Sourav Ganguly made Indian cricketers play with attitude , MS Dhoni ensured that the cricketers mature and play the game as a sport . In last 18 months Indian team under a certain Virat Kohli have taken the game to next level. The way team have played have made an average Indian fan believe that this might be the team they always dreamt off.
December 20, 2016 , India trounces a hapless England team by an Innning to win Five match test series 4-0 and consolidates its no. 1 position . For an average Indian fan this was payback but for few cricket followers it meant much bigger than this for India have already been no. 1 in Rankings under Dhoni and they have played some brilliant cricket at home then as well , however by the time MS Dhoni resigned as a Test leader the priorities of India cricket seemed to has changed . After being no.1 for 20 months (Dec 2009- Aug 2011) Indian test cricket seemed jaded , tired and stagnant to an extent, for 4 years from 2011-2015 , India's test cricket danced back tothe struggling days of 1990s when they played like Hercules at home but were hunted like a fish by the Alligators abroad. It needed a change in approach the way test cricket was being treated and the first thing was change in the leadership . Things became quit easier when MS Dhoni retired midway during the Australia tour in late 2014. Virat Kohli became the permanent test captain and India geared up for a new look Indian team after World cup 2015 .In Next 18 Months the team acheived no. 1 in ICC Rankings Someof the vital factors contributing to the success were
1. Five Bowler Stragety : The first sign of positive change was evident right from the go , Kohli wanted to win rather than going for draws and for that he started playing with 5 bowlers a big refreshing change considering the conservative view Indian Captain always had . This was something new for Indian cricket fans , they never saw an Indian captain taking such a bold move . This 5 bowler plan contributed a lot to India's winning 14 of its 19 Tests during the period . There were several moments in these matches when it felt that with old theory things would have slippedout of India's hand be it in Colombo 2015, Delhi against South Africa in 2015 Chennai against England in 2016, everytime Kohli's risk taking demanaure was awarded with a fasinating win.
2. Rise of Ashwin the allrounder : A lot of credit must be given to Kohli how he had shown trust in Ashwin . In him India unearthed a true allrounder , rarity in modern day cricket. He was rightly termed as the Most Valuable player by Kohli himself . Ashwin was there in times of Dhoni as well , but neither Dhoni showed the kind of confidence he deserved nor Ashwin tried to prove Dhoni wrong by performing overseas . Since Kohli took over Ashwin has picked 129 wickets in 20 tests at 19 apart from scoring 809 runs at 33 .
3. Removing Insecurities: One of the most important thing which Kohli-Kumble did was to lay an unestablish rule that anyone wouldnt be out of the team on basis of injury , personal problems or media scrutiny .This why Ishant Sharma after recovering from Chikangunya came back straight in the team for Chennai Test , Mohammad Shami also played as first choice seamer in Carribean after making a comeback from injuries. The major aim behind the strategy was to remove the insecurity among the players regarding their places . Kohli and Kumble ensured that the players must be given decent run. It is only because of policy that Parthiv Patel and Karun Nair places inteam cannot be gauranteed despite some steller performances . Rohit Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha were playing very well when they got injured and they will be right back when India plays next against Bangladesh in February. It have tremendous impact on the players as they are no more insecure about their places in the team, this sense of security have helped them play fearless cricket.
4. Making things Happen : One of the most refreshing factor of Kohli’s Captaincy have been his penchant to strive to make things happen rather than wait for it. Even the most successful captains like Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni were seen waiting for things to happen when the things wentwrong for them . On numerous instances India seem to have lost the clue when the situation became tough, they were left on the mercy of opposition or waiting for a hoodo to happen which most of the time ensured things went out of control however what we have seen of Kohli in past 18 months ensure that he is not one to wait , instead he prefers to make things happen . Last year in Second test against Srilanka when Angelo Matthews and Thrimnanne were threatening to take the game and series away from India, Kohli called Ishant , rather than Ashwin and Mishra who were creating all sorts of problems and he asked him to go round the wicket the plan did the trick as Ishant got both Thrimanne and Mathews . Earlier in Australia as a non permanent captain he already showed he was there to win by opting to chase a 364 run target rather to play for a draw. There is no doubt that more stern tests will come when India will tour in testing conditions abroad but whatever we have seen till now it certainly offers a lot of promise .
5. Agressors : Indian cricketers started to play fearless cricket under Ganguly , the rise of cricketers like Sehwag , Yuvraj,Harbhajan helped a lot but they were never the initiators . Under Kohli the team shifted to being aggressive . The players don’t wait for the opposition to start the jibe and they never hesitate to give back . So when Ben Stokes created fury by his celebrations in Mohali Kohli replied back next day with finger on his lips asking him to sush and when James Anderson questioned Virat Kohli’s success, He had to face wreth of usally calm Aswhin , these were though major altercations apart from it generally Indian team under Kohli have never hesitatedto be on the face of the oppositions players
The Big question is this the team Indian fans have waited for decades and for me the anwer would be yes for it represents the young generation and it resembles them like none of their preceeders . Young, Ambitious, Aggressive, Talented, Brash and Focused they are the face of 70 Crore young Indians between 16-35 ready to take over the world by their energy . This is the generation which has different tastes , different priorities and different way of seeing things that includes cricket. This can be referred by the fact that the fans who use to criticise the Australian way of playing cricket now admires his own team’s way of aggression and playing it in Australian style. It does not want to settle anything less than a win and for that it is ready to take bold steps . A much simiar to Kohli’s team . For the generation of 70s and 80s who have seen all the changes in Indian cricket . Rising from being average middle level team to being competative under Ganguly and being champions under Dhoni they certainly feel that this is the team they always prayed for.
In his 18 months of tenure as Captain Kohli have not only racked up some very impressive numbers but has created a niche for creating history. In 2015 when India beat Srilanka in test series by 2-1 , it became first Indian team to win a series in Srilanka in 22 years. In Same year he created history as India became first subcontinetal team to beat South Africa in 3 tests in a series . Not only this in West Indies he became the first Indian captain ever two win two tests in a series . Later in the year he created another record by leading India to whitewash Newzealand for the first time in a 3 test series. When India defeated England 4-0,it was their biggest win in a test series against England. What was even more meomrable that Virat who have become the youth icon and highly popular among Young generation batted like an unstopable train and took his batting to next level this time winnig hearts of foreign fans especially the British Media.
Despite of all the acheivements,Kohli knows that India have to perform consistently over a period and in countries like Australia , South Africa, England , Newzealand and in UAE against a formidable Pakistani side to be considered a great outfit. For this it is very important that the bench strenth should be strong along with a strong pace attack . This is one major reason why he recently said that the biggest acheivement of his tenure are not wins but the way he has made players play for the team rather than going for personal milestones . A sign how the cricket culture in India have changed for good .2017 will present more challenges to Kohli and his men as they will play Srilanka and South Africa on away tours .This will be test for this team for India have tasted success at home previously but the non subcontinetal countries are the places they falter . However going by the hunger and style of play of this team it surely have all the ingrediants to ensure that this is the team the people have waited for years and this is India's dream team they have waited for so long.
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