- Not so long ago, in cricketing parlance, visiting cricket teams always considered taming Team India in their own backyard as the final frontier. Such was the aura, impenetrability, resilience, toughness, and impregnable fortitude of the home Test team that many overseas teams were found wanting in even competing here on even keel. Remember, some of the most admired Test teams in the world, like West Indies, Australia, and England, were found wanting in not only living up to the expectations but also could not force Team India to sweat a bit in romping home comfortably. Of course, the Indian Test team was always blessed with a bunch of world-class performers adept at executing their skills with great elan in any conditions.
PC: InsideSport
- As it happens with any other team when stalwart performers must make a way out after serving the team for some years with great distinction, Team India too finds itself at a crossroads vis-à-vis proven cricketers exiting in the last couple of years. Indubitably renowned cricketers like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin are a few established superstars who quit Test cricket in the last year or so, leaving behind a vacuum that’s not so easy to fill. Understandably, the Indian selectors found a few promising cricketers who could step into the vacant positions to carry forward the legacy. Has the new crop of Test cricketers lived up to the expectations of the BCCI and the cricket crazy fans of the country? Let’s dwelve further to comprehend the same.
PC: News18
- Going by the looks of things, Team India is struggling to not only live up to the lofty expectations but also failing miserably to hold onto the home advantage when visiting teams used to be rolled over with such finesse, confidence, and authority. There’s something wrong with the Team was brutally exposed when the touring New Zealanders whitewashed 3-0 last year by commanding over the home favourites with such professional execution of skills in all departments of the game. Likewise, the recent drubbing from the touring South Africans, with the scoreline reading 2-0, must send alarm bells ringing incessantly for repeated failures of our once indomitable home tigers being tamed with such ease and without even breaking into a sweat. That’s a real concern.
PC: News18
- Team India’s miserable run in the Kolkata Test, followed by annihilation in Guwahati, must be heartbreaking for the die-hard fans as well as the authorities concerned. What is more baffling is the way our batters, known to be familiar with the spin-friendly conditions, are unable to cope with the visiting team’s spinners, who are proving to be more than a handful in rolling over us. Alarmingly, our spinners are repeatedly failing to contain as well as claim wickets, even though they are brought up on these pitches for years. The advantage of home conditions simply appears to have dissipated, leading to visiting teams carving out spectacular victories with days to spare. The BCCI mandarins must reflect, revisit, and rethink as to what is bogging our team in Tests.
