Inching Towards Invincibility

It would be pretty premature to vindicate the arguments of some of the over enthusiastic fans of Indian cricket. However one cannot deny the possibilities of men in blue being the invincible in world cricket in near future. Recently concluded test series stamps the authority on the exaggerated notion of the fans. Last 12 to 18 months has earmarked the beginning of a dynamic yet successful era in Indian cricket. Under the trendsetting leadership of “Virat Kohli” India rose to a new height in the test arena. Riding with a staggering record of 5 consecutive series victory, Kohli continues to inspire his boys with his exuberant batting performance. Talking about Kohli, he is a rare breed of player who not only sustained the dual responsibility of captaincy and being the fulcrum of batting lineup, but also excelled with flying colours in both the responsibility. Looking into the past, many cricketing greats have crumbled with captaincy ultimately not able to live up to the expectation. Most notable among them are Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. Indian cricket team is going through a transition period when all the senior player are being overshadowed with excellent domestic performance by some of the exciting, emerging young players. In the backdrop of this transitional phase, performing well in international arena is quite an outstanding achievement. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja together holding the 1^st and 2^nd rank in ICC test bowling ranking is the prove Indian dominance in the world. Before this, the last time when 2 of the Indian bowlers, the legendary Bhagwat Chandrasekar and Bishen Singh Bedi, were in the top 2 ranks was back in 1974. It’s noteworthy that Ravi Ashwin bagged the “ICC cricketer of the year” and “ICC test cricketer of the year”, considered to be a rare feat. With spectacular triple century in Chennai test, Karun Nayar has also announced his introduction into world cricket with a grand fashion. Pace battery spearheaded by Mohammed Sami has also done quite good in the pitches which are considered to be predominantly not so good for fast bowling. Only concern is the overseas performance of the team in those seaming and swinging alien condition in world test championship in England in 2017.