Been There, Not Done That!

by Kartik Kannan

These are good times to bask in the victory of the Galle Test match. Going into the next Test, India would well want to past history when India have failed to deliver when it came to winning a series abroad.

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India has been a side that has some tremendous players, but some how seem to collectively fail when it comes to closing in on a series win. The incident that comes to mind in recent years would be the India-Australia series of ‘03-‘04, where India squandered a good chance to beat the Aussies. India won the second Test at Adelaide, lost the next at Melbourne and went into the final test match at Sydney with hopes of completing a series win. India had the best starts then, with all their top batsman firing, and India made a mammoth 705 in a little over seven sessions. The bowling just couldn't put the pressure on Australia and Saurav played defensively by making the Indians bat again, instead of enforcing the follow on. India lost crucial time, invested in batting their way to safety rather than take a risk and give the bowlers an extra session against the Aussies. The Indian bowling has often struggled to finish the job, so Kumble would need to keep in mind that the bowlers would require the extra session or two, and if the bowlers can mop it up, it's well worth the risk of an early declaration.

Rewinding a little further back, on India's last tour of Sri Lanka, India won the second Test, after the Lankans drew first blood at Galle. The third Test had Sri Lanka batting on a flat track scoring over 600 and India were bowled out twice, giving the Lankans an innings victory. Now in such a situation, India have more often than not, wilted under the pressure in a deciding match. Even though the batting boasts of stalwarts who've smothered the best of attacks, but when it comes to pressure, very rarely have the big guns seemed to have bailed India out. Batting positively under pressure would need to be a huge area for improvement if India needs to win Test matches regularly abroad.

Some of the other areas of concern remain the rather obvious fact that if India were set a competitive target to chase by the opposition, the only person to go after the target would be Virender Sehwag, with the others playing second fiddle. The amount of positive intent that he exudes is sadly not present in any of the other Indian batsmen. Rahul Dravid seems to get bogged down by his defensive style. Sachin and Saurav are not the kind of attacking batsmen they were during their heydays. Laxman doesn't simply last long enough to go after the attack, and the rest minimally have contributed to save the session.

Such defensive tactics by the rest of the batsmen also cost India a series against Pakistan at home, during the Bangalore Test in 2005. While Sehwag was batting, the 383 target seemed gettable as India went into drinks at 87/0 . After Sehwag's dismissal India folded up as they prodded and nudged around for ninety overs to get bowled out. A striking measure is the difference in run rate before and after Sehwag’s dismissal, and it is this area that India needs to address that their batsmen play with a certain objective in mind that is in favour of a result and in the context of a series victory.

Looking at the above scenarios, India needs to gear itself for some aggression, and some bold decisions if it is to really give the South Africans and the Australians a run for their money at the ICC points table. Till then it still remains been there, not done that! Kumble would want to change the trend.