“Credit goes to the entire squad because we recognised where we went wrong in Jamaica and corrected those things here”. All the doubts were smashed to bits on March 15, 2001 when the country witnessed an epic turnaround at the Eden Gardens.
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Declaring on the fifth day morning, giving the opposition a target of 300 plus is a tactic, mastered by the Australians. Among them, Amit Mishra was expectedly left out, and the debate on Rohit Sharma’s eligibility will rage for some time to come.
It defined India’s approach in Tests for the next decade, mostly under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly.
Regardless of the result and the overwhelming Indian superiority, this Test raised interesting questions about team selection. The most important thing is that he has gained pace.
Indian Test captain Virat Kohli had indicated that there will be a strategic shift in their batting plans with an aim to give Rohit Sharma a longer run in the middle-order.
Just where Kohli bats during that Test remains a mystery, but the India skipper says his team will play a more positive brand of cricket as he seeks another Test victory.
Miguel Cummins (6/48) benefitted on both occasions, and then picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket when Jadeja (16) was caught at deep cover going for a big shot.
Then came the question of class. It clearly smacked of a lost hunger, the urge to kill off the match before things headed towards a boring draw. For India, the drawn second Test was a body blow to their five-pronged attack. Ajinkya Rahane, not surprisingly, top-scored with an unbeaten 78. It was criticized by many, but Dhoni stuck to his philosophy concentrating too much on the process rather than the result. When it happened in 2015 during the Australian tour, there was a stark contrast between both of their styles. We’ve got a number of young players.
This victory also meant India won the series, and Ravi Ashwin was awarded the man of the match for his fourth test century (second in this series) and 3 wickets in the match. His captaincy at home was what was expected for an Indian captain – India trounced South Africa 3-0. India has now won three straight series in the Caribbean after losing seven of its first eight. It was not what Holder was looking for, and this meek surrender was singularly representative of the time warp West Indies cricket finds itself in. In Anil Kumble, the Delhi-born batsmen has found a coach and a tactician who shares his aggression, and it has shown during this series. Kohli’s impeccable field placements backed up by some disciplined bowling kept India in the game. His slip placement though unorthodox has worked well when he asked his bowlers to bowl back of the length deliveries to force an outside edge from the batsmen. We’ve been inconsistent. India are in a position where they have consistent players.
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“I have batted everywhere for the Indian team, as low as Nos 5 and 6 even. Batting at No 3 comes more naturally to me because I have played 170-180 ODIs and I have batted 130 ODIs at No 3”. In fact, the baton has not passed over from that team and remains unclaimed. Flexibility is a quality he wants his team to possess. West Indies will do well to learn from their example.
