Lions at home, India to face real Test abroad
It has been a thumping home season for India, but their strength of character will be tested when they tour South Africa, England and Australia
IF THE AIM IS TO WIN ABROAD, INDIA SHOULD MAKE SHAMI AND YADAV PLAY A BIG PART IN MOST MATCHES. THEREFORE, MANAGING THEIR WORKLOAD IS PARAMOUNT
NEWDELHI: India have once again proved that they are lions at home, at least in Test cricket. However, to shed that hateful “lambs abroad” tag, they will have to give their performance in other countries a serious leg-up.
Three tours next year —South Africa in January-February, England in July-August and Australia in November-December — can potentially snip India’s No. 1 standing in Test charts.
This hesitation to let our expectations run riot stems from the fact that India have their worst overseas win/loss ratio against these very countries — 0.25 in South Africa, 0.2 in England and 0.178 in Australia. Keeping that in mind, draws can be considered good news and wins nothing short of miraculous.
THE RIGHT MENTAL BUILD
Virat Kohli makes India look capable of achieving favourable results. A leader who seems willing to lose a battle to win a war, his mental build would go a long way in shaping the team’s approach to the three tours. India will pay four Tests each against South Africa and Australia, while England will be a classic fivematch rubber.
Till a few years ago, the team wasn’t accustomed to consistently playing rubbers longer than three Tests. The 2018 itinerary will demand a massive mental adjustment from India to ensure they don’t fall flat by the time the fourth Test dawns on them.
India, however, can take comfort in the fact that they won’t have to play back-to-back Test series abroad.
As a series loss may have a rub-on effect on the next one, playing at home between two overseas tours provides recuperation time.
That said, everything boils down to India having the right resources to take the fight to their opponents.
TOP BOWLING QUALITY
Any tour to England, South Africa or Australia can be a scary proposition if India is short of quality pace bowlers. However, the team has a winning pair in Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami.
Though Yadav had a past tendency to err in line, a long home season has shown that it has finally subsided. The perfect foil at the other end is Shami, with his deceptive pace and ability to reverse the ball.
While Shami and Yadav should be the frontline pacers, India can’t do without Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma either. Both belong to different schools of fast bowling, and India should be careful about picking them.
India’s spin department, however, is slightly worrying. Off-spinner R Ashwin doesn’t have a five-wicket haul in England and Australia, and not a single wicket in South Africa. But to be fair, most of those Tests were played early in his career. Ashwin seems to have reinvented himself ever since Kohli took over.
The pressure on Ravindra Jadeja, despite his rich haul against Australia last month, is less by comparison.
While his place in the team would depend on the pitch or preference for Amit Mishra’s leg-spin, he should continue playing to his strength — accuracy. India also gained Kuldeep Yadav in Dharamsala but, like Kumar, the chinaman should also be used sparingly to retain the surprise factor.
If the aim is to win abroad, India should make Shami and Yadav play a big part in most matches. Therefore, managing their workload is paramount. With the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya coming up, India should allow Shami and Yadav during ODIs and T20Is. The same applies to Jadeja and Ashwin.
This is where the role of the management — national selectors, coach Anil Kumble and Kohli — becomes vital. They should be empowered to let the Test core of Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Ashwin and Jadeja pick fights. As Pujara, Saha and Vijay are more or less classified as Test specialists, the BCCI should go the extra yard to make them play one format.
BATTING PROMISES REWARDS
A measure of India’s batting depth can be gauged from the fact that Ashwin, Saha and even Jayant Yadav have Test hundreds to their names. While Kohli has already proven his love for Australian grounds, his real test would be in England — where he averages 13.40.
With the 2-1 series win against Australia, India have shown they can win without Kohli’s contribution. However, doing the same abroad is a different deal altogether. A key factor to achieving this would be reading the pitch well, a job Kumble has been entrusted with. As batting collapses have let India down more often than bad bowling, shot selection gains immense importance.
This is where Vijay, Pujara and Saha will prove crucial. The job of accumulating quick runs should fall on KL Rahul, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. Rohit Sharma and Karun Nair could be asked to play cameos, but that shouldn’t diminish their profile.
Bringing about subtle changes in the team has always been the hallmark of Kohli’s captaincy. It may seem unfair to ask Kumar, Mishra, Jayant, Nair or Sharma to come in and start firing straightaway, but that’s how India must play if they want to win abroad.