Lambs abroad
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When you wait till March 21 for your first international win of the year against major opposition - and in a T20 at that - you know you have had a tough year. When you win only one Test out of ten, the worst record among all Test teams bar Zimbabwe, and that's one more win than expected because you didn't play a home Test in the year, you know how low your team has fallen in esteem.
Yet the biggest theme of the year for India was missed opportunities. Unlike on their last set of overseas tours, when they lost eight Tests in a row, this young Indian team created opportunities. It was in a position to push for a win in five Tests, but crossed the line only in one. There was no white flag, except during the last two Tests in England. Three of their batsmen averaged in the 40s, which is not a bad effort for batsmen playing so much testing cricket for the first time in their lives. Yet again, though, those creatures that win you Tests, bowlers, went AWOL. Only one of India's bowlers averaged under 30, which was a pleasant surprise.
All those near-misses must have taken a physical, emotional and psychological toll on their captain, who shocked everyone by retiring from Tests on the last day of cricket in the year. It was probably about time too. India need new ideas and a fresh keeper.
In limited-overs though, Dhoni the keeper, Dhoni the captain and Dhoni the batsman are still a big asset. India began the year in ODIs worryingly, failing to win a game in the five-match series in one of the World Cup host countries, New Zealand. They beat only Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the Asia Cup. But in the second half of the year they were reinvigorated. Despite the thrashing they received in the Tests in England, they came back strongly to win the ODI series there, and beat West Indies and Sri Lanka in home series easily.
India enter the World Cup ranked No. 2 in ODIs, but they are not a settled side. Bowlers as usual remain a worry, and added to that is the opening conundrum, with Ajinkya Rahane having thrown his hat in when Rohit Sharma was injured. So close to the World Cup and they haven't decided on a combination yet.
Back to that first international win now. Like in the Champions Trophy last year, it came at the height of controversy over impropriety and conflicts of interest in the administrative affairs of Indian cricket. Dhoni stayed away from it all, refusing to comment or defend himself against pointed fingers. Like in the Champions Trophy last year, India kept winning matches in the World T20 until they ran into the clinical Sri Lankans in the final.
High point
Indian cricket runs in cycles. They win a lot at home, and almost nothing away. The Lord's win will be cherished for long. Put in on a green seamer, under overcast skies, an inexperienced India registered their first win at the venue since 1986. Contributions came from every player: Rahane scored a hundred to rescue them from a position of 145 for 7; Bhuvneshwar Kumar followed up his crucial 36 with a six-for to keep the deficit down to 24; M Vijay's 95 combined with Ravindra Jadeja's daredevil 68 and Bhuvneshwar's fifty set England 319. And then Ishant Sharma bounced England out at the behest, nay insistence, of Dhoni.
Low point
It would be tempting to consider the last two Tests in England the low point, Tests in which India lasted a total of 180.1 overs, but cast an eye also on Wellington. New Zealand were still 152 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat when Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling came together. This would have been a rare dominant away Test win for India. Yet the bowlers, the captain, the fielders all faltered, to watch and watch as New Zealand ended up with 680 for 8 declared from 94 for 5.
New(ish) kid on the block
Three overseas tours, three centuries, a ton in each country. India didn't lose any of the matches in which Rahane scored hundreds. None of them was a soft, fill-your-boots century made after the top order had tired the bowlers. He helped India recover from 165 for 5 in Wellington, 145 for 7 at Lord's, and 147 for 3 in Melbourne. Rahane, who played ten of his 13 Tests this year, was - along with Vijay - India's best player of the year. He scored runs in ODIs too, finally crossing that century barrier, and then adding another. All this he did in a quiet and understated fashion in what has become a brash and over-sensitive team.
What 2015 holds
The World Cup. Everything leads to the World Cup. Three good matches and India can retain it. One bad knockout match and they could be back home. After that, a long series of easy home matches. The BCCI wants more home matches because they make everybody more money.
This could also be a year in which India move past Dhoni. The manner of his Test retirement suggests there won't be an elaborate warning before he exits ODIs as well. A big year ahead.
It hasn't just been the story of the past 1 year, but in fact it has been the same story for India since 2011. During this period many bowlers came & dropped, many greats were forced into retirements. Another set of greats were dropped for good. Entire team was revamped but nothing changed ... Hold on. One more thing remained constant during this period. GUESS WHAT?...Yes Dhoni remained the captain. He brought India from top test team down to 6th ranked team. India missed innumerable winning opportunities solely because of his -ve tactics.
But I'd not blame Dhoni for that, yes. Because tests was never his priority. Indian board had no option but to make him the captain because the natural 1st choice ideal senior player to lead test side: Mr. Sachin didn't accept captaincy. Sachin's cowardice nervousness & the fact that he didn't lead being a senior player will always remain a criticism with Sachin. Also him getting out in 90's due to his nervousness also costed India a lot of games.
If Kohli had remained the captain Ind would have won at least 1 of the 3 tests this series
Post dhoni scenario suggests what batting line up. Shikhar. pujara rahul/ rohit are nagging problems.shld they go for ambati as wk instead and add up rahane to join vijay to open and move down shokhar to no 5. to bowling line up they need to add akshar patel along with Ashwin may be in place of shami. 3 seamers plus 2 spinners should be good option.
Most of the India's current problem lies in the failure of Shikar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara.
The problem with them is that they get carried away after picking up a wicket or two and start feeling they are on the top rather than putting the game to bed. They did it in South Africa,again lost their way in NZ and later in the first test where they had the English 200 odd for 7 and went on to score 500. They win sessions but they don't convert it into match winning ones. If you look at this series, the first 2 tests weren't bad. they batted well,bowled well in bits and pieces but that collective effort is still missing. Hope they 'learn' from their mistakes and bring some smiles to the Indian fans.
Problem lies in the fact that India always gets wrong in selecting a perfect team for Tests abroad. In the run up to the away series for SA and AUS they had an India-A team tour to those countries but never selected performers from those teams. Even if one or two were selected they were never given a chance in the playing X1. Did not understand the selection of Binny in England and KL Rahul for Australia ... who were never tested in overseas/seaming conditions.
Ex: Naman Ohja / Ambati Rayudu / Manoj Tiwari were star performers in batting and Umesh Yadav / Amit Mishra and Bumrah in bowling.
Similarly Ishwar Pandey was the star bowler for India-A in SA tour. But India never played him in any of the tests.
My Ideal Test -X1 would be 1) M.Vijay 2) R.Ashwin --- Yes Ashwin should open 3)Pujara 4)Kohli 5) Rahane 6) Ambati Rayudu 7) Naman Ohja 8) B.Kumar 9) Ishwar Pandey 10) Ishant Sharma 11) Umesh Yadav
Reserves: 12) Varun Aron 13) Amit Mishra 14) Mohammed Shami 15)Manoj Tiwari
but where are the bowlers to win matches abroad sid? shami is a jumping jack and loses momentum and length in his erratic run up.Ishant changes his action subtly to bad effect.yadav is a kid brilliant with few but pedestrian with most deliveries.where to find one of the genre of kapil or kumble?even a hundred kohlis or rahanes will not be enough to turn the tide of seroal loses on foreign pitches.the quest for a bowling kohli and bowling rahane is much desired and somewhere we have to explore beyond the shamis the yadavs and the ishants.
I really don't think its a too BAD a year for INDIA regarding the fact they fought well on the matches they have lost and decimated the opposition when they won which shows that the team has potential but not experienced enough and also the fact they FAB 4 retired the previous year, we have pulled of really well. Things will change drastically when other PROs of teams like SL, AUS and ENG will depart. I will rate this year as 6/10.
India plays more away tests than anybody else Sid. India should play more tests at home. Dravid, Tendulkar played close to 60% of their tests away. Virat has played 19 out of 32 tests away. Compare it English, Australian and SL players who play 60% of their tests at home. India should stop having 2 match test series at home. Have 3 match test series in October-November and have a 3 match test series in March every year at home. And try to schedule Champions Trophy in last 2 weeks of September. he more important thing is to have a coaching camp before away tours. 1 day camp bring the top-30 players in the country (not IPL players but first class players) and see who is capable of playing test cricket.
Why is Rahane not opening with Vijay? That's what I don't get about the current India side. It would have a much more solid look with him facing the new ball.