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| The Controversial Nagpur surface |
The recently concluded test series between India and south
Africa proved to be an exciting affair with 2 test matches out of the 4 ending
inside 3 days. India won the series comfortably 3-0 and but for the Bengaluru
rains it would have been a clean sweep. Interestingly south Africa had arrived
in India not having lost an away test series for 9 years. Quite an incredible
achievement especially in an era of test cricket where barring brief periods of Aussie dominance all teams
have been poor travelers being dominant at home but not able to adjust on
foreign pitches.
Talking of pitches it was one of the most widely discussed
issues of the Friendship series the
surfaces at Mohali and Nagpur in particular came in for sharp criticism. Even
in press- conferences it was the hot topic among journalists. The Nagpur pitch apparently
received a ‘POOR’ remark from the match referee JEFF CROWE. I have often
wondered who has the ultimate say in the preparation of the pitches. Is it the
home cricket association or is it the pitch curator as it ideally should be. We
have also had instances of Indian captains having tailor-made pitches according
to their team strengths .we all know that India have been poor travellers in
test cricket which puts all the more pressure on the captain and the team when
they are playing at home. The pressure of the fans, media and cricket analysts
has a huge bearing on the kind of pitches which are prepared especially if the
team is under re-building phase as the current Indian team is. I have
absolutely no doubt that the pitches which were prepared during the south
Africa series were according to the diktat
of the team management. The Indian team on its part might argue that when they
travel abroad they do not get pitches which suit their style of play and
invariably favour fast bowlers then why this hoopla on spin friendly pitches and
the criticism surrounding it?
The argument is well bought but there is just one demerit in
the argument. When we aspire to play a team sport like cricket the ultimate
goal of the Indian team should be to become a consistent test team playing well
in all conditions across the globe. For how many years are we going to be
satisfied with the tag of being ‘tigers
at home and lambs abroad.’ It is true that during the last decade or so the
Indian team has managed to win some memorable test matches in challenging conditions
be it Joburg in 2006 or Kingston the same year or the memorable wins in PERTH
2008 and DURBAN in 2010. Incidentally all these wins were on seaming and bouncy
pitches. Barring these famous wins the overall performances of the Indian teams
in tests has been poor abroad. With 4-0 drubbing in Australia and England.
Besides the spin
friendly tracks also exposed some of the chinks in the armour of Indian batsmen
and their ability to play spin dominantly. For long Indian batsmen have been
known to be finest players of spin but since England tour of India in 2012, the
Indian batsmen have been found wanting even against some of the mediocre
spinners of visiting teams. It clearly shows that if Indian batsmen are finding
it difficult to cope with spinners in India then it raises a question mark on
their ability to play spin as well as the surfaces which are being prepared to
achieve some easy home test victories. It is high time the Indian board and the
team management woke up to the fact that only preparing turners in India is not
going to serve any purpose in the long run. This short sighted-ness of the organizers is hurting India’s chances of becoming a truly champion test team in
the long run. The score-line of 3-0 against the current world’s no 1 ranked
test team sounds good to the ears of the Indian fans and the team as a whole
but the pitches have been of poor quality whether we like it or not and it will
prove to be detrimental to India’s chances of winning away test series and not
just one off tests in couple of years. This Indian team has it in them to be
the champion test team which should be the endeavor of every team which plays
for India.
The present Indian team is in a re-building phase but still
consists of quality batsmen like Kohli, Pujara Rahane and Vijay . they should
be aiming to be the best in the world not just being flat track bullies who
struggle in foreign conditions. The performances of Kohli in Australia was one
of the best overseas batting in Australia for a long time. Instead of just being satisfied with home wins they must
try to push the envelope as a team and win tests in Australia, England and
south Africa. As a matter of fact India has never won a test series in
Australia and South Africa. this should be impetus enough for the talented
Indian team to focus on improving their overseas records
