The Spectator

They say make hay while the sun shines. It was a sunny day dispersed with a tinge of white cloud. On a slightly clearer setting 11 years ago a homogeneous association scripted one of its many fabled narratives. The day began after a briefly promising spell of resistance at the end of the preceding one. Two previous contests were lost, the venue wasn’t conquered in 33 years and a mountain was to be confronted. History rebutted any of this materializing, the critics wouldn’t denounce individuals if it wasn’t accomplished and it was a bit cosmetic to foresee that happening. As the shadows lengthened across the carpet, the summit wasn’t scaled wholly but a subtle reference to that event of the past could be ascertained. It wasn’t as serene as the legend of Adelaide and probably not as monumental. It was imperfect, it was brittle at times, it was twitchy but it managed to compose a story for the ages, comprehensively. The craft of scoring runs wasn’t too dissimilar but the abrasive ou...

Test cricket in 2014 has been a tough ride for the Indian team, both in terms of the results and the quality of contests. Although only 1 win has been registered in the 7 matches on 2 away tours, there have been a few instances of opportunities which upon conversion could have changed the success percentage a bit. Yes it was the lack of penetrative bowling on such days, but being a batting strong side the chances themselves were created by the big totals on the board. In 14 innings the team managed to notch up 290-plus totals on 7 occasions, and when that happened in the same match, India didn’t lose. The direct correlation of under-performance with the bat to the 0-8 score-line in 2011-12 is well established and so is the one about sturdy batting efforts aiding you in drawing matches. While away success is the ultimate objective of any test side, drawing is probably the next best result for a team in the transitional phase. The 3 rd away test tour of the year is about to commen...