For the fist time, the BCCI branded the October to March window as “Indian Season” and chalked up a mammoth 13 Tests schedule. Throughout the last 6 months it only emphasized the fact that Test cricket still lives on and lives on strong! After India brushed New Zealand aside with relative ease and the England series surprisingly failing to match the pre-series hype, it was only justifiable that the Indian Season culminated with a “Daddy” series against Australia.
Many unique instances took place in this series.
- In the first Test match in Pune, India were shot out for 105 in the first innings and followed it up with a slightly better 107 all out in the second innings. Two astonishing batting failures in same match. The last time India collapsed (76) was 9 years ago against South Africa in 2008. Australia won the Test by a whopping 333 runs – a team that was supposed to get whitewashed.
- The sheer vicious and toxic nature off field dominated the entire series than what actually happened on the ground. The bizarre level the Australian media went to malign and target Virat Kohli was just stupefying. Even the original “Angry Young Man” Amitabh Bachchan felt compelled to sledge Australian media.
- And we saw some Australian ex-cricketers complaining about sledging either through Twitter or by giving statements to ever obliging media. If Virat Kohli is Trump of cricket then the Australian media in this series was Rahul Gandhi of cricket trying to find anything to accuse the Modi government and create an ‘earthquake’ but eventually not even dislodging an ant.
The Pune Test was a perfect foot-in-your-mouth moment for the Indian team. India decided to blow the Aussies away on a rank turner right at the start of the series but got themselves obliterated by Lyon and O’Keefe and lost inside three days.
If the Pune Test was the slam bang, action packed, over in 100 minutes Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, the Bangalore Test was a Christopher Nolan classic – intriguing, engagingly mesmerizing, sprinkled with drama of “brain fade” and “cheatgate” with a perfect end.
The Ranchi Test was like the ‘Suicide Squad’ where in spite of Pujara’s herculean innings and Saha’s performances it proved to be an aberration to an otherwise successful franchise.
The final Test in Dharamsala was an Avengers movie. There was the usual plot and tussle between good and bad superheroes, sometimes the bad superheroes being on top, and then one last flurry by the good superheroes which brings in victory.
The second most talked about subject behind Virat Kohli was the pitch. The Pune pitch was rated as “poor” while Bangalore pitch got the “below average” rating. Pitch in Ranchi was good and the best was the Dharamsala one. So the condition of pitches went on improving as the series progressed. The skill and adaptability of players on a particular pitch should supersede the discussions about the state of that pitch. The Australians played better on the “poor” Pune pitch and so won.
While Kohli was fiery, Rahane was icy cool in Dharamsala with both getting positive results. It just shows there are different forms of aggression. Rahane was aggressive in selecting five bowlers and giving a debut to Kuldeep Yadav. Rahane, the vice-captain, will be a perfect foil for Kohli, the in-your-face captain and together they will take the Indian cricket forward in the right direction.
The battle within the battle pitted Kohli up against Smith – the batsmen. While Smith lived up to it, it was Pujara who sprung up as Smith’s nemesis, as law of averages probably caught up with Kohli. It was very heartening to see that in today’s era of power hitting, a batsman with a pure Test-only technique dominating the series. Let’s also congratulate the BCCI for awarding Grade A contract to Pujara and respecting his talent.
Umesh Yadav also had the season of his life. To play in 12 of the 13 Tests and at the end of 6 grueling months still have the batsmen hopping in the last Test is a phenomenal effort. It was a magnificent sight to watch Indian pacers scurrying Australian batsmen around on an Indian pitch. Let’s hope this becomes a defining moment in not only Yadav’s career but all those pacers who put a collective effort throughout the season.
It’s good in a way that the IPL starts within a week after the series. It meant all the vicious fire that was caused by the verbal bombing during the series wasn’t let to linger on and was quickly doused as foes will have become friends playing for same franchises. We have already seen Smith apologising, Kohli clarifying and Brad Hodge offering white flag. After all, it’s the money spewing IPL.
My Two Cents 