18 March 2013, 07:54 PM IST
Play enough matches at home, and you are bound to win finally. India on Monday clinched the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by a stunning 3-0 margin against Australia. Stunning, because India had never won more than two Tests in a series against Australia, home or away.
How can you blame Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the most successful Indian cricket team captain for the weaknesses of his rivals? You can't. The debate will go on about who is the greatest Indian captain, but Dhoni will continue to be the most successful captain for some time, quite some time, that is. It would take a while for ICC to confer Afghanistan and Argentina Test nation status and someone would break all the records for us.
Before the Australian series began, very many, including me, had questioned the wisdom of continuing with Dhoni as captain. Yes, Dhoni's form with the bat at that juncture was much better than many other biggies in the side. But the BCCI brains trust had preferred continuity and knew that with tailor-made wickets, success would not be far away. And the ploy has worked.
As always a lot of factors helped Dhoni resuscitate his career. He managed to find runs when the team reached the end of its tether against England at home. And those who could have challenged him were struggling to keep their places in the XI.
There were enough untold and told stories about dissent in the Indian dressing room. But since the Indian team management does not believe in disciplinary action, or professional principles, it was spared the line-in-the-sand moments, that rocked the Aussie camp recently. Half the team wanted Dhoni ousted as captain, the mainstream media reported not long ago. Then quietly Dhoni began his purge. First Gautam Gambhir was dropped. There were no murmurs. Gambhir was in poor form. Then Sehwag was dropped despite his century against England last November. Now, there were no rumours, since the Delhi daredevil was batting from memory. And yes, there is a difference between being Sehwag and being Sachin Tendulkar. The next big threat, Virat Kohli, is still not up for a putsch. Dhoni has used his role in Chennai Super Kings to cement his place in the Indian team with the blessings of BCCI President N Srinivasan. And it helps he can bat also.
The biggest takeaway from the series win against Australia is the form of some of the youngsters. Shikhar Dhawan's belligerence should comfort those who pine for Sehwag. Cheteshwar Pujara, not quite Dravid, still holds out promise. Bhuvneshwar Kumar can surprise and shock batsmen, if not a dummy for Zaheer Khan. But all of them need to come good against classier opposition than a harried and divided Australia.
Ah, you would have noticed that the series has been won without crucial contributions from Sachin Tendulkar. Absence of a Tendulkar century is striking when a debutant scores 187, after waiting so long for an opportunity to bat for India. May be Indian cricket should thank its stars, after all.
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