End of a painstaking two years

India tour of England- The Pataudi Trophy 2014

Strong-willed performances by an effervescent Indian side slowly faded away into abysmal performances at the end of the England Test Series.

A super-human display of batting prowess by Joe Root 154 (295) and James Anderson 81 (130) shelled out an unlikely draw for England in the first test at Nottingham, despite Murali Vijay’s ton 146 (361), a dual half-century for Bhuvneshwar Kumar and some lion-hearted bowling by the Indian pace battery.

Unlike the first Test match, India didn’t permit the opportunity to slide away and notched up a historic win at Lord’s, thanks to a prodigious spell of emitting fire by Ishant Sharma (23-6-74-7).

The graph somehow headed towards the wrong direction in the remainder of the series. Somewhere down the line, there was a tinge of feeling that India with all their heart and soul was fighting a lost battle.

India was inflicted by a humiliating result of 3-1 in the Test Series. But there were some bright spots amidst the abysmal performances. Murali Vijay mastered 402 runs with a superlative hundred in the opening Test.

Ishant Sharma bagged the distinction of best figures by an Indian fast bowler at the Lord’s and the rise of Bhuvneshwar Kumar – the batsman who ended as the fourth highest run-getter for India in the series.

India’s tour of Australia- The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2014/15

The England series wasn’t the end of what had rather been a nightmarish last three to four months. India suffered a drubbing in the hands of the Kangaroos, this time by a margin of 2-0.

But the series was much closer to what the score line displayed. The series saw Virat Kohli’s stride into the leadership role after MS Dhoni decided to step aside both as a player and as a leader.

The Adelaide Test had India placed tantalisingly close to the target, courtesy some supernatural display of artwork with the willow in hand by Virat Kohli 141 (175) and Murali Vijay 99 (234).

It was an out-and-out shame when India served the match on a plate to Australia, getting reduced from 242/2 to 315 all out and it was initiated by Nathan Lyon, finishing with a seven-wicket haul in the second innings.

India went down 2-0 after being made to bow down by some fiery bowling by the Australian pace bowlers. Indian pacers tried their heart out, picking up six Australian wickets and, therefore, making them sweat in chasing even a modest 130 runs.

Virat Kohli 169 (272), along with Ajinkya Rahane 147 (171), with the bat in hand and Mohammed Shami (match figures of 57-8-230-6) were the Indian stars in the third Test at Melbourne.

In a quest to play out 66 overs to save the match India lost three wickets within eight overs. It was some sensible head in Rahane, Kohli and Dhoni that ensured India eventually ending a six Test-match losing streak.

The fourth Test witnessed the emergence of another expected stalwart from Karnataka, after Rahul Dravid. KL Rahul recorded his maiden Test ton and scoring it on a fast track worked as the icing on the cake. To sum up the series, in a nutshell, India had their moments, only to be snatched away by the opposition.

Virat Kohli amassed 692 runs in four matches with four hundred to his credit, breaking Sunil Gavaskar’s record of most runs by an India in a four-Test series in Australia. He also made his own the record of becoming the first player in the history of Test Cricket to notch up three tons in his first three innings as a skipper.

A supporting role to the naked eye, taking into account the standards set by Virat Kohli’s class and flair, Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane didn’t disappoint either.

India in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka 2015

This was the comparatively easier part of the two-year overseas Test battle for India. The only Test against Bangladesh was washed away.

“Tough character can overpower any challenge” turned out to be moral of the story. India was pushed to the walls after their demise on a turning Galle track, chasing 176 runs.

This was the last time India tasted defeat in the series. The second test turned out to be Sri Lanka’s turn to fall down on their faces by a massive 278 runs. The third Test was no different either and India snatched victory by a margin of 2-1 from the jaws of defeat.

Teams go through tough times, but in the case of India, the rough times lasted for the last couple of years. India weathered every possible storm fearlessly. Maybe the results of some of the matches didn’t go in India’s favour, but that doesn’t take away the credit of some of the superlative performances from the players.

All in all, India, after being ruthlessly pained for the last couple of years, deserved the comfort zone of their home turf like every other Test playing nation.