Is this the mentally toughest indian test team ever?

[gakgupta]

There could be tougher Individuals mentally in Indian team like dravid /kumble etc etc ... But as the team this is the best I have seen 

 

In the tendulkar era this could be easily 4 - 0 or 5- 0 series in favour of England but not to be with the current team

 

These players are tough and there to do wonders

 

Even Australia would be proud with this performance, had they had the same talent and went on to do 2 all

[New guy]

Bowling still makes a difference, we raked up huge scores overseas all the time yet didn't have the bowlers to take 20 wickets and would draw or lose those games.

 

One bumrah or siraj or Shamj and we would have won way more in those eras

 

Another mentality change because of t20 is attacking batting with teams going for wins over draw. We would play for draw and lose. Or opposition will just play out draws unlike today where england went for win in every match.

Edited August 5, 2025 by New guy

[vvvslaxman]

 

Jadeja , Sundar, Pant  these three are the toughest mentally. I Have seen others losing their technique under a bit of pressure.  These three are unflappable. 

[Chakdephatte]

Cricket isn't as mental a game as portrayed. Every international had that so called mental strength, including the trolled ones like KL Rahul. Win/Loss is a combination of many factors, obviously including skills as well. 

[Gollum]

Single series, I don't think any team can top 2021 BGT one. And not just talking about India.

 

Over a course of 3-4 years, perhaps the 2007-10 Indian team who often outclutched the opponents even when they weren't necessarily the better team on field. Some memorable rearguards (GG's Napier marathon or the tests in India where Harbhajan rescued us from 30/6) and 4th innings chases (Laxman's heroics in Colombo and Mohali, 2008 Chennai test against Eng) in that period. That team had real spine, the way they recovered after monkeygate, they way the struck back against ATG RSA in Durban after getting clobbered in Centurion. 2008 Lanka tour was the only blip, and that was more due to us being unable to pick Mendis. All the great players there stood up at some point, VVS of course did it regularly. 

 

2013-23 Indian team was clutch af at home, but the 4th innings surrenders overseas drag them down. 2015-22 team had fighters but somehow couldn't finish the job in SENA multiple times, they should have had a couple of more SENA scalps. 

 

This team, long way to go. Admirable efforts here especially final 2 tests, but can't forget the Lord's fiasco or Headingley loss. They have the potential to justify this mentally tough tag but sample size is too small now. Let us see how they fight in NZ next year, and home BGT. This squad has many clutch players/fighters like Pant, Sundar, Axar, Siraj...so ingredients are there. We need a Laxman type player in this team, especially for our 4th innings woes. 

Edited August 5, 2025 by Gollum

[Suhaan]

Youngsters have always delivered,these guys have a point to prove 

Hope they don't get content with this much and be complacent like their seniors before

 

[raki05]

29 minutes ago, gakgupta said:

There could be tougher Individuals mentally in Indian team like dravid /kumble etc etc ... But as the team this is the best I have seen 

 

In the tendulkar era this could be easily 4 - 0 or 5- 0 series in favour of England but not to be with the current team

 

These players are tough and there to do wonders

 

Even Australia would be proud with this performance, had they had the same talent and went on to do 2 all

We had never been mentally tough especially chasing in 4th inning or defending. Barring exception of Gaba and Oval yday. Sample for being mentally tough is still small. Let them at-least chase few 200 first in 4th inning and defend 300 total.

[Suhaan]

5 minutes ago, raki05 said:

We had never been mentally tough especially chasing in 4th inning or defending. Barring exception of Gaba and Oval yday. Sample for being mentally tough is still small. Let them at-least chase few 200 first in 4th inning and defend 300 total.

Well I have observed SENA pitches have become better and better with passage of time in a test

It's extremely tough to chase 220-250+ totals in 4th innings in SC infact

But even if it is,we should be proactive with our strategies and field placements while defending totals in SENA,make it tough rather than a cakewalk

[Gollum]

28 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

Jadeja , Sundar, Pant  these three are the toughest mentally. I Have seen others losing their technique under a bit of pressure.  These three are unflappable. 

I think Pant and Sundar are a class above when it comes to clutchness. Bumrah, Jaiswal, Jadeja, Siraj are ofc terrific cricketers but they don't give the assured feel of those two in this format at least. It all started with their Gabba partnership, then that underrated partnership in Ahmedabad (final) test against Eng.......here also.  

[Gollum]

56 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

Jadeja , Sundar, Pant  these three are the toughest mentally. I Have seen others losing their technique under a bit of pressure.  These three are unflappable. 

They have watertight defence and more importantly they trust their defence under pressure. Jaiswal should improve in that regard. 

 

Had Poms (esp. Smith) trusted their defence a bit more instead of wafting at everything, they would have forced Indian bowlers to bowl close to body and things would have been easier for them. 

[Lone Wolf]

NZ should be a grudge series for this lot... They humiliated us last year make no mistake.

 

If Indian team makes it their mission to beat them there then it's possible.

 

This same English side ragdolled Kiwis last year no reason why we can't do it to them.

I wish we were playing them this year than next.  We are battle hardened now.

 

Also We have broken their hold on us in ICC tournaments off late.  Last 4 times we have beaten them in ICC tourneys including 2 knockouts.

 

That home series defeat still stings.

Edited August 5, 2025 by Lone Wolf

[Serpico]

honestly defending 370+ in fourth innings shouldn't be counted as clutch. Good teams wouldn't even allow the situation to come this far. Gill himself said jokingly yesterday that if Siraj didn't step on boundary ropes, it would have been much easier game. Not to mention we lost two matches from commanding position, in this series. Long way to go before they can be called as mentally toughest

 

The current team might be more talented than older teams.. to put themselves in strong positions in 4 out of 5 tests in England is no small feat. But they could only capitalize 2 out of those 4 chances means they are not there yet mentally

[vvvslaxman]

3 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

NZ should be a grudge series for this lot... They humiliated us last year make no mistake.

 

If Indian team makes it their mission to beat them there then it's possible.

 

This same English side ragdolled Kiwis last year no reason why we can't do it to them.

I wish we were playing them this year than next.  We are battle hardened now.

 

Also We have broken their hold on us in ICC tournaments off late.  Last 4 times we have beaten them in ICC tourneys including 2 knockouts.

 

That home series defeat still stings.

One thing that unsettles NZ is always raw pace. NZ has quiet a few raw pace bowlers.  So we should also be prepared for that.

[vvvslaxman]

2 hours ago, Serpico said:

honestly defending 370+ in fourth innings shouldn't be counted as clutch. Good teams wouldn't even allow the situation to come this far. Gill himself said jokingly yesterday that if Siraj didn't step on boundary ropes, it would have been much easier game. Not to mention we lost two matches from commanding position, in this series. Long way to go before they can be called as mentally toughest

 

The current team might be more talented than older teams.. to put themselves in strong positions in 4 out of 5 tests in England is no small feat. But they could only capitalize 2 out of those 4 chances means they are not there yet mentally

 

But Stokes spell kinda rattled us at Lords. Also Archer vs lefties completely tilted the balance. Everyone else averaged poorly against left handers until then. 

[Lone Wolf]

26 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

One thing that unsettles NZ is always raw pace. NZ has quiet a few raw pace bowlers.  So we should also be prepared for that.

Well pace is pace.. Even though Last time India got blown away by Southee's  outswing and Jamieson's  bounce with swing.

 

Southee was MoS as well if I am not wrong.

 

 

[vvvslaxman]

6 minutes ago, Lone Wolf said:

Well pace is pace.. Even though Last time India got blown away by Southee's  outswing and Jamieson's  bounce with swing.

 

Southee was MoS as well if I am not wrong.

 

 

 

This time we are going in with lefties. Lefties definitely have given us the edge. Pant, Jaiswal, Sai, Sundar, Jadeja. It is always a challenge for any bowler to bowl to left handers. 

[BacktoCricaddict]

7 hours ago, Gollum said:

Had Poms (esp. Smith) trusted their defence a bit more instead of wafting at everything, they would have forced Indian bowlers to bowl close to body and things would have been easier for them. 

Shhhhh ... don't tell them lest they implement before they play us next.

[Ultimate_Game]

8 hours ago, gakgupta said:

There could be tougher Individuals mentally in Indian team like dravid /kumble etc etc ... But as the team this is the best I have seen 

 

In the tendulkar era this could be easily 4 - 0 or 5- 0 series in favour of England but not to be with the current team

 

These players are tough and there to do wonders

 

Even Australia would be proud with this performance, had they had the same talent and went on to do 2 all

 

Don't know man. They still struggle with chasing anything over 150 which is not a sign of mentally tough team. They're resilient for sure, and can handle adversity but till they show they can handle chasing targets in 4th innings, won't call them mentally tough.

 

The only time our batting faltered was when they had to chase in the 3rd Test and it was a below par total of 190 and yet we imploded. So yeah Resilience yes, Mentally tough no.

[Ultimate_Game]

5 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

NZ should be a grudge series for this lot... They humiliated us last year make no mistake.

 

If Indian team makes it their mission to beat them there then it's possible.

 

This same English side ragdolled Kiwis last year no reason why we can't do it to them.

I wish we were playing them this year than next.  We are battle hardened now.

 

Also We have broken their hold on us in ICC tournaments off late.  Last 4 times we have beaten them in ICC tourneys including 2 knockouts.

 

That home series defeat still stings.

 

That series humiliation was all thanks to the useless duo of Rohit and Kohli. Averaged in single digits and Kohli also ran his batting partners out 

 

Remove those two and we beat NZ easily the way we did earlier when Jurel and Axar were in the team and Kohli was on a vacation.

[Number]

9 hours ago, Gollum said:

 

 

2013-23 Indian team was clutch af at home, but the 4th innings surrenders overseas drag them down. 2015-22 team had fighters but somehow couldn't finish the job in SENA multiple times, they should have had a couple of more SENA scalps. 

 

 

So true.

 

Edgbaston 2018

Southampton 2018 -couldn't play Moeen Ali :(

 

Cape Town 2018

Centurian 2018 

 

These were modest chases except Centurian should have won them.

 

 

Also should have won first test in NZ in 2013 and Australia in 2014 after being in good positions while chasing. The lower middle order just couldn't cope with the pressure after a long partnership got broken. 

 

Also one big issue I always found under Kohli's captaincy was that meltdown the team used to have after one event not going in their favour. They would never recover from it. Kohli himself rather than putting that event behind will have very defeated body lang and bring the whole team down.

 

example- Elgar LBW fiasco, Fakhar Zaman no ball wicket although that was an ODI.

Edited August 5, 2025 by Number