India, The Deserving No. 1 Test team !

By hammering the hapless Kiwis by an innings and a lot, India have sealed their place at the Top of Test Rankings for some more time. Unless they get humiliated in South Africa, they might stay there. Do India deserve to be No. 1 Ranked Test Team ?

Let us take a look at our Assets and Liabilities first...

The Assets

India has on paper the strongest batting line up and perhaps one of the all time best.

Just two Guys have scored more than 26000 Test runs. Another two take the tally up to nearly 40000. Awesome, Right ?

One Opener has created the fear of God in the minds of atheists.

And the God after all comes to bat after the Wall !

Every time there is a crisis, the Man stands up and there is nothing Lax about him.

A young Tyro who has played more ODIs than any 23 year old bats at No.6 for India. If not battered by good short stuff and not bettered by his own impetuousness, is a damn good No. 6.

The Captain Cool is indeed Cool. He will face his sternest test next month.

Not many teams can boast of a No. 8 with back to back test centuries and 300 runs in a 3-Test Series. India do !

Zaheer Can get Smith and rattle any batsman in the world with new ball. If the new ball doesn't get you, the old will !

Ishant has rattled Ponting before. He has rattled Chris Martin now. If his hair doesn't obscure his vision, he should be able to pitch the ball in right areas.

Sreesanth is India's Best test Bowler on pacy pitches. If he makes batsmen dance to his tunes rather than dance himself, he should be India's Triumph Card.

Ojha can smother the run rate and frustrate any batsman. No reason why he should not be able to do it to Amla and Co.

If a Team can keep Pujara and Vijay on the bench, that speaks of the Bench Strength ! Not to forget Yuveraj Singh who is not even on the Bench.

But are these the reasons for India's Supremacy ? As much as I would like to believe, there is more to it than meets the eyes. So here we go...

The Liabilities

This team has only one bowler who can be called World Class today; Zaheer Khan. And he is 32 years old and is unlikely to improve from here.

Bhajji is hardly a bowler now. Sreesanth and Ishant are too erratic. Ojha at best is a restrictive spinner.

A Team that has a No. 3 batsman who scores at 35 - 40% strike rate is not a great asset in modern day Cricket. He actually brings the scoring to a grinding halt and there by undoing all the gains of Sehwagging.

Gambhir and Raina will be tested severely with short stuff and will find out how different is the life of a Test Cricketer outside India. Hope they will be wiser for that.

Sachin doesn't boast of a great record in South Africa. He too has had problems on those pitches.

Laxman has to make sure he doesn't leave big gaps through his stance. It looked as big as the margin with which New Zealand lost. Dale Steyn must have seen his dismissal in the Nagpur test.

Question: Can we trust Bhajji to bat to win or at least save a test for us ?
Anwer: No.
Question: Why is he in the team ?
Answer: To Take wickets.
Question: Is he doing that regularly ?
Answer: No.
Question: So what do we do with him ?
Answer: Replace him... Err Wait !
Question: But with Whom ?
Answer: Ojha...
Question: Oh Really ? Can he take wickets ?
Weren't we talking about Bench Strength ?

So how do they manage to stay at the top in spite of this ?

Answers:

1] Australia: In serious decline after the retirement of the Great Bunch. The current lot would not have qualified to carry drinks during the 1999 - 2007 Period.

2] South Africa: Great batting and the world's best fast bowler. But a bit too one dimensional team. Somehow falter when everything looks great. And Smith can author a book titled, "1001 ways to break your fingers". Take out Steyn and the bowling isn't way much better than the Kiwis.

3] England: The Best equipped Test Team now. But some loopholes still not plugged. Batting can crumble against good spin. And that has restricted their progress too often.

4] Sri Lanka: There are more than 800 reasons to believe that with Murali is gone, they will find it tough to win away from home. Malinga, please forgive me. But the ICC rules don't allow you to bowl from both sides. Even Anil Kumble wasn't allowed. Their batting can come unstuck against good quick bowling.

5] Pakistan: If anybody can inspire Pakistan Cricket, Younis Khan. But they have a Butt as the Head of the PCB. So what do you expect other than serious shit ? Send this man to Afghanistan to live with Taliban. They might surrender thanks to this Pain in the Butt of a guy.

6] West Indies: Gayle storm can engulf opponents once in a while. But overall they suffer from Sreesanth Syndrome. Absolute Brilliance one moment and Nadir of Mediocrity the very next.

7] Bangladesh: One season doesn't make a Champion team. They have done well in shorter formats of late. But the Lions are an Ordinary Team in Test Cricket. Apologies due to Sehwag !

8] I am Happy Zimbabwe aren't playing tests. Else Chris Martin would have scored a Test Century and Ishant Sharma would have batted all 5 days of a test without getting out, why without even getting beaten once.

So this reminds me of an old Hindi adage:

Andhon ke Gaon mein Kana Rajah ! 

In the land of the blind, one eyed man is King !

India Deserve to be the No. 1 Ranked Test Team !

I rest my Case.






S-Pun Doctor