The Avengers: Is this the best Indian team ever?

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja is no Yuvraj Singh but then Ravi Ashwin and Bhuvi Kumar are no Venkatesh Prasad either. Jadeja knows this and it has allowed him to go out in the middle and take the attack to the opposition – a trait where his long-time rival Yusuf Pathan was expected to beat the stuffing out of him. With the ball, Jadeja was always an effective limited overs option but he has really come across with the bat in this tournament – I would go as far as to say he is a better package deal than Ashwin for a sole spinner’s spot if you factor in his fielding efforts too.

While Ashwin and Kumar haven’t had to bat too much in this tournament, both have earlier showcased their abilities to play both the waiting game and that of an aggressor. On paper India has one of the strongest set of batsmen in their line-up but on that odd off-day it can look forward to numbers 7,8 and 9 stepping up to be counted.

The fielding – M.S. Dhoni is not one of the greatest braggarts of all-time. So when he says his side is the best fielding side in the tournament, chances are he is not lying. Gone are the days when the Indian team had more passengers on the field than a morning train from Dadar to Churchgate. There are specialists now – from panthers who man the inner circle to hawks who wait with undying patience in the slip cordon. The weakest fielders Ishant and Umesh Yadav would fight for top spot in the best Indian fast bowling fielder rankings of all-time. The team still needs a couple of power throwers from the deep but lamenting the lack of the same at present would be an exercise in extreme pessimism.

The age – In the unchanged XI that India fielded throughout the tournament, Dhoni, at 32, was the oldest by quite a bit. Among the reserves, only Amit Mishra would be touching 30 this year. In two years time when the World Cup comes calling Down Under, most of these guys would be around and, more importantly, in their prime. If they can keep themselves grounded and hungry, Indian cricket has more than a few exciting years ahead of it.

The pack mentality – The current trend is to call any pitch with a hint of turn a subcontinental pitch. It is almost akin to comparing a green Nagpur surface to the WACA turf. Yes, the pitches took turn more often than expected but the overcast conditions and the wet ball evened up things for spinners. And by no stretch of imagination were Ashwin and Jadeja the most anticipated tweakers of the tournament. And there was none of the flatness that is associated with the batsmen friendly dustbowls of Asia.

What worked for India was the sum of the parts being greater than the whole. Rohit and Dhawan saw off the seaming and swinging new balls on more occasions than one leaving the middle order in a highly desirable position. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (swing), Umesh Yadav (pace) and Ishant Sharma (bounce) completed the holy trinity of a fast bowler’s arsenal. And Ashwin and Jadeja added equal doses of guile and consistency to the mixture to make it a potent potion. It is a formula which will work more often than not in most conditions.

This was the place where, in 2011, the team had suffered its first real ignominy in recent years after one of the biggest successes of all time. Revenge might have been the last thing on their mind – coincidentally they beat England to win the final – but the “Avengers” have begun on a successful note. Many would be keeping track of their progress.