What’s next, a whitewash?

By Rahul Patil

When they won the first test in Bengaluru, I didn’t believe the blackcaps would win the series. When they won an important toss in Pune but collapsed from 197 for 3 to 259 all out, I thought here we go again. When they got a first innings lead of 103, I thought surely this is where the script changes. Chasing 359 for victory when India was 127 for 2, and Jaiswal was playing a blinder, I thought I told you so. Even when India was at 206 for 7 needing a further 153, and Jadeja & Ashwin were looking comfortable at the crease, I still thought there could be a final twist in the tale. I used I instead of we, but I know there are many others who thought the same. And there is good reason why.

For starters, New Zealand teams had been touring India since 1955 i.e. almost 70 years but had never won a test series there. India had not lost a test series at home for 4331 days. They had won 18 consecutive test series since 2012. The blackcaps came into this series after a 2-0 drubbing by Sri Lanka and without the services of their best batter in Kane Williamson. But sport in general and cricket in particular teaches us time and again that every record eventually gets broken.

This test will be fondly remembered as Mitchell Santner’s test. 13 wickets with the ball and 37 crucial runs with the bat to single handedly send India packing. But before this test Santner’s red ball performances raised more questions than expectations. Last month in spin friendly conditions in Galle, Santner bowled 66 overs across 3 innings and picked up a solitary wicket.

You don’t represent your country in international cricket 237 times in all three formats, over a period of almost 10 years, if you are not a good cricketer but it took Santner 48 innings to register his first five wicket haul in test cricket. To succeed in test cricket, you need to convince yourself that you belong there. Santner’s efforts in Pune could just be the first brick that he places in resurrecting his red ball cricket career.

 

At the end of the Sri Lanka series Tim Southee read the room and decided to quit as captain. It was the right thing to do, but doing the right thing is often the hardest thing in the world. Therefore, credit must be given to Southee for putting his team before himself. Selfless acts like this one can sometimes act as the glue to bind teams closer together, and I won’t be surprised if it’s a similar case with the blackcaps.

Where should I start about India’s woes? They have been comprehensively outplayed in consecutive tests on completely different surfaces. For a long time now, their batters have struggled against quality spinners at home. They got away with it on several occasions thanks to the runs from their lower order and because their own bowlers would outperform the opposition attack. But in this series Ashwin & Jadeja have not been anywhere close to their best. Bumrah also looks tired, and with the series gone I wonder if they might rest him in Mumbai. Coach Gautam Gambhir who recently took over from Rahul Dravid has already lost an ODI series vs Sri Lanka and this test series against New Zealand. He must be feeling the heat. In a country of 1.45 billion losing is not an option.

India has a five match test series starting in Australia soon and the broadcasters are using every possible method to create a hype about it. Sometimes when you start thinking about the future, you stop focusing on the present and the game has its own way of bringing you back on your feet. In saying that, all good things eventually come to an end. The mighty West Indies team from the 70’s and the 80’s, the Australian team from the 90’s and the 2000’s are great examples of the fact that the only permanent thing in this world is change.

Mumbai is next and the wicket there has a bit in it for everyone. Pace and bounce for the seamers, plenty of runs for stroke makers and turn and bounce for the spinners. India is looking vulnerable, and the blackcaps have a golden opportunity of whitewashing their opponent in their own den. The last time Ajaz played at the Wankhede he picked up 10 in an innings and 14 in the match. The last time Darryl Mitchell played at the Wankhede he scored a brilliant hundred in a losing cause. Could this be their time to shine?

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