There is a small clip doing the rounds on the internet where a delighted – yet surprisingly calm – Virat Kohli is seen raising his index finger, wearing a proud smile on his face.
Yes, his team is now the number one Test side in the world.
In just a little over a month and a half, the No. 1 Test spot has welcomed India only to ask them to move out to make a place for Pakistan, to now asking Pakistan to do the same for India.
But with another 11 Test matches in the extensive home season ahead and the Indian side striding forward like a well-oiled machine, this number one spot seems like it’s here to stay.
Like that stock which rises exponentially or that batch-mate who gets placed better than the others, the Indian Test team is sure to invite a lot of criticism.
The ‘tailor-made pitches’, the ‘flat-track bullies’, the ‘extreme weather conditions’ – the archived lists are out. But, maybe, this time around this Indian Test team is better prepared to answer all those criticisms than ever before.
Of course, the spinners are dominating and the way Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bowl in tandem, in India, they seem invincible. But, in a sport that glorifies the individual but almost never promises healthy returns unless the team clicks together, to say that individuals win you matches let alone take you to the top of the rankings, is preposterous.
Thus, in an act dominated by the spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja, it is a supporting role here from a batsman or a soliloquy there from a seamer that makes the act a success. And when everyone in the ensemble knows what they have to do, it makes the performance even more delightful.
This team is starting to tick off boxes. Most players either at peak or looking ahead to best years.Should be able to challenge overseas too
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 4, 2016
A glaring example is India’s seam bowling performance in the second Test; of the 20 wickets taken by Indian bowlers, 12 were taken by the seamers.
The current Indian Test team, perhaps, bats the deepest too. With Bhuvneshwar Kumar coming in at number 10 in the Kolkata Test, it’s a pretty long tail that wags, and wags well.
On India’s tour to Australia in 2014-15, in the Adelaide Test, India were chasing 364 and were in a good position at 299/5, but to everyone’s surprise, they ended up losing the next five wickets for just 16 runs. The current Indian batting line-up seems to have done very well to have that base covered.
Against New Zealand, at 291/9 on a pretty decent wicket at the end of day one, India would’ve thought that they had squandered the advantage of winning the toss. But Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammad Shami – the two local boys – came out and added those crucial 27 runs.
When, in the second innings, India were reeling yet again, Rohit Sharma and Saha steadied the ship, taking the Indian lead to a point from which New Zealand could never catch up.
Another department in which the current Indian Test side has made major advances is fitness. Captain Kohli is perhaps one of the fittest athletes in the world and it is evident that his approach has rubbed off on his team as well.
From Shikhar Dhawan to Jadeja to Ajinkya Rahane, it’s a luxury to have players in the field who do not need to hide from the batsmen.
Over and above any of these considerations, the one thing that makes this Indian team stand out, is the belief. If this side is 106/6 on a day three pitch, it doesn’t lose hope.
Like that assiduous student who has lost all his notes, a batsman can come out and start building a partnership virtually from scratch. If the opposition’s batsmen have answers to everything that the Indian bowlers are throwing at them, they still keep coming.
So many previous Indian Test sides have lacked grit, now they seem to have it in abundance; Test cricket is as much about perseverance as it is skill. That extra over, that extra bouncer at the batsman, that extra leave outside the off-stump, makes such a difference. Such moments might seem inconsequential, but they all contribute to create the mosaic of a champion team.
Then there’s the captain. Quite a departure from his predecessor, Kohli will walk up to his bowler more often.
He will keep cheering his boys. He will take the umpire head on and be the first one to jump in ebullience at the slightest possibility of success. He will also make the most of home advantage by imploring the crowd to cheer for his side.
Kohli, unlike others, doesn’t let go of even a moment to show how much he loves this job, and what happens when you love something that you do isn’t apocryphal anymore.
So, does this team deserve to be called the best Test team in the world? At the moment, yes, but as they say, the race to the top is easy, the fight to stay there isn’t.
Starting October 8 in Indore, this team will compete not to be the number one team anymore, but to remain at the top spot. How well they fight this fight will determine how good they are. By the looks of it, at the moment, they seem to be in it for the long haul.
