Kohli-inspired Men in Blue destroyed the Proteas on their way to sealing the top spot in ODI rankings, that too in an away series. Karthik Raman analyses their performance in South Africa
Once India were bowled out for a mere 151 in the second innings of the second Test and conceded the three match series 0-2, not many would have expected to see the turn around Virat Kohli and his boys produced since when it came to the shorter format of the game.
Team India won the final Test by 63 runs to set the stage for a fierce limited overs battle. As we now see, it looked like a cakewalk in the end. The ease with which the Indian team got past the hosts was unexpected. The margin of victories in five of the six ODI matches read as: by six wickets, nine wickets, 124 runs, 73 runs and eight wickets!
Barring the two rain-interrupted matches — the 4th ODI and the 2nd T20 — the Men in Blue have been ruthless throughout the series. The 5-1 victory margin in 50-over format tells you a happy story.
In doing so, Kohli’s boys have topped the ODI rankings. Throughout the series, Indian batsmen ripped the Proteas bowlers apart and were unstoppable.
Notably, the Indian bowlers have been the biggest surprise for visitors. After a commendable Test show, the pacers were impeccable right through the ODIs. The other positive for the Indian team was the emergence of the wrist spinners. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, dubbed the wrist-spin twins, were sensational in all the six ODI matches.
South African batsmen were clueless against their bowling and struggled to pick their googlies time and again. They picked 33 wickets in six ODIs between themselves.
With both of them seeming to have consolidated their positions in the limited overs format, it is vital for India to build their bowling around them.
leading from the front
As always, captain fantastic Virat Kohli has been at the heart of many good things India did in the series.
Kohli has four centuries and two fifties after 11 games (3 Tests, 6 ODIs and 2 T20Is). He has 871 runs from 14 innings. He has hit 7 sixes and 91 boundaries.
His fantastic form hasn’t gone unnoticed as the Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper with 909 points has become only the second cricketer after AB de Villiers to have over 900 points in Tests and ODIs at the same time.
Moreover, Kohli is the only batsman to find a place in the top-3 slots across all formats. In ODIs, he sits on top position and is second in the Test rankings behind Australia’s Steve Smith (947) with 912 points. In T20Is, Kohli is third with 776 points.
Former Indian wicket-keeper Surinder Khanna believes the skipper set the tone for the team. “The standard is set by the captain, he wants to win, he wants to play and give 100 per cent. Not 100 per cent, 120 per cent. And the boys are responding to it, keeping themselves fit and not getting satisfied with one or two good performances. There is competition hence you need to consistently perform,” he said.
Former cricketer Kirti Azad also showered praise on the in-form skipper. “He deserves a lot of appreciation. He deserves the praise for the way he lead the side and the way he has lead by example,” he said.
Apart from Kohli, Dhawan who has three 50s and a 100 to his name so far in the six ODIs and the two T20Is, has been another standout performer. He has given the visitors a solid start from the top and has laid the foundation for others to follow.
Pacers join the party
One of the pleasing factors about the series was the Indian pacers wreaking havoc on the South African batting line-up.
“The bowlers have down tremendously well, they need to be complimented,” said Surinder, adding, “They were magical, the bowlers did an excellent job.”
The Indian team is often known for its batting strength and their ability to provide good spinners, but not often they are praised for possessing a solid pace attack. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been outstanding throughout the tour in all the formats, while, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur have done their job reasonably well whenever called upon. Pandya’s ability to bat has come in equally handy for the team in the series.
In the Test series the likes of Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma have been equally impressive. There is no shortage of fast bowlers for coach Ravi Shastri and Kohli to pick from.
On the reason behind the sudden increase in the fast bowlers, Khanna, who has played 10 ODIs for the Indian team, said, “I think it’s the incentive they get in IPl, if they do well they get paid a lot. This encourages them and also you know they are all different bowlers.”
“Bumrah, he’s fast, he brings the ball in and bowls the slower ball. Bhuvneshwar swings the ball both ways with a lot of control. And the experience they keep getting, they have been playing for sometime at the international level,” he added.
Bumrah picked up 14 wickets in the three Tests, while Kumar grabbed 10 wickets from two Tests, Ishant got eight scalps from two Test matches and Mohammed Shami was the pick of the lot with 15 wickets from the three Test matches.
In ODIs and T20s, Bumrah has eight wickets, while Bhuvneshwar has managed to get seven scalps.
However, Kirti Azad, who was part of the 1983 World Cup winning side, struggled to understand why Umesh Yadav did not feature in the Indian side during the Test matches.
“I’m surprised Umesh Yadav is not playing in the side, he is the quickest. If I was the captain, I would always play him. I don’t know what else he has to do to be in the side,” he pondered.
Spin twins on a roll
Kuldeep and Chahal have been the side’s biggest positive in the limited overs format and the Proteas batsmen struggled to deal with them throughout the series.
They have made the headlines for all the right reasons. Yadav has 17 wickets so far, while Chahal — barring his disastrous outing in the second T20 when he conceded a massive 64 runs from four overs – has been unplayable in the limited overs and has also grabbed 17 wickets.
“The spinners have been bamboozling South African batsmen in one-dayers. It is yet to be seen how they will do in Test matches, but this will raise their confidence to do well in the coming series as well,” said Surinder.
Despite appreciating their efforts, Azad wants to see them in the longest format. “They have been playing in ODIs and T20s. They have done well, I appreciate that. But I would love to see them in the longer version of the game,” he explained.
When asked whether they are ready for longer version of the game, he replied “Until and unless you don’t try someone, you don’t know whether they are ready or not.”
Agreeing with it, Khanna believes it is time for them to have a crack at Tests too. “Yes exactly. I’m sure the captain will look at them in the coming Test matches,” he replied when asked whether it’s time to involve them in the longest format as well.
End for Ashwin, JadejaIJ
With Kuldeep and Chahal more or less consolidating their places in the limited overs’ side, questions have been raised about the future of the spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
However, Surinder believes it is not end of the road for them and their experience might help them in making a comeback to the side. “I would never say end of the road. It is good to have competition. They have to raise their bar a little high,” he said.
“Whenever, there is a change in the captaincy, you will always find that the captain has his own thinking and liking. Those players respond then will get more chances. But, they have experience with them and I’m sure they will be working on it. They can always play,” he added.
However, the stats do not make a good reading for both of them. Ashwin and Jadeja picked up just 6 and 11 wickets respectively at averages of 80.50 and 60.27 from the start of 2016 to the end of the Champions Trophy in June, 2017.
If at all they are to make a comeback in the limited overs format, both have to raise their bar pretty high in the domestic competitions as well as in this year’s Indian Premier league.
Middle order woes
Despite producing a near-invincible performance on their way to becoming the first-ever Indian side to win an ODI series in South Africa, there is still one grey area in the pitch which the team management needs to look at.
India’s batting has heavily relied on the top order. Fortunately for the hosts, the likes of Dhawan, Kohli and lately Rohit Sharma have been producing the goods. Hence, the average performances of the middle order batsmen aren’t getting highlighted much.
From the two innings he played, Shreyas Iyer notched scores of 30 and 18. Barring a 79 in the first ODI, Ajinkya Rahane hasn’t done much either in batting.
Hardik Pandya, seen by many as the perfect all-rounder, who can bowl and bat at the same time, had a disappointing limited overs series with the bat so far.
Apart from his 52 in the second T20, former skipper MS Dhoni hasn’t lived up to his usual high standards in this tournament. The only occasion when the middle order came to India’s rescue was during the second T20 as Manish Pandey (79) and Dhoni helped the visitors reach a good total after some good work by Suresh Raina as well.
Otherwise, the Blue Army struggled to get consistent runs from their middle order batsmen. When asked middle order is an area of concern, Surinder immediately replied, “Yes. They have not fired consistently.”
He went on to elaborate, “I think they have a settled team, the boys have to raise their bar a bit more.”
“If you get starts, you have to convert those starts into a big runs. They have to get into that habit. That’s the area where middle order has failed,” he added.
However, Kirti Azad disagrees. “I don’t think so. You can’t have 11 players at the same time scoring 11 hundreds. There is bound to be odd failures in the side,” he explained.
It is still not clear whether India will bring back the old guards like Yuvraj Singh back in the fold. Raina has already made his comeback and will be eager to take advantage of the current scenario to secure a place in that struggling middle-order.
With the 50-over World Cup still a year away, there is enough time for Kohli and the team management to try and test the squad with different sets of players, before settling down on a final line-up.
Khanna feels the team should take it match by match, rather than thinking already about the 2019 World Cup. “World Cup is far away, they should go series by series, match by match. let’s hope all of them are fit mentally and physically and in their form,” he elaborated.
The painful defeats in the first two Tests seem to be a distant memory now as Team India has put on an impressive showing in the limited-overs format in South Africa.
later in the year, with tours against Australia and England are set to come, Khanna still feels there are areas where India need to improve. “In the last game, when Behardien and Hendricks were playing their strokes, by using their feet, Indian bowlers were on pressure. It needs to be seen and tested, but I’m sure this will raise their confidence,” he said.
“Wrist spinners can turn the ball on the first day on any surface. That’s an added advantage they have. With the way they bowled here, their confidence is high,” he said.
He maybe right about the fact that the 50-over World Cup is still some time away and there is lot of cricket left to play before it.
Considering the way the team has been performing, India will walk into the competition as clear favourites. lately, Indian team have created a reputation of firing at home, but struggling to maintain that level at tough away conditions. That barricade was broken by the Kohli-inspired team in scintillating fashion.
If they keep this ruthless approach intact, then the current Indian side have sufficient resources at their disposal to emulate the great Australian side.
India paid for lack of practice in Tests
The eye-catching performances in the ODIs and T20s have shown how much the Indian team missed playing warm-up matches before the start of the Test matches. The Sri lankan series ended on December 24, 2017, and by January 5, 2018, India had to play their first Test against the Proteas. Moreover, the Men in Blue decided to cancel the lone warm-up match and decided to concentrate on training sessions instead.
It didn’t fare well as the visitors were convincingly beaten in the first two Tests.
“You see how the boys gelled in after two Test matches. Obviously the preparation was not that good for the Test. Once they got into the groom, the boys won the third Test and they have been winning so well,” said former cricketer Kirti Azad.
“They performed very well, they were capable of winning the Test series as well, but unfortunately due to lack of practice in South African pitches, they lost the first two games,” he added. Another former player Surinder Khanna agrees with him.
“They had no practice game before the Test series started, and once they played a couple of Test matches, batsmen got used to bounce. We lost the series, but we won the 3rd Test,” he said.
When asked whether India should use this as a lesson to arrive earlier at difficult cricketing nations, to get used to the conditions, Kirti replied, “You must have warm-up matches, you must get acclimatized to the pitches.”
“When they (other countries) come to India, they come like 10 days in advance. They organise their own matches, they get used to the Indian pitches and then they play Test matches,” he elaborated. Besides, Khanna is of the opinion that not much should be read from the ODI series victory as injuries to several key players played a big part for South Africa.
“South Africa have been struggling with injuries to their top players, they have not been in best form, my sympathies are with them. This South African team is not one of the best sides and still we lost the Test series,” he said.
“We should have sympathy for them because they are struggling and they are not the best of South African team. But Indian team has done well and we need to compliment them,” he added.
Their captain Faf du Plessis was only able to play the first ODI and had to sit down for the rest of the tour due to a right index finger injury. AB De Villiers has been absent for a long portion of the limited-overs matches due to injury.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock was also able to feature in only two ODIs before getting ruled out of the rest of the tour owing to injury. On paper at least the Proteas squad appears to be depleted, but still going to their homeland and winning a series is no small thing. This Virat Kohli-led Indian side being the first ever team to win a 50-over series in South Africa speaks volumes of their triumph.
And the fans will only hope that the side maintains this form going into the next year World Cup.