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With a slogged six over midwicket on a murky evening in Bangalore, MS
Dhoni sealed a 2-0 Test series victory over New Zealand. For a team in
transition, in their first series without two of their greatest
middle-order batsmen, and after one of their worst-ever Test
performances last season, you'd think it was a satisfactory result. You
can't do better than 2-0 in a two-Test contest, but the batting remains a
worry after another tight home win for India.
India's formidable home record - just one series loss
in the past decade, and that to the mighty Australians at their peak -
has been built upon a powerful batting line-up rather than a world-class
bowling attack. However, the struggle to match a lightweight New
Zealand batting, which has been dismissed below 200 ten times in the
last two years, on a fairly easy-paced track at the Chinnaswamy Stadium
doesn't bode well.
Gautam Gambhir
seemed to have put a fallow spell behind him when he began India's
chase of 261 with a confident bunch of boundaries. Unlike the first
innings, there were no wobbles against the new ball, and the steer to
third man which has cost him his wicket so often in recent Tests seemed
to have been wisely mothballed. It re-appeared though in the 18th over,
and again led to his downfall as he tamely steered Trent Boult to first
slip. It extended a worrying trend of Gambhir being caught either by the
wicketkeeper or in the slip cordon.
MS Dhoni wasn't too concerned by Gambhir's struggles, sticking to an
oft-repeated mantra about out-of-form batsmen. "I think Gautam is
batting really well in the nets and it's just a matter of time that he
does the same in matches too," Dhoni said after the match. "Today also
he was batting really well. He started off really well. So we're hoping
he would come good in the coming games."
The only specialist middle-order batsman to emerge with his reputation
enhanced from the Bangalore Test was Man of the Match Virat Kohli.
Cheteshwar Pujara looked composed in the early part of his second
innings in a high-pressure situation but was beaten outside off too many
times after lunch by the gentle offspin of Jeetan Patel. The last
remaining member of India's famed middle-order quartet, Sachin
Tendulkar, also didn't have a series to remember, getting bowled in all
three innings. His unparalleled career is winding down, and the team
management need to get a clear idea of his future plans, especially
whether he intends to be a part of the tour of South Africa next year.
"The good thing is that whenever people talk about Tendulkar's form, he
comes up with a brilliant performance and I'm waiting for that," Dhoni
said. "I don't really get worried about that."
The biggest concern remains the troublesome No. 6 spot, with Suresh Raina
undoing the goodwill earned by his crucial first-innings half-century
with a wild swipe that his critics will remind him of for a long time.
With India having lost both set batsmen, Tendulkar and Pujara, in the
space of six runs, the match was in the balance, and a cool head was
required. Instead, after Patel tied him down with some tidy bowling,
Raina went charging down the track for a high-risk heave. He missed, and
was bowled for a duck, boosting New Zealand's chances of a dream
victory.
The first-innings heroics and the subsequent failure in the second was a
microcosm of Raina's Test career - highs quickly followed by
confidence-sapping lows. He began with a debut century against Sri
Lanka, and was a vital part of a successful big chase in his second.
When it was time to secure his place, he bafflingly failed against a
workmanlike New Zealand attack in the 2010 home series and was soon
dropped. Half-centuries in each of the three Tests in the tricky batting
conditions of the Caribbean again seemed to bring him close to a
permanent spot last year, before England's high-quality bowling worked
him out, with a pair at The Oval leading to his exclusion. This series
was his third coming, and that too could be shortlived, given the number
of contenders for the berth, and the new selectors will certainly take a
dim view of his Bangalore brain-fade.
Dhoni defended Raina, highlighting his Test inexperience and his
naturally adventurous brand of batting. "There are two ways of fighting
pressure - one is to take the fight on and look for big shots," Dhoni
said. "In the first innings, he went out there and played his shots.
Then he could've nicked one and then the same question would have been
asked. Otherwise, people say it was brilliant batting, it was counter
attack and all. I still remember me playing against England a long time
back in Wankhede, I played a similar kind of shot. You learn from your experience."
Dhoni pointed out another reason to persist with Raina. "It's important
to have a left-hander at six or seven. This series [Daniel] Vettori
wasn't playing but if a left-hander is there, the mix becomes ideal.
Gambhir is at the top of the tree and then you have a fair number of
right-handers. Then it's useful if you have a left-hander at six if the
wicket is turning. But that doesn't guarantee anyone a place in the Test
side."
The in-form Kohli and the ice-cool Dhoni ensured New Zealand didn't pull
off an upset victory, but this was the easiest of the assignments this
home season and the batting hasn't yet convinced that it is ready for
the English and Australian challenge.
Siddarth Ravindran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Siddarth Ravindran
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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