When the Indian batsmen were braving, with courage and skill, a 22-yard strip that seemed laden with explosives, Indian cricket fans on social media were erupting in joy laced with suppressed rage. Despite the brute nature of the wicket, where almost every second ball threatened disaster, Indians, against all odds, were racing ahead of the South Africans.
It was for the first time in a series, that was expected to redefine India’s place in cricket’s pecking order outside of its formidable home achievements but had resulted in two disappointing defeats, India appeared destined to win. And at that very moment of Indian dominance, came that blow from a bouncing ball that struck Dean Elgar on his helmet and its ugly sound reverberated across India. The trigger came when the umpires called off play and it was feared that the match would be abandoned due to the dangerous nature of the track.
India who have justifiably faced flak for tampering with their own wickets to make them excessively spin friendly, too had a legitimate reason to cry foul. This was a track where even a gentle pacer could bark menacingly and intimidate the batsmen. The doctored spinning tracks bite, unlike those designed to help pacemen, which can put at risk the limb and life of a batsman. The social media raged with “how dare the officials call off the match, when the Indian batsmen on this very track batted so bravely and succeeded in putting the match beyond the hosts!”
Indians, who unlike in the past, dominate world cricket’s commerce and hence decision-making, were getting their sense of past victimhood back. Instead of trusting the umpires and the match referee, they started pouring venom on them and the South Africans.
Finally, sanity was restored the next day and after initial road bumps, India achieved one of its more famous victories in conditions as alien and hostile as they can get. It was, no doubt, a remarkable win which will now make other countries realize that Indians have the skill and the arsenal to counter pace-friendly tracks and they would be careful in how they make their wickets against them in future.
The celebrations matched and even outdid the earlier excessive anger. From the reactions one would have thought India had won the series, and not just a face-saving match. This again is a result of a mindset that gets surprised at a win when it is not expecting it. There is nothing wrong in these wild celebrations, they being the norm the world over, but there is also a need to introspect and face a few uncomfortable facts.
This was a team which possibly has the best pace attack India has ever had and its batting unit was supposed to outdo the best of the past. It had raised high hopes of doing well in a country where India have won an odd Test but never a series. The South Africans having realized India’s batting strength, had this time, without doubt, added more spice to their wickets.
This finally boomeranged on them, but by then it was too late as India had already lost the series. How we wish there had been one more Test to play! It would have given India the chance to build on its win, test its resolve and may be square the series. Would South Africa have once again “tampered” with its wickets, after being outplayed at the Wanderers? Interesting questions whose answers we would never know due to India’s misplaced priorities, where limited overs cricket gets precedence over Tests.
To accommodate more one-dayers and T20s, the proposed four-Test series was shortened to three. Instead of wallowing in victimhood, the Indian team, the fans and the “sanitised” experts should express their outrage on why did the Board, stinking already with money, think it prudent to do this.
Maybe it is a wrong issue to raise at a time when the Indian media has been taken over by the dazzle of the IPL auctioning. Does anyone care why even unknown names get far more money than many of those who did India proud in South Africa, that too for playing a mere month and a half in a full calendar year?