ACS Overseas FIrst-Class Annual 2012

India in 2011/12 For India’s Test side, ranked first in the world at the end of 2010/11, the 2011 and 2011/12 seasons saw a spectacular fall from grace. The problem was not with the two three-Test series against West Indies, first in the Caribbean (see ‘Matches in 2011’) then at home, which were won respectively 1-0 and 2-0: it was that sandwiched between these was a series in England in which all four Tests were lost (see Wisden 2012). And later on, the result in England was exactly replicated on tour in Australia. Needless to say, India’s top ranking could not survive hammerings of this nature, and by the end of 2011/12 the side had sunk to fourth place. India’s credentials as the top-ranked Test side had rested first and foremost on its stellar batting line-up, yet during 2011 and 2011/12 the galacticos too often fell short of their own lofty standards. Only R.S.Dravid produced performances worthy of his reputation, heading the run aggregates in both West Indies series and most notably against England, where he scored India’s only three centuries and gave further proof (not that it was needed) of his peerless technique. Yet even Dravid failed in Australia, and at the end of the season he announced his retirement from Test cricket with a splendid record of 13,265 runs and 36 centuries from 163 matches for his country. Only S.R.Tendulkar has played more Tests and scored more runs for India, yet the Little Master did not add to his lustre this year: after opting out of the Caribbean tour he played in every Test but averaged under forty and failed to make a hundred. Of the other star batsmen, V.Sehwag struggled with injury and poor form and V.V.S.Laxman seemed able to make runs only against West Indies. As for the bowling, injury deprived India of the services of Z.Khan for almost the entire England series; the large gap he left was to some extent filled by P.Kumar but in Australia, when Khan returned, it was Kumar’s turn to be injured. Harbhajan Singh, a shadow of his former self, dropped out altogether and although I.Sharma performed well on occasion, he always looked more a support bowler than a leader of the attack. In short, India ended 2011/12 in a position of some disarray and in serious need of some fresh blood. Before moving on to consider the domestic scene, mention must be made of the only Tests on Indian soil in 2011/12. The three matches against West Indies pitted a strong side palpably on the way down against a poor side perhaps finding some signs of improvement. The strong side won 2-0, but there was far more to the cricket than the bare scoreline suggests: in the First Test, West Indies built up a strong position and a large first-innings lead before R.Ashwin’s 6-47 undid them; the Second was all India until West Indies asserted themselves with a defiant second-innings 463 that saved their face if not the match; and the series was capped by a sensational Third Test in which all four results were possible with two balls remaining. The game finished in a nerve-jangling draw with India nine wickets down and one run short of victory. The outstanding performance of the domestic Indian season was the successful defence of the Ranji Trophy by Rajasthan, who proved that last year’s success was far from the fluke that many had claimed. Yet in the early part of the season everything seemed to confirm that Rajasthan, emerging so dramatically from the Plate last year, had been unworthy winners of the title. They were soundly thrashed by the Rest of India in the Irani Cup, and they went on to find life in the Elite division far tougher than it had been in the Plate. By early December Rajasthan had nothing better to show than five losing draws and at this stage an immediate relegation seemed a far likelier prospect than the retention of the title. But the last two Group matches resulted in convincing wins against Saurashtra and Orissa and enabled Rajasthan to qualify for the knockouts, although only by virtue of having a better quotient than Saurashtra and more wins than Uttar Pradesh after all three teams finished tied on 16 points. Having thus narrowly qualified, however, Rajasthan asserted themselves in the knockout stages with a huge first-innings lead over Hyderabad in the quarter-final. This was followed by a dramatic win in a hard-fought, low-scoring semi-final against Haryana in which eighteen wickets fell on the first day. But normal Ranji Trophy service was restored in the final against Tamil Nadu. Rajasthan, winning the toss, batted into the third of the five days largely thanks to 113