“Well, like a few, creaking Terminators, we’re back.”
That wasn’t Virat Kohli speaking ahead of the Indian team’s departure for South Africa. That was instead Rahul Dravid speaking during his Sir Donald Bradman Oration address in 2011. He was talking about how Tendulkar, Laxman and the other veterans in the Indian team were back for another shot at winning a series in Australia. He was also talking about ‘India’s opportunity to prove that the defeat to England in the summer was an aberration.’
We all know how things turned out but what many forget was the hope we had before the tour of England kicked off. It was a talented team – a mixture of grizzled veterans and exciting young talent. They were World ODI champions. They had not lost in 11 Test series going all the way back to series in Sri Lanka (2008). They had even done well in South Africa in 2010-11.
Still, at the end of the ‘away’ tours – India were a broken side and it took them years to recover. India were beaten 0-4 in the Test series, 0-3 in the five-match ODI series and lost the solitary Twenty20 as well in England.
Desperate to prove that England was an aberration, India approached the Australian tour with renewed vigour. More of the same followed. India were beaten 0-4 in the Test series. It almost cost Mahendra Singh Dhoni his job and it told Dravid that his time was up. He retired. VVS Laxman, another veteran… another legend, didn’t play another Test.
One goes back to this period, not because one needs a sobering reminder of how quickly things can change but simply because there are similarities.
The ‘creaking Terminators’ are long gone but in their place we have a young, fighting fit team that believes in taking the fight to the opposition. India have won 9 consecutive series – equaling a record set by Australia. They are ranked World No 1 in Tests. They have Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. They can talk up a storm too.
Confident as usual
“Look as a team we are confident. We are looking forward to the South African tour as a team. We need to play good cricket for long period of time to win a series abroad,” said Kohli ahead of the departure from Mumbai.
“Back in 2013 we were excited to play in South Africa. We were looking forward even then to take up the challenge,” the Indian skipper said. “The bowlers then were more experienced than what South Africa have now. We did very well against them. We came close to winning a Test. Our batting has come a long way, our bowling has come a long way. The mindset is still the same. We want to go back and try to do what we could not the last time around.”
Talk aside, what South Africa have now – aren’t exactly pushovers. In Kagiso Rabada (avg 22.71 after 22 Tests), Vernon Philander (avg 22.45 after 46 Tests), Morne Morkel (avg 28.85 after 79 Tests) and a fit-again Dale Steyn (avg 22.30 after 85 Tests), the Proteas may well possess the best pace attack going around. Leave Rabada aside, the others were all playing in the last series too – so one isn’t quite sure what Kohli is talking about when he says that the previous attack was more experienced. There is also Keshav Maharaj (avg 26.33 after 13 Tests) to keep things tidy from one end.
And as if in answer to Kohli’s comment, the SA team responded just a few hours later by bowling Zimbabwe out twice in a day. Clearly, India are not Zimbabwe. Still, it won’t be easy.
The right mindset
“We have got rid of all the mental pressures of touring abroad and wanting to prove to people. We do not want to prove anything to anyone and our duty is to go out there, give our 100 percent effort for the country and get the result that we want to,” Kohli said.
“It all depends on the kind of mindset you get into as a batsman. Even Indian conditions can be very difficult if you’re not in the right frame of mind. If you’re not there mentally, it does not matter what conditions you’re playing in. You need to take up challenges and then every condition feels like home condition. If you get accustomed to the conditions, you start feeling comfortable,” he added.
Words said. Policy defined. Shots fired.
Where Dhoni would often reveal little about what was on his mind, the current skipper has a pretty straightforward attitude. He will speak his mind. He will say his part. He will ask his squad to play to the absolute limits of their capabilities. He will ask them to treat home and away in the same vein. And, he will ask them to be fearless and trust their talent.
In all seriousness, though, the cricket world is going to stop and watch South Africa and India. It is the first chance for Kohli’s India to show that they can win away against tough opposition; that they are different; that this is not the same old India. A good opening could see them gain strength over the next 18 months; a bad one could see them languish in a mental hell that could prove to be their undoing.
“The team has been together for four to five years,” said coach Ravi Shastri. “That experience will stand them in good stead. The conditions will be testing, but the upcoming period will define this Indian cricket team. Tours of South Africa, England and Australia coming up in the next one and a half years will help make this a better cricket team.”
After winning series after series in India, this team could either go the way past Indian sides have or chart a heady new history of their own.
That is the hope and the endeavour. And Kohli will wish that this time, hope and endeavour give India the perfect mix.