The talent was never in doubt

How does a team that looked beleaguered and beaten till the other day pull off such a magnificent win? What makes such a turnaround possible? Is this just another blip of passing success, or the beginning of something more meaningful for Indian cricket?

Cricket’s most oft-quoted truism provides an easy answer to the first two posers. This is a game of ‘glorious uncertainties’, after all, so anything is possible — including bearding South Africa in their own den. But that’s a churlish way of looking at one of Indian cricket’s finest moments.  

Essentially, India were a good team playing bad cricket in recent months. The quality of talent was hardly in doubt, but the mental strength to compete over a period of time was clearly suspect. Controversies over team selection and involving key players complicated matters further.

The return of experienced hands like Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Zaheer Khan made a huge difference. But there was the derring-do of youth too, exemplified by Sreesanth’s superb bowling, and his willingness to take on his adversaries, in speed, swing, and on-field demonstrativeness. Take away their performances, and this Test was easily lost, though it must be conceded that the South Africans did appear a tad overconfident at the start.

More importantly, this victory was also about players coming to terms with each other in a hurriedly restructured side, and then collectively conquering the fears of playing on a pitch that had bounce and pace. It was about teamwork driven by injured pride and renewed ambition.

Can this momentum be sustained? Sure, if some lessons have been learnt. The fact that the team has won seven and lost only two of 16 Tests since Greg Chappell arrived is some vindication of his methods, but even more of the country’s talent. Remember, India won a Test series in the West Indies earlier this year after a gap of 35 years.

But the report card would have read much better had a wonderful opportunity to win the Test series against Pakistan not been squandered last year. Irfan Pathan took a hat-trick in the first over in the final Test at Karachi, but Dravid and Co inexplicably lost nerve, and thereafter the match. A couple of months later, India allowed England to square the Test series in Mumbai on a rank turner.

Inability to drive home the advantage - even the advantage at home, so to speak — made Indian cricket appear vulnerable, schizophrenic, and driven almost wholly by controversy. Prowess in the one-day game, powered by emphatic victories against Pakistan and England, was also surrendered in the West Indies. The Champions Trophy was hugely disappointing, and the team appeared to have hit the nadir in the ODIs against South Africa.

The stunning win at the Wanderers offers a lifeline for some players and the coach, who have been under enormous pressure, but more pertinently for Indian cricket. The path to the World Cup looks less arduous now, but Dravid and Co must remember that unless winning is a habit, crisis may just be one Test away.