AHMEDABAD: In the days leading up to the fourth Test at Ahmedabad, all three of Vikram Rathour (batting coach), Rahul Dravid (coach) and Rohit Sharma (captain) had defended the Indore surface. With the advent of the World Test Championship (WTC), there was going to be a premium placed on points at home, so they had a valid point.
Now, in the context of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Indore match had little bearing. On account of being defending champions, India had already retained the title. But in the context of India's current record at home, the lottery pitch had suddenly opened a door for Australia. Having made it 2-1, the visitors now had a chance to level the series. If the visitors did win at Ahmedabad, they would have prevented India from winning a 16th home series on the bounce. In terms of the dynasty, winning 15 was already better than the all-conquering West Indies or the similarly all-conquering Australians that came after them. When you put the record in this context, it was likely that the Ahmedabad surface would play the way it ended up playing.
It finally spluttered to life — like an ignored Deepavali cracker that was being lit a few months later — with a newish ball on Monday morning. But survival was never going to be an issue and both captains shook hands on the draw with just over an hour's play remaining. India got to keep their dynasty going, making it 16 series wins in a row. Australia, one could argue, got what they were after; a place in the final of the World Test Championship. They needed one win to guarantee their spot and Indore provided them with that.
Coming back to the 2-1 win, the scoreline and the drawn match reflects the modern beast that India are at home. Their dominance can be taken for granted but when you put it in proper perspective, the achievement gets the weightage it deserves. The last time they lost a series in India (2012), a different party was at the centre. The Indian Premier League was only five editions old; it is now a teenager. Virat Kohli had 16 international 100s; he now has 75. People in England were unconvinced with Ben Stokes, who had played seven international white-ball matches and zero Tests till then... you get the drift, right? A lot has changed in the last decade but one thing has remained constant. India's bull run at home.
It began against the same opposition in the same time of the year in 2013. Just as the cool winter sun was making way for the harsher summer weather, an in-transition side (Harbhajan Singh was 32, Virender Sehwag was 34, Sachin Tendulkar was 39 while a clutch of players were in their second or third year of international cricket) comfortably beat Australia 4-0. Broadly speaking, the margins of the win in that series (two times by eight wickets, once by six wickets and one by an innings and 135 runs) was a sign of the things to come. Even in this series against Australia, there was one innings victory (Nagpur) and one by six wickets (Delhi).
It's what makes them so good at home. They asphyxiate opponents and cut the oxygen at the source. Two of the main players responsible for this are Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, the twin battering rams at home. While Jadeja has missed home games during this period, one underrated aspect of Ashwin's game is his fitness and love for the game. He has put his hands up even for one-off Tests against Afghanistan and Bangladesh. In fact, he hasn't missed a single home Test in the last 10 years. So, it wasn't a surprise when Rohit Sharma name-checked Jadeja and Ashwin for this home domination of theirs.
"Where we stand today in terms of how we perform in the Indian conditions, a lot of credit goes to them," he said. "A large part of our success belongs to those two guys. It’s not just for a period of a few years, it's over a decade now. It’s a long, long time to keep performing the way these two guys have done for us. I can only hope that they continue to play for as long as possible because those shoes will definitely be very, very big to fill."
The other shoes that will be pretty big to fill are Kohli's and Dhoni's, the two captains who have preserved this record before passing on the baton to Sharma. He has had a good beginning to life as Test captain but he's not getting any younger and he's fairly new to the job having only captained in six Tests so far. "I am still learning as a captain in every game that I have captained," he said when asked about his own introduction to captaincy in red-ball cricket.
"I have captained a lot in T20 cricket, more than the other formats but Test cricket I am only six matches old in terms of captaincy. I am still learning and guys around me have played a lot of cricket and they are there to help. Whenever I lead the team, I try to keep it very simple. That's always been my focus, to not try and do something absolutely weird. Still, like I said, I am learning about my captaincy. I am quite enjoying this period of me leading the team. There have been some challenges as well. I was challenged as a captain as well and when you are playing a series like this, you are bound to make mistakes. I did make some mistakes but that's how you learn and try and not repeat those mistakes again and again. I am still discovering new things about how I want to take the team forward."
After the WTC final, India's focus will shift to white-ball cricket with this being a 50-over World Cup year but India's next home series could really challenge this dynasty in ways it hasn't been challenged since they last lost the fortress in 2012. Bazballing England will be on these shores for a five-match series this time next year.
Already set in stone, can this team make it 17 from 17?