Virat Kohli’s team has achieved what no other Indian side had managed to do in South Africa “ a bilateral series win in the rainbow nation across formats. After the disappointment of losing the preceding three-match Test series 2-1, the Men in Blue bounced back emphatically to claim a first-ever series win in their favourite format, the one-day internationals.
The win in the ODIs “ however historic it may be “ though cannot hide the fact that it was another opportunity lost by India in the tougher format, the Test matches. India had gone into the Test series with much hype riding around its batsmen. There was genuine hope that Kohli & Co could break India’s series duck in the five-day format. The optimism stemmed from the fact that the team had reached the African shores with a well-rounded team, with its pace battery expected to nullify the hosts’ advantage in the department India has always been weak in.
The bowlers, particularly the pacers led by the enterprising Bhuvneshwar Kumar, did exceptionally well in the series, scalping out all the available 30 wickets. However, India was woefully let down by its much trumpeted batting line-up. Barring the mercurial Virat Kohli, who raised his bar to be the most consistent run-getter for India, the rest of the core group flopped badly to cost the team a golden opportunity of a rare Test series win against the Proteas. The team, however, recovered remarkably to record a morale-boosting 63-run win at the Wanderers after conceding a 2-0 lead, losing the first two Tests in Cape Town and Centurion.
The Wanderers result showed that India had enough in the tank to challenge and topple the South Africans in their home conditions but the team management had blundered by not giving the players enough time to acclimatise with the alien conditions, where the teams before had always struggled. The Indians were so confident in their batting ability that they even opted out of a practice tie and instead focused on training in the nets. The decision would later bite them back as India coach Ravi Shastri later himself admitted that his players would have done better with a few practice matches.
It is no secret that ODIs is India’s strongest suit and they have a settled group which has set its sights on the 2019 World Cup. With the series win, they also sealed the top spot in ODI rankings. No doubt it’s a welcome sign with the World Cup round the corner, but Indian think tank needs to expand its vision and make winning Tests its priority. With difficult away series to England and Australia to come, one hopes the Indians have learnt their lessons from the South African Test debacle.
