A year of sweeping changes in Indian teams across formats

A year in cricket is a long time. If the year looks anything like the one gone by for the National men’s team, then the sweet-sour taste — bitter for some — stays a bit longer.

Last February, soon after Ajinkya Rahane’s brave-hearts scripted a series-triumph over host Australia, the talk was about the bench-strength of a cricketing nation shot out for 36 in the first Test.

Some ‘net bowlers’ inducted into the playing eleven for the final Test played their part in that memorable victory at the Gabba. After all, only three players — Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal — were common in the teams that played the first and the last Tests.

Seemed on track

Overall, Indian cricket across formats seemed on track. The selectors faced a “happy headache” when dealing with the “problem of plenty”. The impression stood reinforced that India was spoilt for choice and it could keep winning even when some of its players were unavailable or rested.

Home series at regular intervals not only improves India’s record in any format, but serves as a balm to recover from the reverses suffered overseas. The tame loss in the rain-hit World Test Championship final, the below-par showing in the T20 World Cup and meek surrender to a vulnerable-looking South Africa stand out as sore reminders of some bitter truths.

Triggering speculations

Some transitions are far from smooth. The much-lauded Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri association made way for the Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid partnership. In fact, Kohli’s decision to step down as the T20 skipper, and the way he was eased out of captaincy in ODIs and Tests, triggered speculations.

Lack of form cost Rahane and Pujara their places in the Test squads. In contrast, K.L. Rahul provided reasons to not only be a certainty in all three formats, but also became India’s 34th Test captain. Now with Rohit at the helm, the Test team, too, is set to look different.

In white ball cricket, after a low of the T20 World Cup where India struggled to field a combination with a sixth bowling option, the emergence of all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer is a great sign.

Unlike the last selection committee, the present one under Chetan Sharma is willing to fast-track certain cricketers into the big league. As a result, Ravi Bishnoi and Venkatesh were not required to take the route via India-A to make their international debut.

Eye on the future

Obviously, the focus of the Board is on preparing worthy teams to make a sweep of World titles in Tests, ODIs and T20. But when evaluating the individual performances, one should not lose sight of the opposition’s lack of quality. Otherwise, India could once again encounter a ‘reality check’ like what it faced across two formats against host South Africa.

In the past year at home, India packed off England, New Zealand and West Indies. After the white-ball series sweep against West Indies in both formats, India eyes a similar domination in the three T20Is and two Tests against Sri Lanka. Even without some regulars, India remains an overwhelming favourite.