Is India, much like the West Indies of the eighties and Australia of the nineties, becoming a ruthless adversary whose relentless march to victory is a foregone conclusion, whatever the strength of the adversary?
This question may find many sceptics, and not without reason, raising a red flag, given that India’s overseas performance has never matched its home record. Will India’s ongoing tour of New Zealand be that turning point, where it discovers that streak of cold-bloodedness, fuelled by inexhaustible self-belief and abundant
talent that characterises a champion side?
Before we get into what is at stake for India in New Zealand, especially in the Test series, very few will find fault with the statement that India, perhaps more than any other team, is now almost invincible in home conditions. This could be said of many other Indian teams of the past as well, though the major difference now being that it is not a one-dimensional side that can win only in tailor-made spinning conditions.
Many of us had smirked when coach Ravi Shastri once said that “we want to take the wicket out of the equation”. He and his team have done exactly that. Boosted by a pace attack that could well be among the best in the world, India have no fears playing on a fast track, unlike in the past, when they crumbled even at the sight of anything green. A team which would roll the ball on the ground from the first over of the match itself to roughen up the new ball as quickly as possible, now has bowlers who are masters of swing, seam and pace, which has relegated spinners to the background.
The result of this depth and variety in attack has resulted in India no longer being dependent on the track. The wicket, as Shastri had put it, has been taken out of the equation, with India possessing all-round strength that can exploit any condition. This is one reason why of late, India’s home wins are no longer merely attributed to exploiting “favourable” conditions.
In the changing perception of the team’s strengths, one thing had remained constant and that was its poor overseas record. Even though in the last two decades or so, India were improving its image of being poor travellers, it could rarely produce a dominant series win, which is the hallmark of strong teams. Even this Indian team, except for having triumphed in Australia, and shown much promise, has succumbed in the crunch in places like South Africa and England. It had its moments, but somehow showed its vulnerable side when the game was hanging in the balance and eventually lost the momentum. Will New Zealand be the place where India takes that final leap which will put it in that extraordinary league which only few
teams in the history of the game have reached?
Though T20 performances by no stretch of imagination can be used to judge a team’s strength in the longer version, India’s stunning 5-0 whitewash of Kiwis still needs mentioning. Despite the very fickle nature of a game that depends on too many variable factors, India’s steely nerves and a will to not give up and come back from hopeless situations, show a cold-blooded streak that no Indian team has ever possessed.
If Virat Kohli, without doubt the inspiration behind this limitless determination not to give up and creator of a core that responds in kind, can lead his side to a convincing Test series win against New Zealand, it will be a precursor for even better things to come.