.
It has been a very interesting series indeed on several counts for those who have followed it.
You can call the Indians hometown bullies. You can call them unbeatable on their own turf, and lame ducks abroad. It’s your right.
You can question Ashwin’s effectiveness abroad and choose to ignore his place as the premier all-rounder in the world today. It’s your right.
You can opine that Kohli will fall apart in England when India go there next time, and continue to say he is not in the same class as a Root or a Smith or a Williamson in Test cricket, despite everything he has done this series. It’s your right.
But you can never say again that a team cannot win in India if they lose the toss.
That’s a myth that lies forever shattered.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
That's very true. The way ashwim got Cook out in Mumbai I think by ultimately Bowling him through the gates with a wrong one was sweetness personified!
Liam
Guest
I could certainly do that, but I don't really like highlight reels. The show wickets/runs free of context, and in test cricket context is everything. Warne and Murali were exceptional because they would work on getting a batsman to do precisely what they wanted, then they'd get them out; Herath does the same, bringing batsman forward and across with a slightly turning ball, then a faster straight one for LBW or bowled. A front line spinner isn't just a person who bowls wicket balls. I want to see the lead up as much as the wickets themselves.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
I think you can catch some on YouTube now and some on BCCI.tv Have a look at these two clips https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=ACY35ujtXtM https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=4BvUJediTIs
Liam
Guest
"Unsurprising that Australians who rate people based on how they perform in Australia have an asterisk against him." Not quite what I was getting at. I rate Ashwin, because from what I've seen of him, both here and away - what little I've seen of him here - tells me that he's a fighter, and a rare bowler to go with it. I'm not saying I don't rate him at all; what I'm saying is that I'd love to see more of him here. I don't own pay TV, so I don't get to see him bowling at all, really, and that's a real shame.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
That's absolutely fine! All wives say husbands can't multitask! At least that ones beyond debate!
davSA
Guest
My apologies Anindya . Commented while at work. My wife does say I cant multitask.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Haha I am sure that's a winning formula the Aussie team would love to try! But it's more that I think this Indian team has made the toss irrelevant. They have just been that good. Let's see how that series pans out. Really looking forward to it.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
@DavSA - Thank you. The article was actually mine but that's fine! ? It's actually great advice. Gary Kirsten would be a fantastic choice for those reasons. He enjoys huge respect in india. Exactly as much as the name of Greg Chappell causes angst. The current team is a bunch of talent competitive guys with a lot of self belief. They will perform abroad when they get the chance.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
So it is better you loose the toss and let India bat first and try to bowl them out with-in 400, then pile-up a total of 500+ in the best batting condition in 2nd. and 3rd. Day, is this the way-out for Australia in India in coming Feb.-March?
davSA
Guest
Thanks for the article Ritesh . some excellent observations. What comes through for me is the realisation that this current Indian team may be a lot better than they are given credit for (outside of India of course) . I have never been a big fan of Indian cricket simply because I perceive their supporters to be terribly one sided , but that should not blind me to what they are developing into. A heck of a cricket team. I suppose the credit is not given because of the fact that they have played so much of their recent international cricket at home as well as the reality that they no longer play their arch rivals Pakistan in India.(very sad ) But the sheer dominance of late over teams like my own SA who historically were always very competitive in India as well as now a very good England side cannot be passed off as simply home ground advantage. They have some really amazing players in Kholi , Rahul , Jadeja and Ashwin. . ..... Some advice to The Aussies on their upcoming tour ...... If at all possible get Gary Kirsten on board as a consultant. He not only has won a series in India as a player but has also coached the Indian side with a lot of success and fully understands what is needed to beat them.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Thanks Chinmoy. I think your conclusion is right. Today's victory was quite remarkable. It's clear that the Indian team has not only won the battle on the field but also of the mind. For me a significant comment was bun ashwin post match when he was asked bun ravi shastri, what the team spoke about at lunch with England not having lost a wicket. Ashwin's answer: "We were not too worried. From what happened to them in Bangladesh, we knew that all we need to get was one wicket and then two, and then we had them.". For me the sweetest part of the amazing innings win today chasing a first innings total of 450+ was the 4-0 series victory that was revenge for the identical 2011 score in England. I lived in england then and never lived down the ribbing of my friends and colleagues about Dhoni's #1 ranked team in the world losing 4-0. Sometimes, even after 5.5 years, revenge on the cricket field is sweet indeed!
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
The mind definitely boggles!
Chinmoy Jena
Guest
Agree with most of your views Anindya.You could now add another ; no team has scored more than 400 four times after losing the toss.It has been a pathetic display of lack of application by the English batsmen. Their bowlers have been extremely mediocre with neither the pacers nor the spinners looking to get the Indian batsmen into any sort of trouble.You have stressed on one vital factor which according to me means; this Indian team is different and unafraid to face challenges and they are here to be the number one Test team for some time to come.
Geoff Foley
Roar Rookie
I hate to think how the series would have gone though if India had been batting first all the time instead of the Poms. They may have racked up 1000 in this test.
Andy
Guest
It has to work a little at least, and im sure CA can throw enough money to ex players or current fringe players and let them all suck mints before bowling. We dont have to dominate the bowling, you cant dominate good spin in India or swing in England but you can learn to weather it.
JohnB
Guest
There can be little sensible argument that India are not absolutely top drawer on their own pitches. They haven't been rank turners, by all reports, but this Indian team doesn't need them to be.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Interesting article Paul! Good thought about getting Indian spinners to bowl on it. I suspect you would get some pretty talented guys to come for a price. And they dont need to be retired. There is now some good spinning talent in India who would any day out bowl a Moeen or a Rashid or a similar spinner, but cant get into the Indian side. They would be perfect.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
@JohnB - That is probably right. But honestly, on pitches which are about as "sporting" as you get, this has been an extraordinary performance from the Indian side. England is a pretty good touring side, and the scoreline only underscores the dominance this series, not how close the sides are on any given day. South Africa were done in by the pitches and their lack of application. the Kiwis were simply terrible. The ODI series in Australia shows that this Kiwi side needs a lot of work. The more I see them, the more I think notwithstanding Williamson and to an extent Guptill, they are not a good test side.
Paul D
Roar Guru
It's not just the conditions. CA did install a "subcontinental" wicket at the elite training facility, but it doesn't do much if you can't replicate the talent of the guys bowling on it. Maybe we could buy some ex-indian spinners to come out and bowl at our guys, but again you're never going to be able to replicate match conditions http://www.cricket.com.au/news/nathan-lyon-steve-okeefe-spin-pitch-brisbane-bupa-ncc-sri-lanka-tour/2016-05-24 Some of the quotes from that article, taken as they were before the trainwreck that was the tour of Sri Lanka are hilariously awful in hindsight. "I had my first hit on it yesterday, and from what I've played on in India I thought it was a great representation of playing on the subcontinent," Joe Burns told cricket.com.au. "It looks like an Indian wicket and seemed to play like an Indian wicket, so for me personally it's a great resource to have in Brisbane given that I live in Brisbane. "So to be able to come in as much as I can and train in those conditions, it's the best possible training I can think of as opposed to going to India or going to Sri Lanka and training before the Test matches." "I've never been to Sri Lanka, but I've played a little bit in India and I really enjoy playing in those conditions. I enjoy batting on the lower, slower wickets, and trying to develop and adapt your game keeps me really refreshed going into training with a new focus and a new challenge of something that's not as familiar as playing in Australia." "I know we speak all the time about how the Australian cricket team needs to be better on the subcontinent, and I guess this is just another challenge to test ourselves and where we're at." Indeed it was Joe. Indeed it was.
Andy
Guest
I really dont understand why no country is doing this, especially Australia where not only do we have more disposable income for sport and where cricket does not have as much competition during summer but also with being so damn big we can replicate pretty much every pitch we could need. Why doesnt CA have pitches up north in Cairns where they send there teenage elite kids for a month camp every year or pitches in Tasmania where we pay Simon Jones to do nothing but bowl reverse swing. And invite the 10 best from the rest of the world to the camps to learn from and how to beat them.