Silence over Indian pitches signals a much-needed return to status quo for Men in Blue

The first extended phase of Indian domination at home in Tests reared its head midway through the 2000s after global success in the shorter format provided the BCCI an effective blueprint. From 2007 through to 2013, India won 60% of its home Tests while losing just four times across 37 encounters – the victory count of 22 was then unprecedented for the nation through any set of 30-plus Tests or seven consecutive years of red-ball cricket. The time period was also concurrent with India producing their flattest ever pitches as the average score across the first two innings of Tests across the seven years read a staggering 420. In the seven years prior, the same metric was a far-off 361 runs and an even lower 312 across the seven years post the period in consideration.

A large reason behind their success in this era was the supremacy of the ‘Big Four’ – Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and VVS Laxman – all of whom averaged over 45 through their respective 100-plus Test careers and three sit in the ICC Hall of Fame. However, this golden era in Indian Test cricket came to an abrupt end when the entire quartet gave up the Indian whites within the space of 24 months, beginning with Dravid and Laxman’s simultaneous farewell Down Under in January 2012 and ending with Sachin bowing out at the Wankhede in November 2013.

While a transition had been on the cards for a while by then, the loss of four mainstays in the top-five of their batting lineup meant India hit the panic button quicker than Sehwag got off the mark, a situation further exacerbated by successive whitewashes in Australia and England before the latter achieved a historic 2-1 series victory in the subcontinent in 2012. Drastic spinning surfaces ensued in India’s first home assignment without the four, against South Africa in 2015, despite the visiting contingent also undergoing a similar transition in the wake of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis’ retirements. Across the four Tests, the visitors surpassed the 200-run mark just once while India posted totals in excess of 250 only twice – in both the innings of the final Test in Delhi when the series was already firmly in the bag.

Perhaps more importantly in hindsight, India had unearthed two generational spin bowling talents in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja who would go on to rule over visiting batting contingents with unprecedented control. Concurrently, the BCCI also made a conscious decision to spread Tests across non-core venues to increase the nation’s access to the widely accepted pinnacle of the sport. This move further accelerated India’s return to their familiar template of batting friendly tracks and lethal spin attacks for two apparent reasons – a depleted home advantage for India’s Test regulars given their lack of first-class experience on such venues meant an increased focus on helping them bank on their strengths, and an attempt to increase the entertainment quotient of Tests through higher scoring games in order to attract substantial crowds.

Tomorrow Rajkot will host just its third Test and first since 2018 as a part of BCCI's continued expansion of the sport's pinnacle away from the core venues#INDvsENG #TestCricket #RajkotTest pic.twitter.com/qN61Lu9GxB

— SportsCafe (@IndiaSportscafe) February 14, 2024

History repeated itself with unwavering predictability when the next transition rolled around and its unexpected nature further made things worse. The entirety of India’s core suffered an inexplicable but blatant decline in their ability to play spin with the herald of the ongoing decade, including a freakish slump for skipper Kohli, even as the reputation of Ashwin and Jadeja grew to stratospheric levels.

Drawing upon their success in 2015 against the Proteas, the BCCI uncouthly recoiled to tailormaking tracks aimed towards short-term success. However, the sheer acuteness of the approach produced pitches where the ball flew by at shin height and turned square at a whim, rendering shambolic low-scoring games where the chances of victory for either side essentially became as random as the flip of a coin. Australia and England consequently managed to sneak a game each on their adventures but altering decks as per the narrative of the series ensured India’s unbeaten series streak at home remained secure.

That brings us up to date, where India has sensibly reactivated their default template from the 21st century that first made them a force to be reckoned with at home. The very importance of this template can be understood from the way in which it  has paved the way for India’s unparalleled success on foreign shores. There has been a marked global trend of increasingly flat pitches in major Test nations, reflected in the relatively stable batting averages of batsmen despite the ongoing wobble ball epidemic that has brought pacers back to the forefront in the longest format of the game.

In Ashwin and Jadeja, India have been blessed with two of the most skillful spinners of the generation that don’t need skewed tracks to win their nation Test matches. Having flat tracks as the norm has also played a pivotal role in India producing arguably the most skilled pacer of the current lot in Jasprit Bumrah. Developing his trade on lifeless domestic tracks, in conjunction with a high cricketing IQ and the boom in T20 cricket, has forced the 30-year-old to evolve a lethal arsenal with effective yorkers, slower balls, and exceptional control over his reverse swing, in additon to the more conventional skills of seam and swing bowling – all of which was on glorious display in a performance for the ages in Vizag.

However, all said and done, India is on the brink of their most significant change in guard since the early 2010s, with all of Rohit Sharma, Ashwin, Jadeja, and Kohli well past the age of 35 while Pujara and Rahane have already been ousted from the red-ball setup. The promise shown by the incoming generation is a far cry from their predecessors as far as the latest evidence goes, in both the batting an spin bowling department.