New Delhi: Indian cricket never had it so good. If the Australian summer was the stuff of dreams, the Indian ‘spring’ brought about hopes of a bright future. Indian cricket is now so full of talent that they are dishing out one dominant performance after the other. The recent series – Tests, T20Is and ODIs is an ample example of that.
It’s not that Indian teams of the past haven’t had great scorelines against English sides. However, this batch of talented men, under Virat Kohli, has looked more intimidating with its relentless attacking mindset.
The shining stars once again shone brightly. However, a few who have made real statements include Shardul Thakur. In the coming days, he could be the all-rounder Indian cricket team require on foreign shores. Thakur has his incisive swing bowling and powerful batting built around decent technique. Think about options and Shardul as a seam bowling all-rounder alongside Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. He could be as valuable as a Hardik Pandya.
If Shardul becomes an all-format seam bowling all-rounder, then Washington Sundar, a specialist batsman, can give multiple options across formats. He can open the batting or bowling. With his runs he can always chip in with a wicket or two with his fast off-breaks.
People waited for Suryakumar Yadav’s debut and the player, perhaps, waited even more. When it happened, the Almighty conjured to help the Mumbai maverick write the most brilliant prologue of what would be a ‘lovely book to read’ in the coming days.
The all-format assignment against England saw India accomplish a few specific goals.
First, they ensured a spot in the World Test Championship final. Despite the blip in the Chepauk opener, India were ruthless in their approach. They cooked the English goose with Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel decimating the opposition.
The second goal was to check out the core group of players who will be travelling to England to play six Test matches. Among the games is the WTC final against New Zealand. It will be followed by five Tests against the home team.
During the five matches in the shortest format, the third aspect was exploring various combinations before the T20 World Cup in October. The fourth and final point in the check-list was to try out extra options during the ODI series.
It goes without saying that the Indian cricket team management was able to tick all the boxes. It prompted Ian Chappell to say that this team has the ability to match the great West Indies side of the 1970s or the Australians in the 90s to mid 2000.
Australia provided a trailer of what India’s bench strength is. Following it, the England assignment was like a 70mm feature film. It left the audience in awe of the reserve players.
A player like Ravindra Jadeja wasn’t missed as Patel, in his first series, looked like a veteran of 50 Tests. He was ready to play havoc with the minds of English batsmen. He bowled straight under-cutters and they played for turn. He got the ball to turn but they played for the straight ball. The result was 27 wickets in three Test matches as he matched the magician Ravichandran Ashwin, strike for strike.
And come to think of it, when India step out in Southampton for the World Test Championship final June 18, Patel is unlikely to feature. Unless Jadeja sustains another injury or be in the scheme of things.
In the batting department, Shubman Gill, after a promising Australia series, didn’t have the best of times against England. However, it will be the least of concerns for Kohli.
The team believes in Gill’s match-winning abilities. In case he doesn’t fire, there is KL Rahul and Prithvi Shaw in the mix to partner the peerless Rohit Sharma.
The Australian tour witnessed the re-emergence of Rishabh Pant as a formidable match-winner. However, it was the England home series saw him stamp his authority as he blended solid defence into his wide range of strokes. This was one such series where he never looked like getting out until he committed an unforced error.
Pant’s big-hitting is already on its way to become the stuff of legends. However, what stood out was his defensive game in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad. He completely changed his game to suit the team’s needs.
It’s a pity that Wriddhiman Saha’s decent international career on either side will be flanked by two special players. They are MS Dhoni and Pant, who were simply better than him in terms of winning games for India.
But imagine that India’s reserve Test wicketkeeper is Wriddhiman, who many believe is the world’s best stumper.
If that’s difficult to fathom, then any opposition team’s eyes would pop out if they see that Pant’s replacement in the T20 Internationals could be an Ishan Kishan. The latter can hit even bigger sixes and keep decently.
In bowling, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar and Shardul are fixed entities for the time being. Deepak Chahar, who had a six-wicket match haul before the COVID-19 is no longer a certainty. This is because T Natarajan, with his yorkers, has come into the picture. Then now India have Prasidh Krishna’s searing pace.
It’s been a great four months but the best is yet to come. There is no doubt about that.