Cricket supremacy

Virat Kohli’s Test team has beaten the world’s top-rated Test side in a series while also bringing to a halt the visiting team’s record of not having lost an away series for nine years. The young Indians batted better, though not as competently against spin as may have been imagined, and bowled their spin overs far better than the opposition. The visitors were undone by lack of technique against the turning ball, their confusion so great that the balls which did not spin proved as much of a hurdle as those that turned from pitches tailormade for the ball to spin like a top.

It is not unethical in cricket to prepare pitches to suit the home team. It is only in carrying this option too far that Indian cricket may be doing harm to itself in a period when the team is rebuilding after losing several great cricketers. With eight wins from nine matches, India’s home Test record is imposing in the last three years. However, it becomes a cause for concern if such a record is being built by tinkering too much with pitches.

The first ever day-night Test was played nearly simultaneously in Adelaide between Australia and New Zealand, which also ended in three days on a sporting pitch, but one that offered equal assistance to all types of bowlers. India’s aim should be to prepare sporting pitches with life in them for pace and spin bowling alike so that a more even development of our cricketers becomes possible. We can’t be lions at home and lambs abroad forever.