Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'A tough test lies ahead for India' that was published in Newsband

A tough test lies ahead for India

Indian cricket is either right on top or down below. This time it is right on top. The historic sweep over Australia is indeed a significant achievement. This is the first time India has won all four matches of a four-Test series.

 The series also provided a lifeline to skipper Dhoni, who is now India’s most successful Test captain with 24 victories. His 224, coming when the first Test was in the balance at Chepauk, was the turning point in the series. It affected the opposition psychologically.

The selectors also deserve the credit for displaying the daring of dropping Gautam Gambhir and then axing Virender Sehwag. Opener Murali Vijay excelled and so also the left-handed Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara proved to be most consistent.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s 29 wickets in four Tests at 20.10 confirms his position as spin spearhead. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja too gave excellent support to Ashwin.

Thus Indians’ fantabulous win was possible only because of the magical spell of Aswin and Jadega and the timely batting of Dhoni, Kohli, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan.

We will have to see as to how these Indians will fare in bouncy pitches of South Africa which are quite different from the Indian pitches that favour spin. It is high time India won a Test series overseas and vindicated their might and mettle as a Test Playing Nation.

The epic win against Australia was due to familiarity with the pitch and the climate that helped the Indians. The real test for home team comes up in the foreign soil. But one point that should be noted is that BCCI ought to trust in the young Indian turks who were the game changers. If properly groomed, these ignited minds can work wonders.

When the SA tour will commence, it will be interesting to see how swing bowlers like Bhubaneswar Kumar and Sami Ahmed will fare in those conditions. It will be a problem if India goes to SA without playing Tests for a good seven months. They should get to play some good practice matches before the start of the test series. Facing Steyn, Morkel, Philander won’t be easy for Indian batsmen there. Indians should first and foremost overcome their weakness to play on bouncy pitches.