India’s falling Test wickets a lesson

Eventually, the long-awaited finals of the inaugural T20 East Africa Premier League were held on Saturday at the Nairobi Gymkhana, and Nile Knights which restricted their compatriots, the Rwenzori Warriors, to less than 100 runs, carried the day by five wickets - and yesterday, East Africa’s T20 champions were going for a double against Kenya’s Kongonis in the 50 overs version of the game.

Long sentence by any standards, just as long as Test matches which of late have this habit of ending in less than five days, especially when the match is between the resurgent Pakistan and England which is the world’s top-ranked Test side.

Fair share of problems

While the Nile Knights were bowling their compatriots out in Nairobi, in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan was showing the world that even though their cricket has had to deal with more than its fair share of problems, the players are putting their country’s misfortunes on and off the pitch behind them and moving on.

And on Saturday, Pakistan beat England, for the second time, at home, away from home, and is leading the three-match series 2-0 ahead of the third Test that starts early next month, after which the two teams will embark on a series of T20 and ODI matches.

Pakistan’s win, to me, is good news because I have always held – and I could be biased – that it is the best team in the world.

Just so that you know, while Pakistan was busy sending England’s batsmen to the pavilion one after the other (England lost the first four wickets in just 28 minutes), its cricket-crazy neighbour and arch-rival in all aspects of life, India, which won the last Cricket World Cup and is eagerly waiting for Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th Test ton, is flooding creases, bazaars, city centres, villages, slums, apartments and palatial homes with tears.

Outside India, nothing seems to be working for the team, and the past seems to be catching up with it as it succumbed to a 4-0 whitewash at the hands of Australia, or rather Australia’s pace attack, leaving the selectors, commentators, the media and former players scratching their heads in wonderment.

Ben Hilfenhaus, who took 27 wickets, and Peter Siddle with 23, led the Australian attack and only Virat Kohli, who has played only eight Test matches, topped the tourists’ batting average with a figure of 37.50.

Tendulkar, “the little master,” finished the series with only 287 runs at an average of 35.87 and could not manage a century, something he has gone without for 25 Test and One Day innings, having scored his last ton during last year’s World Cup.

Whitewash

All of India’s experienced batsmen ended up with sorry figures, and in the last match, Australia declared in both innings and set India a 500-run target then bowled them out for 201 in 69.4 overs to complete the whitewash by 298 runs. Ouch!

If the 4-0 whitewash at the hands of England last July is included, this marks India’s worst streak in a single season, after the 1967-68 seven-match losing streak against the same sides when it lost three matches to England and four to Australia.

Force to reckon with

Yes, the past seems to be catching up with Asia’s cricketing powerhouse considering that it was in 1959 and in 1961-62, that it suffered 5-0 whitewashes at the hands of England and West Indies, respectively.

In 1967-68, it lost a four-match series 4-0 to Australia, and also a three-match-series 3-0 to England which also whitewashed it in another three-match series in 1974, before it crashed to a 3-0 defeat in a three-match series in Australia in 1999-2000 season.

Being a firm believer in Pakistan, and its resurgence, I am within my rights to rejoice at India’s fumbling, however, it still cannot be written off since it is a force to reckon with.
If anything, its losses should provide some solace to perennially weak sides, like Kenya, that even the best sides can go through losing streaks.

But that should not be the norm and the side’s strength will be measured by its ability to learn from its mistakes, pick itself up and start winning matches just like Pakistan is doing.
Oh! Will I ever stop revelling in Pakistan’s winning run? Or stop saying Pakistan zindabad?