38 6 august 2018
cricket
was just after lunch at Lord’s in the first
test of the 2011 series and India, 50-over world
champions and the world’s number one test
side at the time, were reduced to seeing their
captain take off his wicket-keeping gloves and
mark his run up with the ball.
Zaheer Khan, India’s premier fast bowler,
had hobbled out of the series with yet another
hamstring injury and a hapless Ms Dhoni could
think of nothing better but to bowl himself. the result, needless to
say, was an abject surrender. Crushed 4-0, India looked anything
but the world’s best test side. Except Rahul Dravid, with three
fantastic hundreds, none of the other Indian batsmen played to
potential, and by the end of the series in august 2011, the 50-over
world Cup win back home in april seemed a distant memory.
t he tale was similar in 2014, despite winning a test at Lord’s
this time around. thanks to some excellent short-pitched bowl-
ing by Ishant sharma, India took the series lead at the home of
cricket—on a green-top, no less—only to lose the advantage in
the very next game in southampton. and by the time things came
to the Oval for the fifth and final test of the series, Dhoni’s men
were a beaten side. Virat Kohli, talisman and captain in 2018, had
the worst series of his career with jimmy anderson and stuart
Broad having his measure with quality swing
bowling outside the off stump.
For Kohli and India, there are scores to settle
once the five-match test series begins on august
1st. they need to prove to fans back home that
this Indian team, yet again touring England as
the world’s top test side, justly deserves the tag.
with a fast-bowling attack that is every bit as
good as that of England’s, Kohli and coach Ravi
shastri will want to do what Rahul Dravid did in
2007: beat England in England and stamp their
authority in the format that really matters to the
English cricket-watching public.
the upcoming series is a moment of reckon-
ing for Kohli in many ways. a proud sportsman
with a work ethic less to none, Kohli had spent a week with his
idol sachin tendulkar soon after he went back from England in
- while tendulkar refuses to divulge details of what the two
had worked on during Kohli’s week-long stay in Mumbai, the
results were there to be seen in the very next away series in aus-
tralia. Down under in the 2014-15 test series, Kohli struck four
hundreds in four test matches – a feat that saw him surpass even
tendulkar as a test batsman in australia.
since then Kohli has only gone from strength to strength. His
batting during the south africa series in january this year had
left the world in awe. On a treacherous wanderers track against
a hostile south african pace attack led by a rampaging Kagiso
Rabada, Kohli looked every bit the ‘monk in a civil world’ that
he so desperately wants to be. It was him and his bat in the 22
yards. Nothing else seemed to faze the Indian captain. No bowler
could pose a threat and multiple injuries and blows to the body
notwithstanding, Kohli played cricket of a very different quality.
“His desire to win is infectious. Even at tea on the final day in
the third test when south africa was just 3 down with a 100 to get,
Virat was confident and said we are winning this test match,” says
coach Ravi shastri. “He gives his bowlers a lot of the confidence,”
says Bharat arun, India’s bowling coach. “all we tell the bowlers
is that when [they are] at the top of their mark, they need to plan
what they want to bowl. and then just execute the plan to perfec-
tion. If the batsman plays a good shot, it is fine. But all our bowlers
should back their strengths to deliver.”
For the first time in south africa, India’s bowlers picked all
60 opposition wickets on offer in a three-match test series. Of
these 60, the four-pronged fast bowling attack accounted for 50.
“ jasprit Bumrah was the find of the series for us,” said Kohli. “I
have spoken to aB de Villiers and the other south african bats-
men and all of them said he was the most difficult to face. It was
tough to believe he was playing in his debut test series,” declared
an elated Kohli.
Despite Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s absence due to injury, Bum-
rah, Mohammad shami and Ishant sharma should be a handful,
with the sharp pace of Hardik Pandya as an able back-up. surely,
Kohli’s fast-bowling armoury is the best India have ever had.
w ith Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, ajinkya Rah-
ane and Kohli himself making up a formidable
batting group, it is no surprise that experts like
Ian Chappell are calling India favourites going
into the Pataudi trophy.
james anderson, England’s premier fast
bowler, nursing a sore shoulder, played last
for his country in the first week of june. If he
isn’t fully fit, it will be a real struggle for Eng-
land to be at their best and ready in time to take
on Kohli and his boys in Birmingham for the
first test. an underdone anderson can have a
telling impact on the series against a resurgent
India, who would have been in the country for
well over a month by then. Even though the
Indians started with white-ball cricket, they
have had enough time to acclimatise and adjust to the condi-
tions by the time the test series starts.
“we are not there to give any excuses. Conditions will be the
same for both teams,” says coach shastri. It is a telling statement
that sums up the teams’ mindset. More because Kohli’s India will
not be overawed by a green wicket or an overcast English autumn.
s ome of them, like Pujara, have played county cricket in tougher
conditions back in May, while some others would have toured
with the India a team to be fully ready. they know this is their
big chance—an opportunity to catapult themselves to greatness
that very few Indians have aspired to and subsequently achieved.
and we all know that skipper Kohli, already on the cusp of
greatness, hates to come up second best. “this series will separate
the good from the best,” says sourav Ganguly before adding, “I
believe Virat’s team has the ability to be the best in the world.” the
question is: ‘will they?’ n
kohli needs to prove
to fans back home
that this indian
team, yet again
touring england as
the world’s number
one test side, justly
deserves the tag
it
