Image Credit- Getty
One of the greatest sounds in sports must be your
fielders’ cackling resonating through an empty or silent stadium on the last
morning of a Test match, knowing that you have virtually destroyed the home
team’s hopes. It is impossible to exaggerate how tough and satisfying it is to
win a Test match away from home.
India has been craving this sound since their most
recent trip of South Africa, when they failed to defend respectable totals for
two straight games. It is a sound they became used to producing between 2018
and 2021. Then, when they proceeded to finish the Covid-19-affected series,
they lost the series lead that they had acquired in England the year before.
Australia defeated them in the World Test Championship final held in England.
Next, the Centurion Test. By an innings and change.
India needed the bowlers to counter that threat when
they arrived in Cape Town. to reassure and inspire them that they still possess
the skills necessary to compete when they travel to these nations. Even though
their chances of winning the series were gone, they still had a Test to win and
aspirations to raise for their upcoming two away tours to England and
Australia.
There was no retreat on the part of the leadership.
They actually got rid of a bowler who was more valuable for his hitting than
his bowling. He was replaced by a skilled seamer. It requires confidence on
your part to act promptly following a 131 all out.
Your sight can be somewhat deceiving when a team’s
backup bowlers are struggling in a Test match and you have to return for spell
after spell. After an injury, is Jasprit Bumrah still the same bowler? Were we
hasty to lump Mohammed Siraj alongside Ishant Sharma, Bumrah, and Mohammed
Shami?
The enmity and precision of Bumrah and Siraj’s initial
periods in Centurion were carried over to Cape Town. They would have accepted a
longer stint if they had been gaining wickets, of course, but Siraj kept up
that pace for nine overs in the opening innings. Siraj’s current average after
23 tests is 28.25, which is just a point less than the average for those tests,
which is 27.24. The man is capable of managing himself.
As South Africa searched for quick runs, that second
morning’s Bumrah period served as yet another pertinent reminder of his talent.
Only when he reached Keshhav Maharaj did he bowl full and got him out right
away. The Bumrah who doesn’t search is the best. Simply continued to bowl the
hard lengths and cashed in the bank account he had built up over the previous
three innings.
After the T20 World Cup concludes in June, we don’t
yet know who will lead India’s cricket team to Australia and England. However,
we do know that whomever takes charge of the squad will need to ensure that
Bumrah, Siraj, and Shami are fit and bowling at or near their peak for these
series. Maybe one final time on a significant away tour as India’s next away
tour will be at the end of 2026 to New Zealand.