According to Indian captain Virat Kohli, the series win against Australia is better than the country’s 2011 World Cup win.
When asked by the press about his most emotional moment in cricket after India’s first-ever win in Australian land, his exact words were: “I would say this one because this is my third tour here and I have seen how difficult it is to win here.”
And that’s how an away Test series win tastes, especially when it comes against a country like Australia. India needed 71 years for this win. It is a truly historic win.
India now has only South Africa to beat outside India.
Yes, the Australian team is without the service of their two best batsmen, Steve Smith and David Warner, but the way the Indians dominated in all departments in this series must have pleased Indian fans more than the win itself.
Furthermore, if the Australian team has to depend on two players who are already 30-plus for their wins at home, it’s a bigger concern than the loss itself.
Coming back to the away Test victories, other teams that have enjoyed the same taste of joy, and very recently, are New Zealand and England in their wins against Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively.
Australia’s loss was only the 20th time a top-seven-ranked Test team has been defeated at home since 2011. So what’s the sudden rush of teams winning Tests in foreign lands all about? I can think of three reasons behind the emerging trend.
1. A decrease in drawn Test matches
The number of drawn Test matches has drastically declined over previous decades. For instance, looking over the last four decades in Test cricket:
- in the 1980s 244 of 532 matches were drawn (45.86 per cent);
- in the 1990s 248 of 694 matches were drawn (35.73 per cent);
- in the 2000s 228 of 928 matches were drawn (24.56 per cent); and
- since 2010 162 of 792 matches were drawn (20.45 per cent).
The fewest drawn five-day Test matches came just last year, in 2018.
The number of runs scored in a single day during a Test has increased considerably too thanks to the Australian team of the late 2000s, which instigated the culture of scoring 300-plus in the opening days of the Test matches. The increase in run rates can mean only one thing: a decreased chance of a draw.
Fewer drawn matches could be caused by many other reasons and is a huge topic in itself, but ultimately it means more matches end decisively.
(AP Photo/James Elsby)
2. ICC’s rating of pitches
People have this notion that past wickets were tough to play on. Nostalgia makes people think that the past was a great time in cricket. But that’s not true.
Current pitches have more sporting nature than the old times thanks to ICC’s strict reviews on the Test pitches. We rarely see big totals and single-sided games in Test matches in recent times.
That could also be because cricket boards nowadays need more Test matches to end in results rather than draws in order to brings crowds into stadiums. Even the ICC believes that only the results and a fine balance between bat and ball can help Test matches survive.
No news in cricket has been bigger in the recent past than an away Test series wins, as it endorses the game in the right way. This is working really well for the game, not to mention, while four-days Test matches are not so far.
(Julian Smith/AAP)
3. Influence of T20 domestic leagues
A discussion of this topic cannot be completed without mentioning the influence that T20s is having on Test cricket. Today players from non-Asian countries have the luxury of playing more games on the Subcontinent than ever before thanks to the abundance of T20 leagues in Asia.
With players from almost every cricketing nation involved in domestic leagues around the globe, they now find it easier to adapt to alien conditions. For instance, Kane Williamson’s average of 77.20, with one 100 and two 50s in the recent UAE Test series against Pakistan can be credited to his IPL experience.
Wrapping it up, more results in Test cricket can only be a good thing for the game, especially when the ICC has already started to believe T20s is the route to growing the game.
That’s why away Test series wins are the best thing that can happen to Test cricket and its fans – they bring out the best among the teams and players.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Away Test wins are great, but they are surely not on an upward trend? Do you have stats, or are you just talking about a one year time frame? For every example like England in Sri Lanka or NZ v Pakistan, we can go back a few years where Australia won a few series away in South Africa (in fact until last year, hadn’t lost in SA since 1970) and SA won a couple here. Or four consecutive Ashes series won by Australia 1989-91. Or series won by the West Indies just about everywhere 1976-94. And England won in India in 2014 and in South Africa in 2016, impressive results. __ While the England 3-0 victory in Sri Lanka was also impressive, series wins in UAE or Sri Lanka haven’t been that big a deal in recent times. Sri Lanka have lost 5 times at home since 2010. Most UAE series have been two-game affairs, many drawn. Winning away is really meaningful against India, Australia, South Africa, England and, to a lesser extent, New Zealand. I would suggest it’s become more difficult to win away in the last decade because touring teams are given so little time to prepare and acclimatise. One additional point re the smaller number of draws – time lost for rain and bad light gets made up during the course of a day. Don’t think that happened before the 90s or 2000s.
buviwrites
Roar Rookie
What I mean in the article is the away teams are able to challenge the home teams much better than before. Take India's loss in England and South Africa last year. The Series was equally balanced between the teams despite the series results tells us differently. The teams are now finding it easier than before is what my point is.
Paul
Roar Guru
If away Test victories are becoming the new norm, how come the top ranked team in world cricket lost more Test away from home than they won?
IAP
Guest
The Indian win in Australian will always have an asterisk against it. Matches in Australia are too often decided by the toss of the coin.
Niranjan Deodhar
Roar Pro
I don't think the away Test wins has became a norm as yet. Even in the past, we had scenarios where touring teams won two to three away series within a space of say 3 months, but it didn't take long to revert this trend back to normal as home teams continued their trashing of the tourists. More recent example of this is South Africa beating England in England 2-0 and beating Aussies in Australia 1-0 & England defeated hosts India 2-1 in 2012. But what happened next, we continued to witness complete home dominance yet again and this time too, I would be highly astonished if we come across a different story!
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Can Pakistan be genuinely considered an away Test these days. They play in the UAE , essentialy a neutral venue. Beating them there is a far cry from beating them in Karachi in front of 60000 passionate supporters.
seantice
Guest
Yet we will have no chance in beating England at their home grounds. I don't think this abberation will last. The issue is that even though games are more decisive, there is a lack of preperation. In 2001 against India Matthew Hayden averages over a 100 i n India. Before he left he built his own pitch that was ruffed up and got spinners to bowl to him for 6 weeks in preparation. He was on top of his game because of the preparation he undertook. Nowadays the calendar is son condensed that preparation involves a 20/20 series at home before we travel to the oppositions home country. We have one warm up game then we are into it. How on earth are we expected to win away with that rushed program? I cringe every time I watch Australian batsman try and counter swing in England. If Australian batsman and bowlers are serious about the ashes then they should all forego IPL and any other league and travel to play some county cricket over in England for awhile. That is the only way to get used to the conditions and the ball movement. Unfortunately money speaks and results are secondary.