India smashes conventional wisdom!

[Ram]

When it comes to strategies in test cricket, it is quite difficult to get fans to agree upon what they think is the right way to go about winning a test match. Whether it be the choice of bowling attack or the opening partnership or even the choice of spinners, it is next to impossible to achieve consensus on what constitutes a winning strategy. But there is an exception to this rule - The prospect of batting last, on a day 5 pitch, chasing what could be only a reasonably moderate target. Teams freak out at this prospect, literally. You ask any captain what his worst nightmare is and his immediate answer would the prospect of chasing a moderate score on a crumbling pitch on day 5. In fact, the ‘Demons of day 5’ terrorize team managements so much that that they risk batting first on winning the toss, even when the conditions are bowler friendly on day 1. The beltway wisdom has always been – Win the toss, bat first, put up a decent score and you’re halfway already there. And by and large, the stats back that position up as well. Thousands of test matches have been played so far, but successful run chases on day 5 pitches have been only a handful. More than the success stories, what has perpetuated this urban legend have been the spectacular failures of teams trying to chase on day 5. As Indian fans, we don’t need any reminder as to what happened in West Indies a decade and a half ago, when our batting was blown away like a hurricane and we were bowled out for 80, chasing a meager 120. On the other end of the scale, there was the spectacular come-from-behind victory against the Aussies in 2001, when we bowled them out in 2 sessions in day 5. The Pakistani teams of present have literally made it a life’s mission to collapse in dramatic fashion. No one really knows what is it about day 5 cricket that seems to catalyze these collapses, but you cannot deny that something’s different. Surely the pitch cannot magically transform overnight after play on day 4, but 4 days of wear and tear does make a difference. It could be that the batsmen are already fatigued from the stresses and strains of 5 days of cricket and this mental and physical duress could translate to inferior application on the last day 5. If you couple that with the general pressures associated with such chases, then it has all the correct ingredients for a dizzying collapse. Maybe its because the bowling side is borderline desperate, because they know that if they screw up the final day, there’s no recourse. This desperation probably drives them to push that much harder, for that much longer. The crowd gets behind the teams more vocally as well, adding to the atmosphere and tension. But, in a manner akin to showing the proverbial middle finger to the rest of the world, the Indian team bucked the trend and orchestrated some of the most memorable chases in test cricket in the last decade. Just in the last 3 years alone, we have to our credit, not one, not two, not three, but FIVE such chases (Pakistan in Delhi 2007, England in Chennai 2008, In Sri Lanka in 2010 and against Australia in Mohali and B’lore in 2010). And apart from the nail-biter in Mohali, the other wins have been unusually easy, like almost a walk in the park. This is not only a great advertisement for the quality of our batsmen, but a strong testament to their mental toughness as well. The best part in these chases is that, almost every single batsmen in the current line-up has had some role to play or the other. It has been a collective effort, not a one-man show. Australia under Steve Waugh had already been winning a lot of test matches, but when they defeated Sri Lanka by overcoming 1st innings deficits to win all the three matches in Lanka, that was when the world stood up, took notice and applauded. This series of run chases could well be our point of inflection, when it comes to winning over the rest of the world. Respect from the cricketing world doesn’t come easy. If you’re batsmen, you need to be consistent not just for 1-2 seasons, but 4-5 in a row. And if you’re team, you have to win not just when its easy, but when its hard. And the Indian team has done just that! Well played India!

[achilles]

Superb article.

[kabira]

Steve Waugh was not the captain. Ricky Ponting was the captain in Lanka Series

[Online]

Well written, nice read...thanks.

[gaurav92]

Superbly written Sir. :nice: