No far-reaching gains from home triumph

But the Delhi win raises visions of a formidable Indian Test team in the making

The dignity that South Africa brought to the game was the outstanding feature of the Test series which India, rightly if not expectedly, won 3-0.

Hashim Amla’s measured response to the trials, on and off the field, was a well-groomed trait that certainly enhanced his reputation as an ideal ambassador for South African cricket. What if his team did not win? He returns home with a new list of friends and admirers.

Not once did the South Africans cringe or whinge. If they encountered hostile conditions, they accepted the challenge and looked at avenues to fight, improve their stock and find salvation even amidst ruins as they lost two Tests inside three days and one on the fifth. South Africa’s graceful acceptance of India’s dominance showed Amla and his men in glowing light.

Nothing worked for South Africa in the Test series after the preceding triumphs in the T20 and ODI series. Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander assisted the team in just the first Test in Mohali. Injuries grounded their ambitions and the team’s potency in the bowling department. Yet, Amla, struggling to strike form with the bat, refrained from seeking excuses and his team backed itself to give India a run for its money.

India buried South Africa under the spin avalanche in Mohali and rain gave the visiting side breathing space in Bengaluru, only for it to run into a pitch rated “poor” by the International Cricket Council. The surface in Nagpur sealed the series as India won with flattering ease, but Test cricket was reduced to a mockery on a doctored pitch. No one grudged India winning, but the tactics took some sheen off the performance.

It was a long tour — 72 days — and the South Africans, reeling under physical and mental fatigue, staggered into the Ferozeshah Kotla to counter the best pitch of the series. Unsurprisingly, Amla’s team played its best cricket in Delhi — resisting until the final session. The intense cricket was sequential to the playing conditions. The bowlers were tested and the batsmen too. India, at last, won a match it could take pride in. There were no demons in the pitch and India’s all-round supremacy, so well marshalled by Virat Kohli, came to the fore to raise visions of a formidable Test team in the making.

Misnomer for Tests

The series may have been a misnomer for Test cricket. True, India won. But what did the team gain? R. Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane added to their ever-growing stature as performers of quality. The off-spinner finished with 31 wickets for the series at an average of 11.12. It was a travesty that Ashwin’s guile fetched him a mere eight wickets more than Ravindra Jadeja, posing as a spinner and claiming wickets with straight deliveries. Jadeja’s success put things in perspective.

Rahane placed himself in the elite company of some greats like Wally Hammond, George Headley, Don Bradman, Vijay Hazare, Clyde Walcott, Sunil Gavaskar, Greg Chappell, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden, who made a Test century in each innings.

The best compliment for Rahane came from Gavaskar, who rated him as India’s “most complete batsman.” Having pledged to put value to his wicket, Rahane, after getting out to some impetuous shots throughout the series, came up with two outstanding knocks at Kotla. They were the only centuries in the four-match series.

Indian seamers had a pedestrian presence in the series. Umesh Yadav (5), Varun Aaron (2) and Ishant Sharma (1) paled in comparison to the haul of 61 wickets by spinners, including seven by Amit Mishra.

A lively spell by Yadav on the fifth day in Delhi was a significant departure from the monotonous bowling trend in the Indian camp.

Interestingly, of the 125 wickets to fall in the Tests, only one was a stumping (Amla) and one a run-out (Kyle Abbott).

For India, the biggest gain was the arrival of Kohli as a confident captain. He was forthcoming in his public assessment of the game, pitches and his teammates. Importantly, he was constantly innovating with field placements and identifying the strong areas for his bowlers.

Other than A.B. de Villiers (in Bengaluru and Delhi) and Rahane, it was Kohli’s 88 at the Kotla that stood out for its technical construction. There was a lot of substance too in the maturity that marked M. Vijay’s presence at the crease.

Umpires Ian Gould and Bruce Oxenford also showed exemplary excellence in their decision making in conditions they would not have countered too often. There were no far-reaching gains for India from a home triumph but it does augur well for a talented and youthful team under a passionate leader, sometimes impulsive in his reactions, but a man to watch for the future.

The effusive Kohli can also draw inspiration from the poise and grace that the calm and composed Amla brings to his job. The air of tranquillity that South Africa brought to the series in times of overbearing emphasis on cut-throat competition would be remembered for long.