India’s ‘power play’ sinks South Africa, Kohli and Co. win 2nd Test and series

The struggling South Africa batsmen surrendered yet again against the Indian bowlers, who asserted their supremacy at home.

It was at the 2006 Champions Trophy in India that then ICC CEO Malcolm Speed made a statement that India’s performances were not in keeping with the national cricket board’s riches.

At a press conference in Mohali, the Australian official said sports organisations are not judged by the amount of money they possessed but on the basis of the performance of the team they represent.

Though not mentioned in as many words, it was a dig at India’s inconsistent performances and Australia’s domination of world cricket at that time.

“I have read a lot about India’s money power. But we don’t judge sporting organisations on the basis of how much money they have. What matters in the end is performance,” he said. “The criterion for judging organisations is how their team has performed, how well they look after their stakeholders and how many good cricketers they produce. I am not trying to be critical of India, but the last time they have won a major title was in 1983,” said Speed, who was also the CEO of Australian cricket board from 1997 to 2001.

Till a couple of seasons ago, Indian cricket was vulnerable to such criticism and was known more for being the wealthiest cricket board in the world and its influence in the game. In a dramatic turnaround, the riches and the team’s results are on a par now.

On Sunday, the team again underlined the point with an emphatic all-round performance to defeat South Africa in the second Test at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here by an innings and 137 runs—a record 11th straight series win at home.

India are the No 1 ranked Test side and comfortably lead the World Test Championship table with 200 points. One of the biggest factors in India’s rise has been how Virat Kohli has led from the front, and it was fitting he tasted victory in his 50th Test as skipper, claiming the Man-of-the-Match award for a career-best, unbeaten 254.

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“When we started off as a group we were at No.7 (in Test rankings). The only way was up. We laid down a few things, told everyone to work hard at practice. We are lucky to have the group of players we have had in the last three-four years. It’s amazing to see that hunger and passion for all the guys to keep improving,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.

WOEFUL SA

For South Africa, the most disappointing factor in their conceding the series 0-2 with a game to go will be losing the matches despite the surfaces having been really good. The last time they played in India in 2015, the wickets were crumbling from Day 1. At Visakhapatnam and Pune this time, it has been a test of skills and India have beaten them fair and square.

On the fourth day, for the first time in 11 years South Africa were made to follow on. The humiliation didn’t stir them into action and there was little resistance as they folded up for 189. Pace bowler Umesh Yadav and spinner Ravindra Jadeja finished with three wickets each while R Ashwin grabbed the two big wickets, of Dean Elgar and Faf du Plessis.

Only tail-enders, Keshav Maharaj and Vernon Philander, again showed fight, putting on 56 runs for the eighth wicket.

DRS MISS

Kohli made the visitors wait till 15 minutes before the start before conveying the follow-on message. Caught out, South Africa had the worst possible start when opener Aiden Markram bagged a pair, out second ball of the innings to Ishant Sharma. To their dismay, the batsman did not seek a review after being given out leg-before. Replays showed the ball would have easily missed the stumps. South Africa’s misery was complete when the set Elgar threw away his wicket at the stroke of lunch as the team was reduced to 74/4 at lunch.

It was all-round brilliance from Kohli’s men. The bowlers were backed admirably by the fielders to build pressure. Ajinkya Rahane was outstanding in the slips, but the star of the day was wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha, taking spectacular catches on the leg-side. Umesh had Saha to thank for two of his wickets, as he made an acrobatic dive to catch Theunis de Bruyne’s leg glance. He took another down the leg side to end Philander’s resistance, and quickly recovered to pouch du Plessis’ catch on the rebound.

South Africa vice-captain Temba Bavuma admitted his team was left bamboozled after the first innings. “Probably being hypercritical, you would’ve expected our bowling attack and their skill that we have to be able to make a lot more inroads, looking at the conditions. Their bowlers have been able to put us under pressure. It’s quite obvious in the batting totals we’ve been able to accumulate. They are doing something we are not. Or, their batters are just playing bowlers better than our batters,” said Bavuma.

WORLD’S ENVY

From their credentials being questioned, Indian cricket has become the world’s envy. The most impressive is how no player looks indispensable. Ahead of the series, the bowling spearhead goes out and another player steps in and switches on, like Umesh Yadav did when Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out. In an earlier era, an injury to a Kapil Dev or Zaheer Khan would have reduced the strength of the team by half.

In 2011, Zaheer limped out on the first day of the series and England ran roughshod over India. On the only day Zaheer bowled, he had made the England batsmen look like the proverbial cat on a hot tin roof. After he suffered a hamstring injury, James Anderson and Co had a free run. From there, ECB fearlessly laid green tops for the India batsmen. They knew Anderson and Stuart Broad will spit fire on it and India won’t have an answer without Zaheer. The result was a 4-0 whitewash.

This time, though at home, India, without Bumrah, have still out-bowled the South Africa pacers, including Kagiso Rabada. Yadav’s bowling highlighted the team’s qualities that have helped them become a formidable unit. “Most of the guys are very experienced and know what needs to be done at this level to be successful. So, the guys coming up the system know they need to show consistency. And as far as team ethics is concerned, everyone understands what it requires. No one is selfish and everyone adheres and focuses on team plans. As seniors, we are 7-8 guys who have played 40-plus Tests, we know how to play and plan. New guys who come see that… They know they need to get better than us to be in the side.”

The world’s eyes are fixed on India, to see what it is getting right. The depth of its resources is striking.

Skipper Faf du Plessis, who was a shadow of himself, scoring five off 54 balls after finally promoting himself to No. 4, blamed the senior group for the debacle.

“It definitely hurts. It (India) is a really tough place to play cricket. But even with a lot of inexperience in our team, we never came here thinking we are going to roll over and out. We are a very, very proud cricketing nation. Our performance in (the) Test match doesn’t really adjust it.

“I said before this series your best Test teams are those with the most experience. One-day cricket and T20 cricket are different, but when it comes to this Indian team... there’s a lot of experience in that dressing room, there’s a lot of Test matches behind their names. We’re at a stage where we’ve lost almost all of our experience. Steyn, Morkel, Amla, de Villiers all are seasoned campaigners.

“For us it is important as a senior player group to make sure we put in performances ourselves. Myself, Dean Elgar, Quinton de Kock, we need to make sure we make the runs first and then the other guys chip in with us. In a time like this, it is important your big guys really take control and make sure they put in the bulk of the work.”