Predictable pitches, inevitable outcomes: India's home Test matches are not interesting any more

Anil Kumble, a photography enthusiast, captured every moment of the Indian team’s jubilation on his camera from outside the Rahul Dravid dressing room at the Holkar Stadium, Indore. There was enough reason for all the celebrations to be framed by the coach. After all, Virat Kohli’s boys were now the world No. 1 Test side.

India had outclassed New Zealand in the Test series. They had blanked the visitors 3-0. The first Test went to the last day because rain had interrupted most of the second day. But India did not require more than four days to pack off the Kiwis in the next two Tests.

There were sessions, spells and moments where Kane Williamson’s boys were hard to break down. At times, they even handed India a scare. But after the hosts had survived those jittery moments, they would roar back to annihilate the Kiwis. And they repeated it in each Test. On Tuesday evening, Ravichandran Ashwin offered extra flight to a delivery. It tempted Trent Boult to hop down the track, but Ashwin had beaten him in the air. New Zealand’s last man could only oblige with a return catch. With that, the match, series and the No. 1 rank were for India to boast of. India had been dominating.

With 27 wickets, Ashwin had been their destructor-in-chief. And in Ravindra Jadeja, who scalped 14 himself, the off-spinner had found an able ally. New Zealand had capitulated to spin. It was expected to be inevitable for the Black Caps on a tour of India. But the pitches served had escalated every New Zealand collapse. The 22 yards had coupled with the Indian spinners to dismantle any resistance Williamson and his men offered.

With the whitewash that was completed in Indore, Kohli is already India’s fourth-most successful Test captain. Only MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly and Mohammad Azharuddin are above him in the list. Kohli has registered 10 Test wins in 17 games. The sparkling record has meant that India is the top Test nation today.

Lions at home

But there is a glitch. Six of those wins have come in India – three against New Zealand and South Africa each. Two were against a disappointingly inferior West Indies outfit, while the remaining two came in Sri Lanka, with wickets not vastly different to what the Indian team plays on at home. Kohli has shown signs of being an exemplary leader, and leading by example. But he is yet to take his boys on a tour of Australia, England, South Africa or New Zealand. Those are the litmus tests that await him.

We had a preview of what Kohli’s boys could do in completely alien conditions too. He captained India in the first and fourth Tests Down Under the last time India was there. The first was because MS Dhoni was yet to recover from an injury and the last Test because the wicketkeeper-batsman had decided to call time on his Test career post the third match. Kohli took the fight to Australia in Adelaide in the first Test, but lost. However, his team could hold on for a draw in the fourth game.

But most of the Tests India has played thereafter under Kohli’s leadership have been at home. And more importantly, on pitches that at most times turned square. Even against New Zealand, there were vital contributions from different members of the team, but it was Ashwin and Jadeja’s impact that was most telling. The results have been what the country will always want. But is this the manner in which winning should be made a habit?

Decoding spin

Over the years, India was known to produce wickets which would be ideal to bat on for the first three days, before it would start turning on the last two days of a Test. But it is a different story now. Runs are not easily available for the Indian batsmen either, while their counterparts struggle to find ways of decoding the spin code.

Harbhajan Singh, India’s most successful off-spinner, claimed on Twitter a couple of days ago that had India played on similar surfaces earlier, Anil Kumble and his wicket-tally would have been "something else".

Kohli, however, was of the view that even on tracks that offer generous turn, the delivery has to be bowled well. “Even if it is a turning pitch, you have to bowl well. Spin doesn’t only happen off the pitch. It is about how many revs you impart off the shoulder first. The ball will then do something off the pitch,” the captain explained. While it is a valid point, it does little to revive the balance between ball and bat.

There is a perception that New Zealand is not a team strong enough. But then even the fancied South Africans succumbed to rank turners when they toured India last year. Even then, it was Ashwin and Jadeja who had caused most damage in India’s 3-0 win in the four-Test series. The off-spinner had contributed with 31 wickets, while the left-arm spinner had chipped in with 23.

Taking results for granted

India has 10 more Tests scheduled at home this season. England are up next, followed by Australia and Bangladesh. If the nature of the wickets does not change much, the results will not either. If we can take the outcome of all the remaining games for granted, will the cricket still remain as interesting?

Sport is all about the battle between two individuals or teams. Test cricket, of all the game’s formats, offers maximum opportunities for a team put on a fight. If one session has not gone their way, the next one always can. But playing India at home has become a recurring nightmare for opponents. The tracks, combined with the spin of Ashwin and Jadeja, with Amit Mishra equally capable of lending support, have made outcomes predictable.

After India had won the third Test against New Zealand on Thursday, it was Sunil Gavaskar who handed Kohli the ICC Test Championship mace. While the former Indian captain presented it to the current skipper, he had a quick word with him too. From the look of it, Gavaskar appeared to be telling Kohli that being the top Test team will always be the pinnacle, and it is this mace that he must value the most.

“Trust me, I’ve got a few Man of the Match awards, and so have the boys. But when they hold this [mace], it is going to be a really special thing,” Kohli said, beaming with pride.

But while the country basks in all the glory Kohli & Co. could achieve over the next six months, the victories will only taste sweeter once they are achieved on the more challenging soils of Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England.