The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

India's march to the No 1 Test ranking has been slow but eventful, writes K. Datta

WON FOR THE ROAD: Indian captain M.S. Dhoni has cautioned against complacency, saying the journey has only just begun
— Photo: AFP

THE crazy world of Indian cricket is in an ecstatic mood in the wake of the resounding innings victories over Sri Lanka in successive Tests at Kanpur and Mumbai. The Kanpur success was India's 100th Test win and the one that followed at Mumbai took Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team to the No 1 position in ICC Test rankings. So, the top-of-the-world feeling is quite justified, even if it carries with it the danger of complacency.

However impressive the milestones crossed by the Tendulkars, Dravids, Sehwags and others of their ilk, by far the most notable statistical landmark was their team achieving its 100th Test win. What use all those personal records if at the end of the day the team can't show a decent enough win-loss balance sheet?

This is not to spoil the country's moment of joy. But there is no escaping the truth that it has taken over three quarters of a century, 77 years to be exact, and 432 Tests since India made its debut as a Test-playing country in 1932, for it to score its 100th win. Considering that five other teams—Australia, England, West Indies, South Africa and Pakistan—have taken a much lesser time and fewer Tests to get to their respective hundreds, India's march to this landmark has been rather slow. Now that win No 100 is in the record books, there is a look of greater respectability about Indian cricket.

The progress of Indian cricket has to be put in the right perspective. When C.K.Nayudu, the legendary champion hitter of sixes, first led India into the Test arena at Lord's in the summer of 1932, the English must have viewed his team the same way as the more established cricket powers now view countries like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. For all the natural individual talent of the cricketers like ‘CK’ and Mohammed Nissar, the Indian team of 1932 collectively was not seen as an equal. Though Nissar, a 6' 2" fast bowler, who was born in Hoshiarpur, caught the eye of connoisseurs with a hostile spell in the first innings, still the end result was that India lost its first- ever Test in a matter three days by 158 runs.

That was an era when cricket had its own caste system. English cricket had its ‘Players’ and ‘Gentlemen.’ The Indian cricket teams had their own little competing coteries centred on religion, region and rulers of princely states, small and large, with each commanding loyalties from the ‘commoners.’ In fact, officially, the 1932 team was supposed to be captained by the ruler of Porbandur, but he preferred to hand the reins to Nayudu, then a mature 37 years old, who was better qualified for the job.

Plagued by factional rivalries, India had to play 25 Tests before they recorded their first-ever victory, which was at the expense of Nigel Howard's England team in the fifth Test at Chepauk, Chennai, in 1952. It was truly a historic moment in Indian cricket, India winning by an innings and 8 runs. After the 1932 Test, England sent out a team under Douglas Jardine for a three-Test series in India. In spite of another magnificent spell by Nissar, the Englishmen began the tour with a nine-wicket win at Bombay Gymkhana. The second Test at Kolkata was drawn but England won the third at Chepauk by 202 runs, in spite of a 7-for-86 spell by Amar Singh in the first innings.

Then followed the 1936 series in England, which India lost 0-2, the third Test ending in a draw. Again, there were memorable spells by Nissar and Amar Singh, India's two speed demons of its first decade in Test cricket. Of Nissar, Neville Cardus, the celebrated cricket critic of his times, wrote: "Nissar's speed during the half-a-dozen overs was really capital; in every over we saw half-hit, defensive strokes, untidy and uncertain." Then, there was a memorable stand of double century (203) opening by Vijay Merchant and Mushtaq Ali, two batsmen of contrasting styles.

But for all that, the visit was marred by the mid-tour sacking of Lala Amarnath, as pugnacious a cricketer as any. When three years later, World War II broke out, Test cricket came to a halt, only to be resumed in 1946 when India toured England in 1946 under Nawab Inftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi. But with no better results. India had players of talent but somehow they failed to combine as a team. The early years in Test cricket were a waste.

The Chepauk victory in the 1951-52 season was seen as a turning point. But the self-belief so important for success in sport was still to be developed to make winning a more frequent happening. Things started changing for the better after Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi led India to its first series victory abroad, defeating New Zealand 3-1. Next, under Ajit Wadekar, India recorded wins against West Indies and England. It was the era of spin in Indian cricket, and Bishan Singh Bedi, one of that famous quartet of spinners, even led the country to half-a-dozen Test victories.

India was in desperate search for fast bowlers till the phenomenal Kapil Dev burst on the scene. The world's foremost all-rounder of his time, Kapil put the Nissars and Amar Singhs in the shade, bowling magnificent spells as many as 23 times in a 16-year career highlighted by his stellar leadership in 1983 in India's only victory in the World Cup. Recovering from the effects of the match-fixing controversy, India continued to notch creditable victories till Dhoni inherited a team strong in all-round talent and bench strength.

At last, the century of victories has been completed and the dream of being cricket's No 1 team achieved, the final spurt on the home stretch, to borrow a term from a different sport, being planned and executed after coach Gary Kirsten joined Kumble's team in the Perth Test of last year's acrimonious tour of Australia.

But, as Dhoni has remarked, the journey has really begun now. How long India will be able to stay on the pinnacle is to be seen. There are a couple of other teams who strongly fancy their own chances in the coming months. One can sense a new feeling of confidence and self-belief. Dhoni's team has batting till low down in the order and the quick bowlers and spinners to take wickets, and also adequate replacements to fill in leave vacancies. Even the fielding is improving. Importantly, Dhoni himself is wary of the danger of complacency creeping in the wake of the euphoria.

By the way, in a country which has turned T/20 into a lucrative industry, this sudden surge in interest for Test cricket is welcome.

Last and least
Abhijit Chatterjee

EXIT MODE: Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan, who received a trophy for his contribution as the Test series' highest wicket-taker on the final day of the third Test between India and Sri Lanka recently, has indicated that he may call it a day — Photo: AFP

Sri Lanka are yet to win a Test series in India or, for that matter, in Australia or South Africa, and after their 2-0 defeat at the hands of M.S. Dhoni and his men in the just-concluded three-match series, they will have to bide their time for some more years since no more Test series between the two teams have been scheduled till the next World Cup, to be jointly hosted India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, in 2011. But by that time, it is quite likely that the most experienced of the Sri Lankan players Muttiah Muralitharan, the highest wicket-taker in both Test and one-day cricket, would have called it quits from international cricket as he indicated after the huge defeat the Sri Lankans suffered at Kanpur.

Averaging nearly six wickets per Test, Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers in the game, the greatest player in Sri Lankan history. With 792 wickets under his belt, he can never be an underrated player. But the wily spinner, who together with Ajantha Mendis took 47 wickets between them in the 2008 series, claimed just nine wickets in the entire series this time around. Mendis played only one game, and was found to be not up to scratch after returning figures of two for 162 in the Kanpur match. And in this series, Muralitharan has never looked this mortal. At times, it seemed Sehwag read the doosras not from the hand, but from the bowler's mind. Muralitharan's talking of retirement was reminiscent of another offspinner's career that Sehwag ended, Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq.

There were early indications that Muralitharan would find the going tough in the first Test at Ahmedabad itself, when after taking three for 97 in the first innings (economy rate being 3.75), with Yuvraj Singh being the only wicket among the Indian top-ranked batsmen, he not only went wicketless in the second innings but gave away as many as 124 runs in his 38 overs. And this was the only game in the series where the visitors were with a reasonable chance of forcing a win after putting up a huge score in the only innings they batted in.

Things got even worse in the second Test at Kanpur (which India won by an innings and 144 runs) for the Sri Lankan spinner. In the only innings that India batted in, Muralitharan had figures of two for 175 with his economy rate climbing to 4.72. He might have claimed the wickets of openers Gautam Ghambir and Virender Sehwag but overall, his bowling did not enthuse his team. It was after the battering that he got in this game that the veteran bowler indicated that he might call it a day even before the 2011 World Cup.

Muralitharan's performance in the third game of the series (which India wrapped up to win by an innings and 24 runs) at Mumbai was marginally better as he picked up four wickets for 195 at an improved economy of 3.82.

For reasons not difficult to fathom, the Sri Lankan spinner has never done against India as well as he has done against other cricketing nations. One reason could be the fact that he could never pose a very serious challenge to the Indian batsmen, reared as they are right through their careers on quality spinners at home. He has taken 792 Test wickets so far (the highest by any bowler in the game) at an average of 22.71 at an economy of 2.47. In contrast, he has taken 40 wickets in 11 games in India during his four visits to the country at an average of 45.45 and an economy rate of 3.16, much more than he has conceded to other teams. And the battering that he got in this series, especially at the hands of Sehwag, may well hasten his retirement from international cricket.

Close comfort
Gopal Sharma

ALMOST THERE: Virender Sehwag has remained unfazed by his missed chance — Photo: AFP

Virender Sehwag failed to add another feather to his illustrious cap at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, losing his wicket when on 293. But losing a feather, even if it was really a big one, has never made Sehwag lose sleep. When nearly the whole cricket-crazy nation was watching with bated breath, anticipating Sehwag’s tryst with destiny, the batsman, when undone by Muralitharan, just looked heavenwards in a momentary show of disappointment before beginning his march towards the pavilion. Millions of his fans must have sank in despair, but not Sehwag. The fearless Delhi batsman had the Sri Lankan bowling attack at his mercy the previous day and getting past the greatest Don Bradman and Brian Lara to emerge as the only batsman to have three triple centuries in Test history did not look like much of a task.

Talking to newsmen later, he was as uncluttered in his remarks as he is when smashing the bowlers all over the field. When asked about the missed opportunity of completing a historic feat, the inimitable batsman, far from being remorseful, retorted that there was always a next time and he was happy to have reached within seven runs of the milestone.

Having finished unbeaten on 284 a day earlier and caning the hapless bowlers mercilessly the whole day, he remarked that he missed a big knock in the last Test (Sehwag made a strokeful 131 in the previous Test at Kanpur!) So, he was determined to make it big this time.

Fact file

Major milestones Sehwag achieved in Mumbai:

He has become the first Indian batsman to score six double centuries in Tests. Rahul Dravid (5) and Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar (4 each) come next to him
Sehwag’s 200 off 168 balls is the second fastest double century ever scored after New Zealand’s Nathan Astle, who consumed 153 balls for the feat against England.
During the course of his blazing knock, he became the third fastest Indian batsman after Gavaskar and Tendulkar to complete 6,000 Test runs.

After the bowlers’carnage, one was left to wonder what would have been the case had India batted the whole day and not less than half an hour — the time Sri Lanka batted early in the morning. Or what if Sehwag was not troubled by back pain that came to haunt the batsman when he had barely got past his 150.

The Nawab of Najafgarh is the most unpredictable contemporary batsman. He has delivered, in the most emphatic matter, where others have faired miserably. And he has come a cropper, where others have prospered. He is probably the only batsman having the ability to hit an unplayable delivery out of sight, while also having the knack of losing his wicket to an innocuous delivery. More often than not, it has been the case of the cavalier batsman gifting his wicket away rather than the bowler earning his scalp.

Given an opportunity to make his Test debut, he reached the three-figure mark on a prodigiously seaming track at Bloemfontein, where batting was, by no means, an easy job.

During the disastrous 2002-03 series against New Zealand, he scored two match-winning ODI hundreds, again on seaming tracks. Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly and Sachin collectively scored 215 runs at an average of 10.75. But Sehwag was a roaring success, scoring 299 runs at 42.71.

He is a big innings player. Twelve of his last 13 hundreds have been 150 plus: 284 not out, 131, 201 not out, 319, 151, 180, 254, 201, 173, 164, 155, 309, 195.

It was during the epic knock of 309 at Multan in 2004 that the swashbuckling batsman gave a clear insight into his domineering ways of batting. An unstoppable Sehwag made Shoaib Akhtar & Co look totally stingless. When close to overtaking V.V.S Laxman’s 281, the highest Test score from an Indian batsman, Sehwag was dropped in the slips off Umar Gul. Unperturbed, Sehwag clobbered the next delivery for a spanking four to emerge the highest individual scorer from the country. Soon thereafter, Sehwag unleashed a mighty swipe off Saqlain Mushtaq. The ball went soaring over the mid-wicket fence and Sehwag became the first Indian batsman to score a triple century! It was frustrating outing for seasoned Saqlain, who went for 204 runs in the innings with the lone scalp of Akash Chopra.

Sehwag lost out on an opportunity to complete a double century against Australia at Melbourne the previous year. When batting on 195, an impetuous Sehwag took the aerial rout only to be caught close to boundary.

The 319 against South Africa in Chennai last year had come off just 304 balls - the fastest triple hundred ever scored.

Though he scored 10-ball 26 in the T20 match at Christchurch earlier this year, he demoralised seamer Tim Southee hitting first three balls of the match to the square leg fence for three sixes.

This is the only way Sehwag knows about batting. He may not be a purist’s delight when on a song, but he is arguably the most feared contemporary batsman. Being talked about in the same breath as Sir Vivian Richards is no mean a compliment!

One wishes that his words, "There is always a next time," prove prophetic!