Virat Kohli’s glowing tribute to his coach Ravi Shastri and his role in helping him and the team perform better will once again be put to test in more intimidating and tougher conditions than they are used to at home. India have been an underperforming team in overseas conditions and despite certifying themselves among the best in the world, they continue to disappoint. This Australian tour gives them a golden chance to correct this imbalance in Indian cricket for more than one reason.
Australia, the land of the self-assured, and many would say smug, cricketers while playing on home territory, are today a nation in turmoil. Their self proclaimed superior “sporting culture” which they used to take immense pride in, is in tatters.
The ball tampering episode in South Africa which led to Cricket Australia imposing harsh bans on their captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, have disrupted their team to the core. Embarrassment has replaced the pride they used to take in playing the “Australian Way”, a euphemism for playing in a hard, overtly aggressive and arrogant manner, which gave primacy to the end result and cared little about the means adopted. What prompted a brutal self assessment in the aftermath of the ball tampering saga is laudable but has stumped many critics of Australian cricket.
The widespread “shame” the nation felt at their own players’ “cheating,” whether real or spiced up by media, is not for us to judge. The fact is that it led to a massive churning in the Australian establishment, forcing changes that have destabilised their administration and team. They are applying sharp-edged scissors to dissect an attitudinal problem that has been shaped by years of nurturing by the establishment. The psychological scars of a quick-fix approach to correct a systemic problem can cause greater damage than solving the problem.
It is against this backdrop that the Indian team is embarking on this tour. For the first time in many decades an Indian team is going to play against an Australian side that is extremely low in morale and strength. Its batting is in shambles, struggling in the absence of two of their main pillars. There is a leadership crisis within and outside the team. For the Indians this is a real opportunity to plunge the dagger deep into their already wounded hearts. Nothing will give the Indians greater pleasure than seeing the Australians sink deeper into an abyss created by their own “misdeeds”.
Kohli and Shastri, whatever their perceived and real tactical shortcomings may be, are wily characters. They must be salivating at the prospect of having a real chance to win a Test series for the first time in Australia. They have been proclaiming to the world that they are the best in this business.
It is good to see that their self-confidence has not been dented in South Africa and England. Media criticism has neither slowed down their swagger nor dulled their tongues. They both know how damaging and disturbing the biting and merciless Australian media barbs can be, especially when its own team is doing well.
Kohli is in more ways than one, what an Australian cricketer aspires to become. He is aggressive, in your face, never afraid to give back a mouthful and always itching for a fight. The field is wide open for him to throw punches at an opponent who, to use a boxing jargon, is already on a mandatory count. India will be extremely disappointed if they fail to deliver the knockout punch and return without a series win.