Rewind 2010
Time for a TOAST
Year 2010 saw Team India retaining its number one rank in Test cricket and moving up in the one-day rankings
Abhijit Chatterjee

ON the ground it has been a good year for Indian cricket. Even as it probably missed out a sure medal in the just concluded Asian Games at Guangzhou, with the BCCI not opting to sending a team (either men or women) citing "prior commitments." India has been able to retain its number one rank in Test cricket while clawing its way up in the one-day rankings, where it currently occupies the second spot behind arch rivals Australia.

Of the 12 Tests India has played so far, it won nine and has drawn the remaining three, remarkable achievements, but for the fact that most of the matches were played at home. And speaking of Australia, the rivalry seen in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is something now akin to the keenness to the clashes seen in the Ashes. India have not lost a single Test match in the year so far and their series against South Africa, beginning on December 15, will be keenly watched to see whether the South Africans can unseat India from the top pedestal. In one-day cricket, they have a 60 per cent win record, winning 15 of their 25 games (taking the third game of the India-New Zealand series at Vadodara into consideration).

Of course, Indian cricket did have its share of controversies in the form of the IPL and the now disgraced IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, who refused to return home from London. The board has restructured the IPL governing body, suspended two teams and is desperately trying to retain brand IPL while looking towards two new teams. But the controversy refuses to die down with the governing body yet to finalise the format of IPL 4.

Like the previous year, India’s challenge in Test cricket is being powered by the old firm of Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, as also batsmen like Gautam Gambhir (who, incidentally, has done a remarkable job as a stand-in captain in the one-day series against New Zealand), skipper Mahender Dhoni and bowlers like Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, who has exhibited his cricketing skills in no uncertain terms by hitting two back-to-back Test centuries against New Zealand.

Of course, fitness problems continued to plague Zaheer Khan, who could play in only eight of the 12 Test matches India played this year. In these eight Tests, Zaheer took 41 wickets at an average of 22.92. Harbhajan, who played in 10 matches this year, took 35 wickets at an average of 42.88, not flattering figures for a bowler who is aspiring to overtake Anil Kumble’s record of Test scalps. Harbhajan’s spinning partner Pragyan Ojha, who had 33 wickets under his belt, at an average of 43.60.

But it was the Indian batsmen who really flourished this year. And it does not take too much of guessing in picking the best.

It is Sachin Tendulkar who seems to defy his age as he gets better and better. In the year gone by, he has scored runs at a furious pace. In the 12 Tests that Sachin has played this year, he has totalled 1396 runs at a phenomenal average of 82.11 with six centuries. And Sachin has yet to play a couple of games this calendar year. Not far behind is the flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag, who has so far totalled 1302 runs from 12 games with five centuries for an average of 68.52.

But the credit for India’s good show in the traditional form of the game should also go to Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman. Rahul Dravid, who has hit 31 Test centuries so far, has been lending stability to the Indian middle order for a long time and this year was no different. He played a total of 10 Tests this year, where he scored three centuries (thereby overtaking Sir Don Bradman’s tally of 29 Test hundreds) for a tally of 687 runs at an average 49.07. For a batsman who was struggling with form after he gave up the India captaincy, this is indeed a remarkable turnaround and the way the Karnataka batsman is going it seems that he has, like the more illustrious Sachin, quite some years to go in Test cricket.

It is rather unfortunate that Indian cricket folklore has not placed Hyderabad’s V.V.S. Laxman on the same pedestal like Dravid. But there is no denying the fact that this year, like on previous occasions, he proved to be the nemesis for the Australians, who went down 2-0 down to India in a two-game series. This year, Laxman, who missed some games due to injury, scored 790 runs in the nine games that he played with two centuries for an average of 79.00.

But what should worry the powers that run cricket in India is the fact that the Indian middle order is getting old and the time will come, sooner than later, to look around for replacements to these three batting stalwarts. Sachin is already 37 (1973 born), while Laxman, who is 1974 born, has been plagued by a number of niggling injuries for some time now. Similarly, Rahul Dravid who is a year older than Laxman, have served Indian cricket very well for a long time and now is the time for looking around for players who can walk into their shoes once they decide to call it a day. Already Laxman and Dravid have been eased out of the one-day squad, while Sachin may well take a call after the World Cup since this is one silverware missing from the maestro’s cupboard.

It was expected that Yuvraj Singh would become one of the mainstays of the Indian middle order but that has not materialsed. The south paw has been plagued by poor form, injuries as also attitudinal problems in his quest for greatness.

Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli can someday take their rightful place in the middle order but for that to happen both will have to work very hard. However, the fact remains that the last two named players have done well in the shorter game but will have to work hard to cement a place in the Test squad. Raina’s highest score in ODI this year has been 106 against Sri Lanka in the tri-nation tournament played at Dhaka in early January. Virat has done comparatively better in ODI with a century each against Australia and New Zealand this year. But while Raina has got his chances in Test cricket, Kohli is still waiting for his Test cap. May be, it will happen in the coming year.