Victorious, but not without being challenged
India suffered a bloody nose in the first Test but the return to form of some of their key players, and a series win, augur well for the South Africa tour
Sriram Veera
24-Nov-2010
India's real battle was in fighting the perception that a No.1 team is supposed to dominate. It perhaps is an unfair expectation as this team doesn't have an attack that can dominate on docile tracks. They are No.1 because they have done better than the rest. They struggled, and cribbed, about the flat tracks served up in the first two Tests but stepped up in the final Test. The spinners routed New Zealand in the second innings under favourable conditions - it still wasn't a raging turner- and the seamers nailed a tentative New Zealand in the first.
Suresh Raina
Everyone was wondering about Suresh Raina v South Africa's fast bowlers and it was almost taken for granted that he would pad up his statistics against New Zealand. Mistake! Raina never looked at ease against the seamers, while also falling to the spinners. He was often caught hanging too far back against seamers, in anticipation of the short ball, and got into trouble with the full deliveries. His captain feels he needs a break from cricket. Will he get it after the first two ODIs? And more importantly, will that help him in South Africa?
Everyone was wondering about Suresh Raina v South Africa's fast bowlers and it was almost taken for granted that he would pad up his statistics against New Zealand. Mistake! Raina never looked at ease against the seamers, while also falling to the spinners. He was often caught hanging too far back against seamers, in anticipation of the short ball, and got into trouble with the full deliveries. His captain feels he needs a break from cricket. Will he get it after the first two ODIs? And more importantly, will that help him in South Africa?
Gautam Gambhir
He averaged 27 from seven games in 2010 prior to this series, and so he needed some runs. As he later said, he felt he just needed to spend as much time as possible at the crease. The first Test didn't go according to plan - the old failing outside off stump had returned to haunt him - but he slowly started to turn things around in the second, where he hit his first fifty in ten months, and started to look more fluent in the third Test. The defining image of the series was a look up at the skies - it felt like a note of thanks - after connecting with a cover drive during the second Test. Things started to change after that shot.
He averaged 27 from seven games in 2010 prior to this series, and so he needed some runs. As he later said, he felt he just needed to spend as much time as possible at the crease. The first Test didn't go according to plan - the old failing outside off stump had returned to haunt him - but he slowly started to turn things around in the second, where he hit his first fifty in ten months, and started to look more fluent in the third Test. The defining image of the series was a look up at the skies - it felt like a note of thanks - after connecting with a cover drive during the second Test. Things started to change after that shot.
Rahul Dravid
He averaged 34.60 from seven games in 2010 before this series. As he said later, "When you are 24, certain questions are asked, when you are 38, different questions are asked". He hit a hundred in the first Test and took his first step out of rustiness. He amassed 191 in the third against an attack which had a left-arm seamer; in the past one year, he has been dismissed six times by lefties. He later said he had worked hard at the National Cricket Academy to sort out the flaw. The conditions will be vastly different of course, but it will be a confident Dravid who would take the plane to South Africa. His defining image was the moment he scored a hundred in Ahmedabad.
He averaged 34.60 from seven games in 2010 before this series. As he said later, "When you are 24, certain questions are asked, when you are 38, different questions are asked". He hit a hundred in the first Test and took his first step out of rustiness. He amassed 191 in the third against an attack which had a left-arm seamer; in the past one year, he has been dismissed six times by lefties. He later said he had worked hard at the National Cricket Academy to sort out the flaw. The conditions will be vastly different of course, but it will be a confident Dravid who would take the plane to South Africa. His defining image was the moment he scored a hundred in Ahmedabad.
Virender Sehwag
He did what he does: score runs and score them quickly. He gave India great first-innings starts throughout, and was at ease against spin and seam. His 173 in the first innings of the first Test set the tone for the series and New Zealand couldn't find a way to stop him.
He did what he does: score runs and score them quickly. He gave India great first-innings starts throughout, and was at ease against spin and seam. His 173 in the first innings of the first Test set the tone for the series and New Zealand couldn't find a way to stop him.
Sachin Tendulkar
He provided the anticlimax of the series. Everyone was expecting his 50th Test hundred but it never came. It's a tribute to his consistency that a Test hundred was taken for granted. As he does these days, he rarely imposed himself against the opposition attack. He has taken risk out of a capricious art like batting. He just played one uncharacteristic shot in the series - when he charged out to hoick Daniel Vettori across the line, but got out, in the second Test.
He provided the anticlimax of the series. Everyone was expecting his 50th Test hundred but it never came. It's a tribute to his consistency that a Test hundred was taken for granted. As he does these days, he rarely imposed himself against the opposition attack. He has taken risk out of a capricious art like batting. He just played one uncharacteristic shot in the series - when he charged out to hoick Daniel Vettori across the line, but got out, in the second Test.
VVS Laxman
He didn't get a hundred in this series, but saved the first Test with a long stand with Harbhajan Singh on the final day. All through the series he looked at ease in the middle. If you need to win from an unlikely position on the final day, turn to Laxman. If you need to draw it, turn again to Laxman. He is India's crisis man.
He didn't get a hundred in this series, but saved the first Test with a long stand with Harbhajan Singh on the final day. All through the series he looked at ease in the middle. If you need to win from an unlikely position on the final day, turn to Laxman. If you need to draw it, turn again to Laxman. He is India's crisis man.
MS Dhoni
"Some of the decisions I am taking (in the middle) is leading to the collapses of the Indian team," he said before the third Test. When he walked out to the middle, India had lost three quick wickets in the third morning and he started off with an attacking approach. In recent times, he has often dawdled and struggled to find a balance between caution and aggression. He adopted a more adventurous approach this time and found success. The defining moment of his was not a visual but a soundbyte. At the end of the series, when a reporter asked him about the perception of him being a lucky captain, he looked up with a smile and said, "Kismet jo bhi ho, India ke liye faayda ho raha hai na. (Whatever my luck is, India is benefiting from it, so I hope it continues). I don't really mind what they say."
"Some of the decisions I am taking (in the middle) is leading to the collapses of the Indian team," he said before the third Test. When he walked out to the middle, India had lost three quick wickets in the third morning and he started off with an attacking approach. In recent times, he has often dawdled and struggled to find a balance between caution and aggression. He adopted a more adventurous approach this time and found success. The defining moment of his was not a visual but a soundbyte. At the end of the series, when a reporter asked him about the perception of him being a lucky captain, he looked up with a smile and said, "Kismet jo bhi ho, India ke liye faayda ho raha hai na. (Whatever my luck is, India is benefiting from it, so I hope it continues). I don't really mind what they say."
Harbhajan Singh
He was the Man of the Series for his batting that helped save the first Test and gave India a lead in the second. It made for some immensely fun viewing. He didn't take too many wickets with the ball, and slammed the flat tracks. And at the end of the final game, he hit out at his critics. "I know how I have played 90 Tests and most of these people who are talking haven't even played five Tests," he told Mid-day. "Tell them to stay away from me." He sparkled in the 2009 tour of New Zealand, but has been on a decline since then. Coincidence or not, this period has also seen him bowl fewer doosras. Will the batting confidence rub on to his bowling?
He was the Man of the Series for his batting that helped save the first Test and gave India a lead in the second. It made for some immensely fun viewing. He didn't take too many wickets with the ball, and slammed the flat tracks. And at the end of the final game, he hit out at his critics. "I know how I have played 90 Tests and most of these people who are talking haven't even played five Tests," he told Mid-day. "Tell them to stay away from me." He sparkled in the 2009 tour of New Zealand, but has been on a decline since then. Coincidence or not, this period has also seen him bowl fewer doosras. Will the batting confidence rub on to his bowling?
Zaheer Khan
He was India's best bowler in the first two Tests, and took a four-wicket haul in the first innings of the second. Seven wickets at 23.8 on flat pitches is an apt reflection of his command over his art. When things didn't work out, he often switched to around the stumps and troubled the batsmen. However, he couldn't play the third Test due to a groin strain.
He was India's best bowler in the first two Tests, and took a four-wicket haul in the first innings of the second. Seven wickets at 23.8 on flat pitches is an apt reflection of his command over his art. When things didn't work out, he often switched to around the stumps and troubled the batsmen. However, he couldn't play the third Test due to a groin strain.
Pragyan Ojha Ojha took 12 wickets -two more than Harbhajan - at a lower average. His role, Dhoni said, was to bowl a restrictive line and allow the other bowlers to attack. It was in the third Test that he got a chance to attack. The lines were better - he rarely went over the stumps- and he bowled a fuller length to force batsmen into making mistakes. He is a man aware of his role: "I am trying to contain the runs and put pressure by not giving easy runs. When you are playing for the country and the team needs you to do something then that is what you should be up to."
Sreesanth
He improved as the series went on. The lack of match practice showed initially, and he only impressed intermittently. However, by the end of the series, he was in a better groove. This series was the perfect build-up, in terms of match fitness and practice, ahead of the tour of South Africa where he will have a greater burden.
He improved as the series went on. The lack of match practice showed initially, and he only impressed intermittently. However, by the end of the series, he was in a better groove. This series was the perfect build-up, in terms of match fitness and practice, ahead of the tour of South Africa where he will have a greater burden.
Ishant Sharma
It was Sreesanth's twin strikes that opened up the game for India in the third Test and Ishant Sharma did well to capitalise on that. "The real difference was Sharma," Vettori said. "It was a pretty flat track for the seamers but for him to come in and do the damage was the real difference between the two teams." Zaheer's injury was a blessing in disguise for India as it allowed Ishant to play and gain confidence with a seven-wicket match haul.
It was Sreesanth's twin strikes that opened up the game for India in the third Test and Ishant Sharma did well to capitalise on that. "The real difference was Sharma," Vettori said. "It was a pretty flat track for the seamers but for him to come in and do the damage was the real difference between the two teams." Zaheer's injury was a blessing in disguise for India as it allowed Ishant to play and gain confidence with a seven-wicket match haul.
Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo