The Test series against England which gets under way today in Ahmedabad is a huge examination of the Indian team’s abilities, which have recently taken a serious beating.
Their openers and their senior-most batsman are hopelessly out of form and the captain is under tremendous pressure to deliver.
It leaves the onus of doing the hard yards on the young shoulders of two promising batsmen (Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara) and two able spinners (Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha), whose collective experience spans 39 Tests.
Of course there is pedigree and talent in the squad which makes them favourites to win the series. But it is their recent record which is disturbing. Openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have struggled to justify their reputation and have just one 100-plus partnership to show since December 2010.
Individually, they have been disappointing with Sehwag’s last scoring a century in November 2010 and Gambhir’s coming in January 2010.
Sachin Tendulkar is another behemoth in the line-up who has not been amongst the runs. He last scored a hundred ten months ago. Even a fifty plus score has eluded him in his last seven Test innings and the mode of his dismissals in the last home series against New Zealand – all bowled – had experts predicting the end of a glorious career.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni too has been under scrutiny on many counts: for his failing tactical acumen, his poor run of scores and for exuding a certain disinterest in Tests.
These four are no ordinary cricketers. We are talking about a collective experience of over 400 Tests, 30,000 runs and around 90 centuries. Which means if they get going, then all the apprehensions around the team will be blown away.
But if they don’t, then the Indian selectors will be forced to fast-track the transition process and pave the way for fresher legs and a new captain.
A huge comforting factor, though, for the Big Four is that now they are on home territory where dusty tracks are commonplace and the ball doesn’t rise above the knee roll. It’s a far cry from the fast tracks overseas where pace and bounce caused their downfall in England and Australia last season.
Another advantage for India is the fact that the team across the pitch also has issues of their own. Their best batsman to tackle spin, Alastair Cook, is saddled with the additional responsibility of leading the team and he will be under pressure to deliver. So is their top middle-order batsman, Kevin Pietersen, who is making a comeback after a dramatic row.
But I feel the Englishmen who could trouble India the most will be pacers Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and James Anderson, who have the skills to come good on placid tracks as well.
Off-spinner Graeme Swann, currently distracted by the health of his newborn daughter, is another threat as he proved during the Test series against Pakistan in the UAE nine months ago.
Broad, Bresnan and Swann can also frustrate India in their role as batsmen because the home team’s bowlers tend to slacken their grip when bowling to the tail.
And these three have the ability to add valuable runs which could prove decisive.
The series is thus a battle of equals, of teams who have lost their way since gaining No1 status and are desperately seeking success to regain it.
I would back India to win the four-match series 2-1 only because England have yet to inspire confidence when countering spin.
But whichever way you look at it, this series is crucial for India because careers are most definitely on the line.
* For breaking news, follow us on @Sport_360 or find us on Facebook.
