THE LITMUS TEST

It was in 7^th standard when I was first introduced to litmus paper. I still have no idea when and why that paper turned pink or blue or whatever. But it helped me realize two things; one that I had no career in science and the other was the true sense of the phrase the Litmus Test. The Indian Cricket team has certainly passed its Litmus test yesterday at Melbourne Cricket Ground, which actually could have passed as any Indian venue. Out of the eighty six thousand gathered, at least eighty five must have been Indians. But that’s a given in any country at any Cricket ground. Mark Nicholas got the exact sense of the atmosphere when he called MCG a Colosseum. The grandeur in the atmosphere definitely deserved a befitting performance.

The Pakistan game helped India in many ways. The top order has cracked the code, it seems. Give the first 20 overs to the bowlers and take the rest. Virat Kohli for all his angry man’s image has never looked so calm. His innings was again the foundation even though his score was not that big. He set the tone with his 46 and guided India’s approach against the lively South African bowling in the early parts of the innings.

Ajinkya Rahane has scored a test match century on a green pitch at Lords and another on a bouncy pitch at MCG and has established himself as a good test batsman. He came at a crucial juncture in this match when South Africa tried to get the initiative back. He started striking the ball cleanly and his rate of scoring never allowed South Africa to get its nose ahead. His innings was the most decisive in terms of keeping the momentum with India. Another mini collapse at the end raises an alarm but by that time yesterday, Indian batting had already put up a challenging score, all thanks to one man.

Shikhar Dhawan looked lost in the test matches and the triangular series that preceded the World Cup. He showed a bit of spark in the practice matches. However, the innings against Pakistan has brought back his swagger. He is looking much more in the zone now. Shikhar Dhawan definitely does not possess the greatest of techniques but more often than not in One Day Cricket, confidence makes up for lack of technique. He has certainly found his confidence, his form and some valuable runs for India. As it turned out, his innings was the real difference between both the sides.

About six to seven months ago, when Indian bowlers were getting smashed all over the place on flat Indian pitches, a troubling question emerged - can India have any chance in the World Cup with such an average attack? It is very early to say that the question does not hold its ground today but surely, it has started to fade out. The length and the speed at which Indian pacers bowled yesterday were unbelievable, in fact at many occasions shocking. In a match that featured Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Wayne Parnell, Umesh Yadav bowled the second fastest ball of the match at 147 Km/h. When was the last time Indian bowlers outperformed Dale Steyn & Co. in bowling fast? Not in the last decade and there is quite a good chance that it won’t happen again for another decade. After seeing South African spinners do a good job, Indian spinners were naturally expected to do well. Jadeja, after a long time found his immaculate line and length. Ashwin has continued his rediscovery. However, with four spinners on offer on the field, two legends stole the show with some brilliant camaraderie and superb one-liners in the commentary box. Anil Kumble and Shane Warne were the two best spinners yesterday for sure.  

This now brings me to the best part of India’s performance. Indian fielding was at an altogether different level yesterday. They matched South Africa if not bettered them and that requires some taking. There was a school boy enthusiasm to India’s presence on the field and its captain cool just let them be. India has not seen its fast bowlers dive and stop the ball so many times in one match. The two throws from the outfield that resulted in two crucial run outs would have made Brett Lee very proud.

“When it’s your day, it’s your day.” That was Michael Hussey’s summary of the match. On many counts, it holds true but perhaps the source of team India’s near perfect performance was its game against Pakistan which has calmed nerves. And here’s the best part.  With Bangladesh sharing points with Australia, and England being England, there is quite a good chance that India might be playing its quarter final against Bangladesh. India is now just one good game away from a place in the World Cup Semi Finals. Then on, who knows……

WHY THE WIN AGAINST PAKISTAN WAS IMPORTANT!

For the last 2 and a half months, Indian Cricket fans have been turning on their Television sets at inhuman early hours to see a worthy performance from young Indian side. While the Indian batsmen surprised us at almost every juncture, the Indian bowlers compelled us every time to ask one question, why did we sacrifice our sleep to see this school level bowling? 

After the test series, we somehow tricked ourselves into believing that the miserable performances were related to the format and not the team and the coloured clothing would bring the best out of this team. But then some strange team selections took over. Shikhar Dhawan was persisted with despite poor form. Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma were all given the new ball. Every possible spinning combination was tried which included 2 left arm spinners as well. But the most worrisome move was Virat Kohli’s batting position at number 4. His form was the key to India's ambitions in the World Cup and he evidently struggled at his new position.

So after 70 days of continuous defeats, India’s World Cup chances looked very bleak and worst of all, it made everybody very skeptical about India's big ticket match against Pakistan. Lack of form was a concern, if not the concern, but India's history in the previous World Cups suggested that it had one more odd stacked against it.

If we look at the previous World Cups, India has never started its campaign convincingly. It has always struggled in the early parts of the tournament, be it losses against Australia and Sri Lanka in 1996 or that agonizing and frustrating defeat against Zimbabwe in 1999 or its lethargic batting performance against the Dutch and a humiliating loss against Australia in 2003. Even in its triumphant 2011 story, Indian bowling conceded 280 runs against Bangladesh in its first match, tied its second match against England and lost to South Africa. The format of the tournament in these editions (with minimum 5 league games) allowed India to recover and gather much important momentum. Perhaps it was one of the crucial reasons for India's group stage exit in 2007 as it lost 2 out of only 3 group matches. In this context and in the backdrop of a disastrous couple of months down under, India's first match against Pakistan was much bigger than the much talked about 6-0 record.

So what has this match achieved? First and foremost, it has given India its playing 11. The idea to persist with Shikhar Dhawan has yielded fruitful results. His calm and composed innings suggests that he is ready to battle his natural instincts. You are never away from a rush of blood from Shikhar Dhawan. He did not have one against Pakistan; more importantly, he never looked like having one. One good innings is definitely not the yardstick but his desire and perseverance was definitely visible. In Australia, It’s a pre-requisite to have your openers in form. In that sense, Shikhar Dhawan’s innings was reassuring to say the least. India had successfully implemented a theory in its ICC World T20 title in 2007. Even though it had a destructive opening pair in Sehwag and Gambhir, more often than not, India had chosen to score at 7 runs per over in the first 7 to 8 overs. It allowed its middle order to cut loose. There was a similar pattern to Indian top order’s approach in this game. They looked to keep wickets in hand for the last 10 overs. Even Pakistan, in its early stages of chase seemed content with 4.50 runs per over. The new rule of only 4 players outside the inner circle in non-Power Play overs will allow teams to catch up in the last 10 overs. India certainly possesses the hitting prowess for the last 10 overs. In this perspective, Shikhar Dhawan’s innings and his form are priceless for India.

Virat Kohli is India’s best batsman today and he needs to play at the best possible position. In the post match presentation, he said that his role is to anchor the innings such that big hitters around him could do their job. If Virat Kohli is India’s anchor, then number three has to be his place. He looked to bat through the innings against Pakistan and he can best do it at number 3.

Even though the World Cup is in Australia, the need of a quality spinner is of paramount importance for every team. R. Ashwin’s middle-leg line has been good for containing runs but he has to be India’s wicket taking bowler. Surprisingly, he bowled a perfect line, just outside of off stump, in this match and the returns followed almost immediately. To add to his superb line, he gave flight to the ball and bowled at a much slower than usual pace. R. Ashwin’s performance has to be one of the biggest positives of this match and a lesson to him on his line and the pace at which he should bowl.

The most important thing that India’s win over Pakistan has achieved is now India goes into its match against the much fancied South African team with much more confidence and much less pressure. A loss against Pakistan would have put added pressure on the match against South Africa and 2 straight losses would have jeopardized its entire campaign.

India’s performance against Pakistan was far from being perfect. Its collapse towards the end hints at the lack of form of its skipper. Jadeja is seemingly struggling with his batting. Umesh Yadav’s frequent loss of sense of direction while bowling is a major concern. Yes, his was the over which turned the match around but the deliveries on which he got his wickets were definitely not wicket taking scorchers. Both were more of a batsman’s mistakes than the bowler’s wickets. The ease with which Misbah-Ul-Haq hit boundaries towards the end highlights the vulnerability of Indian pacers to bowl in the Power Play and in death overs.  Despite these shortcomings, it is perhaps the most important result for India in this World Cup Defense. Not so much for the 6-0 statistic. That one is for media glorification to build bytes and stories. This one is important because it certainly has brought back some hope and much required self belief in the Indian dressing room.