Team India Is On Top Of The World Right Now, But Here's Why We Should Not Jump The Gun

The one-sided affair ended last Friday. At the end of the six game series, Virat Kohli’s million dollar babies had thumped hosts South Africa 5-1. No Indian team yet had overcome the Proteas in their backyard. Coming on the back of a hurting 2-1 loss in the Tests, the improbable triumph set a record of nine consecutive bilateral ODI series wins for the Men in Blue in the past 24 months.

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Carping critics – and they are a legion – had run down the earlier victories on two grounds. One, wins at home were allegedly of lesser merit than those wrenched out in hostile ecosystems abroad. Five of Team India’s series successes, especially those against stronger opponents such as Australia, England and New Zealand, had happened at home. Two, the victories abroad were achieved against lower ranked sides like Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

With the walloping of South Africa, those charges have been put to bed. This was a battle of the big guns. According to current ICC rankings India is the No 1 ODI side in the world; South Africa a close second. It wasn’t just the win; but the manner in which they came about. Looking at the scores, it is possible to believe that the Men in Blue were up against minnows Zimbabwe, not their formidable neighbours.

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But statistics are poor storytellers. They don’t reveal that this team is nowhere close to being ready for the ODI World Cup in England next summer. That the triumph is fundamentally due to a small bunch of superlative performers who kept the uncomfortable glare of scrutiny away from the non-performing assets.

Cricket historian Ramachandra Guha wrote last month that “in all formats and in all situations, Kohli might already be India’s greatest ever batsman.” The series announced his graduation from being “a match winner” to “a series winner.” All the victories came primarily due to the dominance of Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma (in that order).

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That apart, the inability of the Proteas to negotiate the wrist spinning duo – Kuldeep Yadav (17 wickets) and Yuzvendra Chahal (16 wickets) – turned this into a one-sided contest. Pacer Jaspreet Bumrah was also on top of his game. Overall, the batting trio’s super success did not allow India’s frail 4, 5, 6, 7 to be tested properly. But when it was, they were collectively underwhelming.

Here’s the truth: This is perhaps India’s most inadequate middle order in recent memory. Ajinkya Rahane, his effusive fan club among TV commentators notwithstanding, is a good support act not a solo match winner. MS Dhoni, the batsman, is today an inferior version of himself, especially when chasing a big total or when expected to raise the tempo at instant notice. Nobody has yet laid a serious claim for the No 6 slot. And red hot all-rounder Hardik Pandya finished with a batting average of 8, displaying a worrying penchant for non-percentage shot selection.

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Time is running out. Team India is likely to play around 20-25 ODIs more before the World Cup, now just 15 months away. Strangely, the Kohli-Shastri duo ignored the untested batting bench in the last ‘dead’ ODI game. The question is: What is more important – giving more opportunities to the bench (Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik) to test their temperament and ability in unfamiliar conditions against superior attacks or a 5-1 victory?

But the Indian thinktank seemed to have other ideas. The World Cup winning teams of 1983 and 2011 were stacked with match winners. But they also had nerveless performers who relished pressure. Do the new Men in Blue possess the same minerals?

In recent years, Team India has floundered in knockout games in major ICC tournaments. Since 2014, India has lost two semifinals (ODI WC2015 and T20 WC2016) and two finals (T20 WC2014 and ODI Champions Trophy 2017). Batsmen such as Rohit and Rahane hardly produced anything decisive in these games. How many big match players do we have in this team? With newcomers unable to settle the case in their favour, does that mean we go back to proven but ageing warriors Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, now lesser players than what they were in their prime?

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There are significant takeaways from the ODI part of the African odyssey too. Chahal and Yadav have proved that they are good enough to worry a major team with their guts and guile even in non-sub-continental pitches. Even the performance of Pandya, as bowler and fielder, is a definite plus. Getting AB de Villiers out twice in a row is a marker in any bowler’s resume. Pandya has emerged as a regular 10-over bowler. But he needs to fire as a batsman too because, barring the impressive Bhuvneshwar Kumar, no other bowler can wield the long handle.

That apart, this bilateral series win ranks among India’s finest abroad. South Africa may not have prevailed even at Johannesburg but for Chahal claiming David Miller off a no-ball. Two such deliveries – one by R Ashwin, the other by Bumrah – ensured India’s loss against the Windies in the T20WC 2016 semis. Again in the Champions Trophy final last year, Bumrah scalped Pakistan’s opener Fakhar Zaman early off a no-ball. He went on to smash a decisive century. It’s been months but the problem persists. India can ignore these tricky rough spots at its own peril.