India save their fighting best for last

Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, March 29

The series against Australia, which ended the long, 13-Test home season, was the toughest challenge India faced this winter. India had eight wins from nine Tests — against New Zealand, England and Bangladesh — before Australia arrived. 

A 4-0 whitewash of the Aussies was forecast; but India had to fight very hard against an extremely well-prepared team to register a series win on the penultimate day of the tour. Australia deserve praise for the brand of cricket they displayed.

India, thus, have drawn the curtains on a 13-Test home season with 10 wins, two draws and one loss. A long home season that began with the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur on September 22 saw India roll over New Zealand 3-0, England 4-0, Bangladesh 1-0 and Australia 2-1 to consolidate their No. 1 Test team status. India now have beaten every Test team they have faced in their last series.

Streak broken

During the last six months, India extended their unbeaten streak to 19 matches, only for it to be broken by Australia in the first Test in Pune with a massive 333-run drubbing. 

Dubbed as the weakest Australian team ever to visit India, the Steve Smith-led side challenged the home team like no other team has done after England beat India 2-1 in 2012-13. But India, riding on Ravichandran Ashwin’s six-wicket haul on Day 4 and Cheteshwar Pujara’s 92 in the second innings, levelled the series 1-1 in Bengaluru. 

The third Test in Ranchi seemed set to go India’s way with Pujara scoring 202 and Ravindra Jadeja returning with a match haul of nine wickets, but the Australian batsmen salvaged a draw to keep the series locked at 1-1. 

Decider

In the fourth and final Test, the Indian bowlers bowled inspired spells to restrict the Australians to 300 in the first innings after they had raced to 144/1 in 34 overs. KL Rahul, Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Jadeja, Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha then played important innings to secure a small lead for India. The Aussies were then bundled out for 137, paving the way for an Indian victory within four days.

“This is our best series win so far,” Kohli later said. “I thought England was intense, but the way Australia gave us a fight it was amazing on their part but our guys kept bouncing back. It shows the character and maturity of the players. The changes we made in our fitness regime have paid off. Guys have been able to sustain the performance throughout the season. In the past we have had sessions where we have given away the game easily. Not this season. This has been a team season.” 

Batsmen on song

India’s prolific run is due to their batsmen doing well. Pujara, with 1316 runs, is now second on the list of batsmen with most Test runs in a season. Rahul has six fifty-plus scores in seven innings. There has been a marked change in India’s fast bowling too. Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have all bowled consistently well.

But it has been the spinners who have made all the difference. Ashwin’s 79 wickets this season are the most by any bowler in a single Test season. Jadeja, the No. 1 Test all-rounder, with 25 wickets in four Tests, is the most successful bowler in Tests this year. 

“The fast bowlers throughout the season have bowled brilliantly. The positives have been adapting to conditions,” said Anil Kumble, the head coach. “We have had almost 25 players starting from from West Indies (last July-August). All 25 have stood up in different conditions. Even the new home venues, we didn’t know how those pitches would behave. Everybody put his hand up. The one area we need to improve is catching. Jadeja was brilliant through the season. With this kind of line-up, with the lower-order contributions, I don’t see any reason why we can’t win abroad.”

Report card for Australia series

Virat Kohli 4/10

The skipper had an extremely poor series. He managed just 46 runs in five outings. And to make things worse, he suffered a shoulder injury in Ranchi and had to miss the final Test. He led the side well in Bengaluru and Ranchi to put the Aussies under pressure.

India finished the 13-match home season with ten victories, one loss and two draws. 

Matches Runs Avg 50 100

3 46 9.20 2 0

Cheteshwar Pujara 9/10

He finished as the highest run-getter for India in the series. He was slow off the blocks — he failed in the first three innings of the series. In the second innings in Bengaluru, his gritty 92 and his 118-run partnership with Rahane on a difficult wicket changed the course of the series. He followed it up with a double ton in Ranchi and a fifty in Dharamsala. 

Matches Runs Avg 50 100

4 405 57.85 2 1

Ravindra Jadeja  9/10

The left-arm spinner came out of Ashwin’s shadow in this series. He finished as the highest wicket-taker with 25 wickets, wrested the tag of the No. 1 bowler from Ashwin, and walked away with the Man of the Series award, his first ever. He bowled consistently well even when the wicket wasn’t helping, showing he isn’t essentially a bad-wicket bowler. Besides, he cracked two half-centuries which proved quite critical in shaping the series win. 

Matches Wickets Avg Runs 50

4 25 18.56 127 2

KL Rahul 8/10

From the first Test in Pune to the last in Dharamsala, he has been guilty of throwing away his wicket. Luckily, he had those bouts of indiscretion only after crossing the 50-run mark. And he crossed that mark six times in seven innings to end up as the most consistent Indian batsman.

Matches Runs Avg 50 100

4 393 65.50 6 0

Murali Vijay 5/10

He looked as solid as ever but couldn’t score enough runs. He missed the Bengaluru Test due to a shoulder niggle and played an 82-run knock in the third Test. On other occasions, though, he failed to make significant contributions.

Matches Runs Avg 50 100

3 113 22.60 1 0

Ajinkya Rahane 6/10

He didn’t have a great series with the bat but made a couple of key contributions. His 52 runs in Bengaluru were worth their weight in gold, and a quickfire 38 in Dharamsala was simply brilliant. He left quite an impression with how he captained the side in Dharamsala.

Matches Runs Avg 50 100

4 198 33 1 0

Karun Nair 3/10

Having struck a triple hundred against England, a lot was expected from him. The Karnataka batsman, however, failed to live up to the expectations in this series. Matches Runs Avg 50 100 3 54 13.50 0 0

Wriddhiman Saha 7/10

The Indian wicketkeeper was superb behind the stumps, and equally good in front of them. Apart from making useful small contributions, he smashed a brilliant hundred in the Ranchi Test to help India post a huge total.

Matches Runs Avg 50 100 c/st

4 174 34.80 0 1 13/1

R Ashwin 7/10

The off-spinner wasn’t as destructive as he had been in the earlier home series, but he still walked away with 21 wickets. He was at his best in the Bengaluru Test where his six-wicket haul helped India defend a 188-run target. He couldn’t do much with the bat though.

Matches Wickets Avg Runs 50

4 21 27.38 53 0

Umesh Yadav 8/10

He was sensational throughout the series. On the wickets that offered little help to the pacers, except for the Dharamsala track, he kept the Australian batsmen on their toes with his pace and nagging line and length. He gave India early breakthroughs almost every time, and it was his fast and furious spell in the second innings in Dharamsala that unravelled the Australian innings.

Matches Wickets Avg SR

4 17 23.41 45.5

Ishant Sharma 5/10

The tall pacer gave good support to Yadav. He couldn’t pick as many wickets as he would have liked but looked good overall, especially in Bengaluru.

Matches Wickets Avg SR

3 3 69.66 156

Bhuvneshwar Kumar 6/10

He played just one Test but made his presence felt. He bowled with lively pace and swung the ball quite menacingly. He cleared the biggest obstacle from India’s path when he cleaned up Steve Smith in the second innings in Dharamsala.

Matches Wickets Avg SR

1 2 34 58.5

Kuldeep Yadav 6/10

The chinaman bowler made quite a debut in Dharamsala, picking four wickets in the first innings. He impressed one and all with his control and variations. Shane Warne, who had given him some tips in the past, was immensely impressed with his performance.

Matches Wickets Avg SR

1 4 22.75 42