Team India could not have asked for a more deflating – and demoralizing – build up to the much-hyped Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) against Austraila, beginning November 22. Almost everyone, this columnist included, had hoped that India would wallop New Zealand, which had come to the country fresh from a 2-0 rout at the hands of lowly Sri Lanka. Everyone had assumed that we would have assured ourselves a place in the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC) in England next June even before landing in Kangaroo country.
No one could have imagined that a bunch of players with modest credentials at best – and without their best batter - could achieve what the all-conquering West Indies under Clive Llloyd in the 1980s or the mighty Aussies led by Mark Taylor at the turn of the century could do. A 3-0 whitewash was on everyone’s mind; but in favour of India, not the Kiwis. The end result, therefore, has come as a bolt from the blue and forced us to do a reality check.
It was hard to believe that it was the same side that thrashed the pompous ‘Bazballers’ from England 4-1 late last year and the hapless Bangladeshis 2-0 recently. Yashasvi Jaiwal, the great new hope of Indian batting, looked a shadow of the player who amassed over 700 runs against England not so long ago. Subman Gill, the other star young batter, played one fine innings of 90 in the Mumbai Test but looked highly vulnerable in every other innings.
Sarfaraz Khan played one spectacular knock of 151 at Bengal.
