It was a year that opened up new horizons in Indian cricket as Virat Kohli led the Test team to great heights.
There is no prescience in cricket, but Anil Kumble’s squad has set off in the direction that was visualised by some of the most astute cricket brains in the country.
It was a study commissioned by a pro-active set of administrators in the Board and it turned out to be a session that led to self-appraisal of a realistic nature.
Winning at home ought not to be devalued because losing at home can also have severe repercussions.
Pioneering conclave
Kumble had taken over the reins of the team and a new set of work ethics was designed. To ensure that the treasure of talent was not under-utilised, a pre-season conclave was organised and attended by the who’s who of Indian cricket.
Kumble, Kohli, M.S. Dhoni, junior coach Rahul Dravid, National senior and junior selection chairmen Sandeep Patil and Venkatesh Prasad gathered in Bengaluru to draw up a blueprint to take Indian cricket forward.
The experts analysed the strengths and weaknesses and it was concluded that the roadmap had to include playing conditions as the most critical ingredient of the programme.
‘No doctored pitches’ was the clear mantra as Kumble and Kohli insisted on consistency and proficiency on all kinds of pitches to be the deciding factor.
Twelve Tests, including four in the West Indies, was the challenge. That nine of them were won, two in the Caribbean, gave an indication of the emerging stature of the team. Emphasis was obviously on consistency and there were many gains for Kohli’s team.
The management took pride in the striking power of the bowlers. To get 20 wickets in a match on a consistent basis had been one of the targets and it was achieved with flair.
Barring the Tests at Kingston and Rajkot (against England), the Indian bowlers, an enviable combination of pace and spin, skilfully achieved the task of creating victories. Bowling out the opposition was what the Bengaluru conclave had envisaged. It was achieved in style.
That the batting strength grew manifold was again a key factor in the team excelling in all formats of the game.
The top-order stabilised despite some injuries and lack of form for some. The welcome thrust has come from the lower-order where India can now count on more than handsome contributions. Never had the Test lower-order been so strong in contributing runs.
Good bench-strength
What pleased the team management most was the bench-strength coming good when it mattered. Young men were ready to take over, essentially because they had been prepared under the sound guidance of Dravid. There are three contenders for every slot now.
Technical adaptation to the situation, not technique per se , has stood out in the cases of Karun Nair and Jayant Yadav, two players who were backed vehemently by Dravid.
There are many more waiting in the wings and the obvious result-oriented communication between Dravid, Kumble, Kohli, Dhoni and the selectors augurs well.
The success that R. Ashwin achieved in tandem with Ravindra Jadeja was a huge factor in India registering such overwhelming results against the West Indies, New Zealand and England. Ashwin’s true test lies ahead when the team plays more Tests outside India.
Grey areas like injury management, fitness for some and poor catching in the slips also need to be addressed.
The best team in the world? The all-time best Indian Test team?
The debate that occupies the minds of fans and administrators is the least priority of the players. The team management is not influenced by such market-driven comparisons.
Presently, the regime of Kumble, Kohli and Dhoni is working on the golden rule of short-term targets where consistency is all that counts. Kohli’s team has the potential to emerge the best-ever Indian Test combination. It has set benchmarks to better the Sourav Ganguly era.
