In recent years, India’s cricketers have not often been reduced to spectators on the big stage. In the four ICC tournaments before this World Cup they had won two – the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy – and reached the final of another, the World Twenty20 (2014). But on Sunday morning the closest most of them will get to the World Cup will be the TV screens in their living rooms back home.
At last their tour of Australia, which was starting to assume Odyssey-like proportions, is over. They landed in the country a day before Phillip Hughes was fatally injured at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Their title defence ended at the same venue four months and two days later, after a cross-country trek that had taken in four Tests, four Tri Series ODIs, and eight World Cup matches, in addition to practice games. When MS Dhoni, the captain, joked about how long they had been the game’s nomads, there was a strong undercurrent of truth and fatigue to his words.
“It’s been a very long tour, over four months at one place,” he said. “Another 20 days, and we can apply for citizenship. That’s how long we are talking.”
Dhoni has yet to see or hold Ziva, his daughter who was born the week before the World Cup began; the only feeling in the world that would top holding the trophy aloft again, and Dhoni denied himself that as he plotted what deserves to be remembered as one of India’s best World Cup campaigns.
And yet there are idiots back home smashing TVs and burning effigies, prompted in the main by cynical and moronic ‘news’ channels. The worst of the lot created a #ShameinSydney hashtag on Twitter soon after India’s semi-final defeat, only to see enraged, and sensible, fans rip into it on the social-media platform.
India’s defeat by Australia wasn’t really a surprise. It’s been the recurring theme of the southern summer. In their conditions Australia are clearly the better-balanced side, but to suggest that the gulf between the two teams is huge is to be disingenuous. It was only two years ago that Australia were thrashed 4-0 in a Test series in India. Dhoni’s men gave a far better account of themselves on Australian soil.
But for injudicious shot selection late in the day they would have won the opening Test in Adelaide. As it was, the pursuit of 364, led by Virat Kohli’s superlative 141, made for one of the best days of Test cricket seen in recent times. In Brisbane they lost by four wickets, in a match they controlled for long periods before Mitchell Johnson made his presence felt with both bat and ball.
What let India down repeatedly, as it had in England last summer, was the quality of the pace bowling. After Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma enjoyed an excellent World Cup, Dhoni spoke of how he hoped they would build on the gains from this tour. “What the fast bowlers have learned in this tour they’ll keep that in their mind because we won’t be playing outside the Subcontinent until next year maybe,” he said. “It’s very important for them to keep in mind what they have learned.”
That’s no longer his headache. He retired from Test cricket after the Boxing Day Test and will reassess his future in the limited-overs formats after the World Twenty20 that India will host in early 2016. Kohli, who led in Adelaide and again in the fourth Test in Sydney, will have to resuscitate five-day fortunes after a punishing schedule that saw back-to-back tours of South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia. India’s last home Test was Sachin Tendulkar’s final one, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai during November 2013.
Tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are allocated for the months after the IPL and South Africa, the best team in the world, will visit for a four-Test series in November. In spin-friendly conditions India will hold their own, but Kohli and the new coach – Duncan Fletcher’s contract ends in April and will not be renewed – will need to focus on developing the bowling strength that can change a depressing away record. The win at Lord’s in July 2014 was their only away Test win of any significance since Durban in December 2010.
In the limited-overs formats, with the IPL providing excellent exposure for younger players, India will always be there or thereabouts. The World Twenty20 and the Champions Trophy in England (2017) should both see the core group of players that played this World Cup in action. Several of them will be much better for the experience.
Dhoni has been central to that development. In those long-ago days when he batted in the top four in ODIs Dhoni averaged more than 75 while striking at a run a ball. Coming down to No6 was his way of giving the likes of Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane the time they needed to mature. According to him, that matters far more than any other legacy he’ll leave behind. “It was a conscious attempt to make sure that these youngsters bat up the order,” he said. “What people think about me as a player or what I have done, it doesn’t really matter, because I play for the enjoyment of the game. The day I pack my bags, I’ll be happy on my bike.”
He has a few dozen of them.
Five names for the future
KL Rahul After a nightmarish Test debut in Melbourne he gritted his way to 110 in Sydney, adding 141 with Kohli, the new captain. On his return to India he averaged 93 in five Ranji Trophy matches, as Karnataka retained their title with some ease. Not yet 23, he has a big role to play in India’s Test future.
Axar Patel Didn’t get a game in this World Cup, but the 21-year-old will be pushing Ravindra Jadeja for a place in the limited-overs XI. A tall left-arm spinner who can also thrash the ball hard, Patel first came into the limelight with his performances for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL.
Vijay Zol The transition from Under-19 star to first-class cricketer hasn’t been an easy one for the 20-year-old, but he already has two longer-format hundreds to his name. If he progresses as most expect him to the left-hander will be part of India’s 2019 plans.
Shreyas Iyer The Mumbai batsman, also 20, has made a fine start to his first-class career, with two centuries in his first 10 games. In an otherwise disappointing Ranji Trophy season for the 40-times champions, his 153 against Bengal at Eden Gardens was one of the highlights.
Shardul Thakur The 23-year-old pace bowler took 48 wickets in the recently concluded Ranji season, and also earned a reputation as a feisty competitor. With India’s bowling line-up far from settled, he is one of the those the selectors will assess very closely.
