IND vs SA | Winners and losers from Ranchi ft. Test Cricket in India, Ishant Sharma, George Linde
Not much drama, no thrillers at all, South Africa’s outing in India was a story with no climax; a story that started with a pre-written ending. What’s the point of being a winner when there are no prizes for guessing that South Africa were the biggest losers but coming out of the series.
Winners
Wriddhiman Saha
His face might make him look like the most laidback guy in the current Indian setup but Wriddhiman Saha is one of the liveliest of figures to play Test cricket right now. After being away for a good 25 overs of the last part of South Africa’s second innings, Saha came back and bagged a sensational catch behind the stumps which sum up the series for him and in the broader scenario, his career as well. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant, who was bestowed with the wicketkeeping duties while Saha was away, made blunders with his keeping duties making Saha’s return in the morning of the 4th day look like the return of the king. And as harsh as it might seem, in the current Indian set up, Pant’s shortcomings are Saha’s profit.
George Linde
Since Linde is one of the winners, it’s fair to say that South Africa were losers even in this context. There were a lot of talks before the tour about Keshav Maharaj being instrumental in the for South Africa. However, he turned out to be nothing but disadvantageous for his team, who were struggling to cope with the Indian conditions. Maharaj’s failure led to the roping in of George Linde who made his debut in Ranchi, an inclusion that was made a bit too late in the series. The off-spinner bagged a four-fer in the only innings he got to bowl and made steady runs throughout the Test match. Perhaps, things might have been better on the bowling front if Linde were picked earlier.
Ishant Sharma
Why is Ishant Sharma a winner when he lost his spot in the final Test to Umesh Yadav and is now the fourth prefered pacer for India after Yadav, Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah? After a successful outing in the Caribbean, Ishant lost his charm in the home series and produced ordinary spells in both Vizag and Pune. Eventually, Umesh Yadav who had played fairly better in the second Test was picked over him for Ranchi. But yet again, the question remains why is he a winner? The answer can be found in the above lines. It’s not about one Caribbean tour and one series at home, the story for Ishant Sharma has remained consistent. While he is an asset in overseas tours, his average takes a dip in home conditions. In the last five years, his average in India has been 36.33 as opposed to averaging 25.65 away in the same span. But Umesh’s away average of 43.43 just makes it needless to say that Ishant will remain India’s choice overseas. And that’s how our man gets to keep his overall bowling average from taking a dip by avoiding home fixtures.
Losers
South African pacers
As Faf du Plessis said in the post-match presentation of the 3rd Test, “The mindset after 2015 was to prepare ourselves for really spinning tracks, but it's been the opposite. Really sporting tracks - fantastic for fast bowlers and even for batsmen. There's a lot to learn for us.” The point is, they didn’t learn anything from their mistakes mid-series. At instances when you think they’ve recovered, their act of giving up made fans give up too. While the Indian pacers were able to hit the right lengths, South Africa’s pacers clearly failed to crack the code. And the South Africa skipper’s statement bears testament to it.Â
Shubhman Gill
At 20, Shubhman Gill has indeed overachieved with his IPL fame, Under-19 glory and a super impressive batting average of 69.77 in First-Class cricket. But what he doesn’t have right now is the hype that he got ahead of the Caribbean tour. Amidst India’s dominance, Ajinkya Rahane’s landmark return and Mayank Agarwal’s brilliant show of batting, Shubman Gill’s place in the current Indian setup was lost. All debutants in the series even Linde, Shahbaz Nadeem and Anrich Nortje got enough recognition, something could’ve been Gill’s fate but now it does not seem like an eventuality in the near future.
Test Cricket in India
Three double centurions in the Indian side, their bowlers did exceptionally well too and the athleticism was world-class. The hosts had covered all grounds of brilliance throughout the series and yet somehow, at the end of the day, it didn’t go into the account of Test cricket on Indian soil. In fact, all that did go into the subcontinents credit was the degree of South Africa’s suppression and the fact that there was no contest, no thrill at all. The visitors lied dead on India’s home soil and the hosts walked over them. A trend that was started four years ago when South Africa had toured India, and now is a full circle with India earning 11 consecutive Test series wins at home. But what about the subcontinent’s reputation? Perhaps, India need to tone down their brilliance at home but captain Virat Kohli isn’t a fan of that idea at all.