ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2015

India in 2014/15 It must be a novel experience for so wealthy and powerful a body as the Board of Control for Cricket in India to find itself the object of sympathy. But there can be no doubt that it was very much the injured party when, in October 2014, the West Indies cricket team walked out in the middle of its Indian tour, causing the loss of the final ODI and all three Tests. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the West Indies players’ dispute with their home board, this is an outrageous act on the part of any side; it added a new and discreditable chapter to the troubled recent history of West Indies cricket and it gravely damaged what was traditionally a cordial and mutually respectful relationship between the two national Boards. The BCCI estimated its losses at $42 million and declared its intention to sue; there must be considerable doubt of its prospects of extracting any cash from the perennially hard-up West Indies Board, but the dispute threatens to blight relations – and future bilateral tours – for years to come. The three games against West Indies had been India’s only scheduled home Tests during 2014/15 and 2015, so their cancellation meant that the side’s Test engagements were all undertaken away from home. This was a major challenge for a side that traditionally travels very badly; but in the event, a mixed bag of results meant that India ended 2015 in fifth place in the ICC rankings, just as it had been a year previously. It is true that the four-Test series in Australia (which was disrupted by the fallout from the tragic death of Phillip Hughes – see the Australia section) resulted predictably in defeat, but the losses in the first two Tests were by the relatively narrow margins of 48 runs and four wickets, and the draws in the remaining games were well-earned. In an exceptionally high-scoring rubber, Australia prevailed ultimately because the home bowlers stood up to the batting onslaught slightly better than the visitors. Although India, clearly second best throughout the series, could not (and did not) complain about the result, they could take considerable consolation from the sustained strength of the batting in unfamiliar conditions and indeed from the general resilience of the side. There was no repetition of the humiliations suffered in England in 2014. Among the batsmen, Virat Kohli was outstanding with 692 runs at 86.50; only Sunil Gavaskar (twice) has made more runs in a rubber for India. Kohli also assumed the captaincy after M.S.Dhoni abruptly retired during the Australia tour. But he had to wait until June 2015 to lead the Test side as first-choice captain in his own right, when India, on a rare visit to Bangladesh, had the better of proceedings in the rain-spoiled single Test. And at the end of the 2015 season, India fought back from the loss of the first Test to complete a 2-1 victory in Sri Lanka; this gave particular satisfaction as it was India’s first series victory overseas since winning 1-0 in West Indies in 2011. Although the win in Sri Lanka assured India of retaining fifth place in the ICC rankings, it remains the case that a nation possessed of such an outstanding cricketing heritage cannot be – or certainly ought not to be – satisfied with such a modest mid-table position. It is true that in the last few years such illustrious names as Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Virender Sehwag, and above all Sachin Tendulkar, have disappeared from the Indian batting line-up; yet their places have been taken by men such as the new captain Virat Kohli (26 at the end of the 2015 season), Cheteshwar Pujara (27), Ajinkya Rahane (27), and the exciting prospect Lokesh Rahul (23). So the batting appears (notwithstanding India’s miseries in England in 2014) to be in the safe hands of players in the prime of their cricketing lives; but the bowling is another story. Ravi Ashwin’s 21 wickets at 18.09 in the Sri Lanka series confirmed his quality, at least in Asian conditions; but the many other bowlers India has tried in recent years appear to be capable only of intermittent successes separated by long periods of indifferent performances. India remains in desperate need of bowlers who can demonstrate, especially outside Asia, the consistently high standard needed to command a regular place in the side. In their absence, India is unlikely to mount a realistic challenge for the top slot in the rankings that it last held in 2011. 87