Australia have been beaten but Kohli’s devils have their eyes set on a greater prize

As a matter of fact, India win at home. They are expected to and on most occasions, unless faced by an exceptional opponent, they do it easily. So regardless of how good the Test series against Australia turned out to be, India were favourites from the start. Anything other than a win would have been an aberration.

Before the loss in Pune, the Indians had not lost a Test at home since December 9, 2012, when they slumped to a rare series defeat after going down to England in Kolkata by seven wickets. Their record at home (since 2012) at the end of the season stands at an incredible 21 wins in 29 Tests.

So when Australian skipper Steve Smith stepped up for the post-match chat, he wasn’t wrong in saying that India are tough to beat at home. “Credit to India, they are a fantastic cricket side, particularly in their own backyard,” said Smith.

The key statement was “in their own backyard” – the rest was just lip service. We know that winning away is the key to greatness and we also know that India is pretty poor in that category. It is also, thankfully, a point that is not lost on Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble.

Eyes on a greater prize

In the press conference, Kohli was clearly pleased with his team’s performance, but his comments also showed that he clearly has his eyes set on a greater prize.

“It is a classic case of understanding that this is not the end of anything,” said Kohli. “No point in getting over-excited with what we have done. We are very happy to be No 1 in Test cricket, but our main challenge begins now. If can conquer the overseas season, that’s when you will see a broader smile on my face when I sit down again for a press conference.”

India has won five, lost eight and drawn eight of the 21 matches it has played on foreign soil in the last four years (win-loss ratio 0.63). Try as they might, they find life very different once they leave the security of home. The wins have come against:

England at Lord’s in 2014 – India won by 95 runs.
Sri Lanka in Colombo (PPS) – India won by 278 runs
Sri Lanka in Colombo (SSC) – India won by 117 runs
West Indies in North Sound – India won by an inns and 92 runs
West Indies in Gros Islet – India won by 237 runs

It is a list with a blunt postscript – India doesn’t win abroad... the odd Test maybe, but certainly not series… not against the best Teams. And unless they start doing that – they will never earn the respect that the great Test teams of the past have.

You can even be brutal and argue that no player is great unless he starts figuring out how to perform and win away from the safety of home, in a hostile environment. If Kohli and this group really want to make a statement, that is what they need to do.

Strong bowling attack

The home season would have helped them solve part of the puzzle.

As coach Anil Kumble said after the game, “Once you have bowlers who can pick 20 wickets, that’s when you become competitive.”

Umesh Yadav will be the key. His increasing maturity as a bowler gives India hope – just as Kapil Dev once did. He’s got pace and is now starting to out-think batsmen. Not only has he been bowling well but his fitness levels have been exceptional as well. Kohli can’t praise him or the rest of the fast bowling unit enough.

“First thing was to get our fitness right,” he said. “Even Ishant was good. Bhuvi was great when he got the opportunity. Umesh and Shami surprised everyone. Not just the opposition but us as well.”

And it is the fast bowlers who give India their biggest leg-up. The fast-bowling unit of Umesh (31 Tests), Shami (22 Tests), Ishant (77 Tests) and Bhuvneshwar (18 Tests) now has enough experience to have an impact no matter where they go. They also have someone like Anil Kumble to fall back on and his knowledge could prove to be invaluable.

India’s two spinners – Ravichandran Ashwin (49) and Ravindra Jadeja (30) – are the best in the world at present and they can both bat.

Worrying with the bat

The worry, in fact, might be the batting. New Zealand, England, Australia and South Africa will never be easy for India’s batsmen. The conditions are too alien and it means figuring out a whole new method for yourself.

In the past, we have toured with some very experienced batsman and still failed. Can the younger crop cope better with the travails?

Kohli, himself, has experienced the horrors of a poor tour of England, but can the rest of this batting unit come together and give the bowlers good enough totals to bowl at? Rahane’s relative success in England last time round should give them some confidence, but even then the doubts persist. For Cheteshwar Pujara, Murali Vijay and KL Rahul it will be a trial by fire.

“With this kind of line-up, with the lower-order contributions, I don’t see any reason why we can’t start winning abroad,” said a confident Kumble.

And he isn’t far from the mark. But for now, we are a long way from playing another Test in foreign lands and whether India can hold on to the winning form and feeling till then is another question yet to be answered.

But winning away remains still the great unknown for the Indian team and it will remain that way until we actually break the jinx by winning. Draws and the odd win just aren’t good enough anymore. Kumble and Kohli are acutely aware of this and one can be pretty sure that come the away tours, they will go for broke. As Kohli likes to say, “this Indian team will not take a backward step.”