Time was when it came to consistency in ICC events, Sri Lanka had an enviable record. From 2007 to 2014, the national cricket team reached the finals of five ICC events. Since then, it has been a bit of a struggle. It happens. Success in sports is like a cycle. Some teams do brilliantly over a period of time while some teams struggle and eventually the tables are turned. Look at England. For so many years they were awful in big tournaments, but they are now quite consistent.
India on the other hand started hitting a purple patch a few years ago. Although they reached many semi-finals and finals, a World Cup win had eluded them for 13 years. Finally, it all ended in Barbados a few days ago when they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
It is India’s batting that had always delivered for them but now their bowlers are winning games. Jasprit Bumrah has received lot of accolades for the manner he held his nerve and helped India wrestle back the initiative against South Africa in the epic encounter. But how good were the other bowlers like Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh. With the main bowler Bumrah’s overs exhausted, Rohit Sharma had to look at other options and they were absolutely brilliant pulling off a game that had slipped away from them.
As for South Africa, they will be kicking themselves. At run a ball needed in the last five overs and plenty of wickets at hand, they should have cruised to victory. But South Africa did South Africa things. Any other side be it West Indies, New Zealand, England, Australia, New Zealand or even Afghanistan would have chased this down.
With India’s bowling attack it would have been tight, but they could have got home. The thing with South Africa was they had got the 24 runs they desired in the 15th over bowled by Axar Patel and from thereon, it should have been milking the bowling. But South Africa lost the plot trying to clear the boundary. Eventually they played into India’s hands.
It is remarkable to see India’s rise in cricket. Obviously the IPL has stood in good stead for them. Young players getting an opportunity to mingle with some of the world’s best players has helped them raise their game and adapt to international cricket quicker than what players in other countries do.
More importantly, you have got to give credit to the attitude of the players. The insane work ethic of someone like Virat Kohli has rubbed on to others and the team is reaping the benefits of that.
India’s National Cricket Academy has also served them well. Handled by former great V.V.S. Laxman and based in Bangalore, the NCA is nurturing India’s next generation of cricketers. You can not ask for a better role model than Laxman to groom young players. BCCI has got the right people at the correct places to take their cricket forward.
Their choice of Head Coaches for the team have been interesting as well. Having hired foreign coaches like John Wright, Greg Chappell, Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher, a few years ago, India decided to back local coaches. Ravi Shastri, with little coaching experience to his name, did a fabulous job. Once again it proves that at this level what you need is not technical or tactical assistance but a mentor.
Rahul Dravid though was a different kettle of fish. The former India captain took up coaching after retiring and functioned as India Under-19 coach before moving on to NCA and then he ended up with the national team.
It would be interesting to see what India’s choice would be as the next Head Coach now that Dravid is gone. One thing certain is that the new coach will be a local.
The other key aspect India have got right is the exposure their players are getting by being involved in ‘A’ team cricket. India being the richest cricket board in the world and can lavishly spend on building up their next generation of players.
Rehabilitation of injured players also has been a key aspect of India’s success. Several players in the squad that won the World Cup had been on the mend and once they come off after long layoffs, they are good to go for a period of time.
So good is India’s bench strength that they are currently capable of having their Test team playing in Cape Town and the white ball team playing in Colombo at the same time.
It’s been brilliant watching this Indian team. The manner in which they pull things off from hopeless positions is good to see indeed. Their series win in Australia a few years ago was no fluke and the manner in which they won the T-20 World Cup confirms it.