India’s top-order needs to get its act together or be forever known as flat-track bullies
In one aspect of the game India has made giant strides over the past decade. After several generations of military medium bowlers working in conjunction with talented spinners, India finally has a proper fast bowling attack. It may not have the sheer speed and talent of the current Australian bowling attack but Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami are top-class bowlers as the Indian bowling attack in the recently concluded Test match at Newlands proved. There is no doubt that the problem in this match was, with the notable exception of Hardik Pandya, our batting performance.
A team boasting the talents of Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and let's not forget Virat Kohli folded twice in four days in an embarrassing manner. We have written previously that 2018 is a year of reckoning for Indian cricket with the team playing in South Africa, England and Australia in quick order over the next twelve months after spending virtually two winters at home. These teams are formidable at home, Australia's demolition of a decent English team in the Ashes demonstrates that. But India is the world's top-ranked Test team, so we should be able to take on all comers. Yet, the manner of our defeat in Cape Town does not hold good portends for the future.
There was a reason Virat Kohli wanted more 'green top’ fast bowler friendly wickets in The test series against Sri lanka. He felt that would have prepared Indian batsmen for the challenge they were to face in South Africa. The pitch at Newlands challenged both sets of batsmen and both sets of bowlers shone butt we have been told that Indian batsmen are the best in the world, setting record after record. Well, they were horribly caught out.
This is also a sign of a lack of planning by the authorities; as much as T20 cricket has led to flat, batting-friendly pitches across the world, Test match cricket is the real thing and the best preparation would have been at least one, ideally two preparation matches against local sides. Unfortunately, it is seen by some that everyday the Indian cricket team does not play a competitive match is a day of lost revenue. What the board and the television companies must realise is that it is success on the pitch that begets commercial success, and while the Board of Control for Cricket in India has raked in the moolah thanks to the boys in blue, it must not forget that if the team can't perform well in whites then the books may well start going into the red.