Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'India on top in cricket' that was published in Newsband

India on top in cricket

India has risen to the number one position in Test rankings. India’s 178-run victory over New Zealand in the second Test at Kolkata, paving the way for a series triumph, secured the lead billing. This is the fourth instance of India securing the top slot.

The emergence of opener K.L. Rahul is a good sign. However, much remains to be done. Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma need to re-establish their solidity. The bowling remains over-reliant on Ashwin. These shortcomings should be sorted out.

India, in the near future, will be hosting England, Australia and Bangladesh. The first two will offer keen competition.

The team displaced from the top position in the ICC ranking is Pakistan. Maybe because Pakistan plays most of its matches away from home.

Indian team has done well. Whitewash in quite a few home series has made the ranking possible. We need really top class pace bowlers to sustain the ranking while playing abroad.

Jadeja, Shami and Bhuvi have shown how resilient our bowling line-up is, especially in India. Jadeja and Shami in particular, have shown stints of great bowling and their ability to turn the games on their heads owing to capability of striking quick.

But we won a series against a marginally weak West Indies side, which doesn't discount the capacity of this team. But, if we want real test, it'd be against England or Australia on their home grounds. We'd have to see how Ashwin bowls in those conditions and how he's assisted by Shami, Bhuvi and Jadeja. But all of them will have to work in tandem, just like they do currently.

Indian Test Cricket team under the captainship of Virat Kohli steered the team to win the number one rank in test cricket in the world. This achievement by the young turks indeed deserves accolade on account for the team spirit and exhibiting excellent individual performances by Rahul and Vijay as good openers. Pujara, Rohit and Saha efficiently managed the middle order and Aswin was able to shine as star bowler of the team along with Jadeja and Shami for pace attack.

The team clinched the series and are waiting to give the white wash. Yet the upcoming series with England and Australia are real tests for Indian team to play tests and to retain the number one slot. Even though Indian cricket needs administrative reforms as suggested by Lodha Committee technically they are growing up and the adoption of strong principle of 'hit out or get out' assures good game from the players and yet Indian cricket is a fluctuating fortune.