PUNE: It has become a common phrase for visiting teams these days. “You know how difficult it is to tour India.” We have been hearing this for long. In the 60s, 70s and 80s you heard them too, but that had more to do with adjusting to a third world country. Sans five-star hotels in several places, top stars often preferred opting out of tours of the sub-continent.
The 90s turned India into the hottest destination to play cricket. They all came along, and repeated the same phrase. But the tone changed. India were no pushovers any more. At home, they were as good as any side. Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble ensured series defeats at home became rarer. Under Ganguly, India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2004 and drew against New Zealand (2003) and Pakistan (2005).
Dravid didn’t lose any Test series at home, but drew with England in 2006. Kumble didn’t lose either and squared a series against South Africa in 2008 after going 0-1 down. Under MS Dhoni, India grew from strength to strength, barring a draw against the Proteas in 2010 and a loss to England in 2012.
Despite the odd blips, the above-mentioned phrase has become more frequent than ever. Since Virat Kohli took charge, India played 24 Tests at home (including in Dharamsala against Australia in 2017 when Ajinkya Rahane led in Kohli’s absence) and won 18 of those.
The only loss came against Australia in 2017. There have been five drawn contests, of which three had weather interventions. They have won eight consecutive series at home under Kohli, sending South Africa, New Zealand, England without wins. Bangladesh, West Indies and Afghanistan have stood no chance in these conditions.
They are yet to win consistently abroad, but Kohli & Co are sitting in a fortress that most teams can’t breach these days. Opponents can have better days, but Indians keep looking for that one opening. As and when they find it, they pounce on it and strangle the opponents by closing the ways out. Like the teams of 2000s, batsmen ensure big totals. Many of these totals came after the opposition put up big scores. They seldom hit the panic button and are ruthless when it comes to changing the XI if conditions demand.
“It’s down to the quality of players we have,” reasoned Kohli. “Plus, we know how to play in our conditions. How to win Test matches. It’s not easy to play Test matches in home conditions when it’s challenging. The ball is spinning, we have also found it difficult in the past but we are a team that looks for answers and not excuses. Maybe that’s the reason we keep improving,” he said on the eve of the second Freedom Trophy Test against South Africa, where India are looking to take an unassailable 2-0 lead.
The challenges that Kohli mentions are usually about facing spinners. For a period, this team even raised doubts as to whether the current generation has forgotten the art of playing spin. Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Nathan Lyon made them struggle in their own conditions, but somehow they found answers as a team. For an Indian side, they are not that emotional when it comes to decision making. Maybe there are bigger egos than ever, but they rarely sound complacent even if it means they have to do the boring stuff all over again, day in and day out.
"That’s the reason we have kept on improving and won so many Test matches. We don’t take anything for granted as we can very well lose four to five wickets in a session. We know that as well, even though we play in our own conditions. Mindset is key for us and that’s to win every game that we play and not focus on what conditions are on offer," Kohli said.
