FRAGRANCE OF IDEAS
The 20th June 2025 will formally bring to the front a new generation of cricket geniuses on behalf of India in an important Test series to be played in England. It will be a five-match hectic schedule to be followed by the Indian players in non-homely conditions and atmosphere where their inner strength and outer skills will be on a real and formidable test. This test series will also speak out about the future of Test cricket in India for the next two years test cycle.
The three big test cricketing nations -India, Australia and England have recently been joined by another great nation, the Republic of South Africa. They created history by defeating Australia in the finals of the World Test Championship only a few days back in the same England where teams of India and England are locking their horns for a two-month long period of England-summer.
It was in June 1932, exactly ninety three years ago, that India joined Test cricket in England under the captainship of Maharaja of Porbandar Rana Shri Sir Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji. The Vice captain of the team was K.S.Limbdi while the legendary C.K.Nayadu was the on-field Test captain. He was also the star batsman of the team having a nice record in the first class matches.
Amar Singh and Mohammad Nissar were the key bowlers of the team. In the same year India was accorded the full membership of the ICC which remains unabated till date. India lost the first and the only test match of its first series by 158 runs. Thereafter, Team India didn’t look behind and went ahead step by step to gain expertise in the art of the game of cricket.
Today, India is the biggest powerhouse of cricket in the world. Its cricket board called Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the richest cricket board both in terms of actual riches as well as cricket infrastructure-wise.
India has the maximum number of cricket stadiums in its geographical territory with a great influence on the management of various stadiums in the world. It is virtually now the ‘Reserve Bank’ of world cricket from many perspectives and has become the banker of last resort for the other boards and also for the ICC. Its success story is unparalleled and unprecedented keeping in view its present position globally.
Besides test cricket, the white ball cricket has taken the flight of India’s cricket very high. In addition to this, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has changed the whole scenario of cricket in favour of India. It has become the star attraction for all the cricketers in the world and all cricketing boards are taking very keen interest in the IPL.
ICC for its own reasons heavily bank upon the success of IPL every year and make the schedule of international cricket in tune with the schedule of IPL. There are famous quotes of various greats of international cricket about India’s cricket and the BCCI. One of the famous quotes of Kevin Petersen, England cricket legend is like this: ‘You are an absolute idiot if you think India doesn’t run the world cricket. Many events are surviving because they are injecting cash into it’.
In case India is able to run and manage world cricket today, it is not only because it injects cash into it. It is primarily because it has injected a galaxy of great players into the game at regional, national and international levels for the last one hundred years. It has also given the most efficient and effective managers of the game to the game of cricket and also the best team of cricket commentators at all levels.
Sponsorships and viewership of India are the backbone of modern cricket and India leads in these fields with competition from none. ICC has been able to take the game of cricket to almost 100 countries of the world with the knowhow, support, technical guidance and riches of India. The leadership of the ICC is also currently in the hands of an Indian representative, the former Secretary of BCCI, Jay Shah.
While India has produced great players of test cricket over the last one century, it has also set records after records in test cricket. During the first quarter of the century, India would play the game with no great success on the ground. However, its experiences during the first quarter led it to consolidate the gains and it started winning 25% of matches during the second quarter.
The third quarter created history for India when Team India touched and crossed 50% victory targets. It is during the current and the fourth quarter of the century that India aspires to win 75% of the test matches. Team India has become the toughest team in the world to be defeated on its home soil barring exceptions.
Overseas victories in test cricket have been a dream for Team India but that dream has also been realized over the last a number of decades now. Results in the SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand & Australia) have also been encouraging for the last twenty years but there are areas where India requires to take strides in place of steps. Over the last 93 years of test cricket, four generations of cricketers have contributed to the game of test cricket in India. It is now the fifth generation of cricketers that is poised to pass the test in England this time.
Indian cricket has moved on from the times of Lala Amarnath, Vijay Manjrekar, Vijay Hazare, Pataudi, Borde, Wadekar, Vishwanath and Bedi. The greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, M.S.Dhoni, Sehwag, Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan are now a part of the record books though they are active in a different manner so far as their attachment to the game of cricket is concerned.
The latest to join them are Pujara, Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Ashwin. Just before the announcement of the test team for England one month ago, the star batsmen of India, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma said goodbye to test cricket. Though it was surprising, it had to happen, today or tomorrow. In the new context now, the Team India for the tests in England stands exposed to the new scenario and that too in one of the SENA countries.
The leadership issue has been very amicably resolved by the BCCI by appointing Shubman Gill as the test captain and Rishabh Pant as the Vice Captain. Undoubtedly, they are the best and the most experienced choice in the given circumstances. Since Jaspreet Bumra has asked not to be considered for the leadership role, it would be good for him to focus on his bowling which undoubtedly is the best weapon with Team India.
K.L.Rahul as the senior most player along with veteran Ravinder Jadeja are expected to play the role of anchors in the team as well. Comparatively, new entrants like Karun Nair, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudershan have all the opportunities to justify their selection.
Yashasvi Jayaswal and Dhruv Jurel are the seasoned campaigners who need to pull up their socks to provide the lead in different departments of the game. Among the bowlers, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd Siraj have to prove their worth once again. The all-rounders like Shardul Thakur, who is among runs, and Washington Sundar have a great responsibility in the given situation.
Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna are the best among the waiting squad on the benches. Their skill will also be on test in case they are asked to play during the five-match long series. Tough situations and crises create and establish leadership and solutions and we all in India desire results in favour of India without any excuse, pretence or pretext. That has been the legacy of the past two decades or so.
India in the recent past lost the New Zealand series at home and also the Australia series abroad. They drew the test series in South Africa and won the two-match series against Bangladesh at home. The records were created and erased for the whole cycle depriving India its place in the WTC finals.
This time Team India enters in this series surely as underdogs after a long time and also without its star players like Kohli, Rohit and Ashwin. But India has a history of performing their best when people count them as out. It has happened many times in the past, however, the situation this time is seemingly different.
England is very confident, as usual, on its home grounds. It has a long history of playing test matches in different seasons of England and has also set many records in this context. They are a good team with great players with the label of ‘Bazball’, though that label failed in India during their last tour. Their mind games have also begun claiming that the test series against India would be their good ‘practice session’ for the Ashes in winter.
It is for the young brigade of India that has the relevant experience of both red-ball and the white-ball to prove to the task ahead of them. While everybody concerned waits for 20th June 2025, the decision of renaming the Trophy of the series as the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy has also gained discussion and debate. Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of the Team India should also be rejoining the team in London soon. Hope Team India shines and exhibits great & absorbing cricket..!
(The author is a senior BJP and KP leader, Human Rights Defender, author & columnist and can be reached at: [email protected])
