Not often do you see the Indian Cricket Team seated on the stadium, glued to their TV screens cheering for another Indian team when a bowler bats at 8 and scores an unbeaten 69 to pull a rabbit out of his hat and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Not everyday does a team go on to play a 3 ODI match series and ends up handing debuts to as many as 7 players. That too when the Captain himself is taking charge of his troops for the first time in his long illustrious international career.
Not everyday do you see a player like Surya Kumar Yadav making his ODI debut at the age of thirty and going on to win the man of the series with some special performances – so much so that he gets called up to join the Test team already preparing in England which brings us to our next point.
Not often do you see so much talent on display specially after one team and clearly the main Indian team has already been in England for a few months now and yet India agreed to play another tour visiting another country with another set of players who showcased their tremendous talents and potential and eventually bagged the series comfortably too. This has been a series of some serious displays of bench strength and talent the Indian cricket team has showcased. Not only that, it has clearly indicated how over the years, the Indian Cricket’s ecosystem has thrived and brought about some serious developments in their players, be it veterans or youngsters. But more importantly, this series has shown the style and the confidence of young India and how no matter what the game or what the stage, all the boys know is how to express themselves and show the world what they are made of.
Another promising result of this series was the performance of Gabbar – both as a player as well as a captain. The maturity with which he played these games, handled the youngsters while at the same time showing responsibility with the bat is out and out a very positive aspect for the Indian team. With the T20 World Cup just a few months away, Dhawan hitting the ground running is a very ominous signs for other teams, considering his records and consistency in the ICC tournaments.
The Spin Twins ‘Kulcha’ – Kuldeep and Chahal who fell out of favour with the Indian cricket team after dominating the International limited overs scene for quite a few years too showed sincere commitment and potential and finally some form too. They were there to put a squeeze on the scoring during the middle overs of the game while either of them also picking wickets too when the team needed them to. Just like the good old times!
The biggest positive from this series has to be the induction of Surya Kumar Yadav in the squad too. We all knew he was the man and he always had the talent, it was just a matter of handing out opportunities to him and boy did he cash it. If anything, he looked the most comfortable batsman, not just in the team but on the entire field as well.
There was class, there was style, there was temperament, there were boundaries and there were lots of runs. He won our hearts, the man of the tournament and now also a call to join the Indian Test Squad in England. Amazing how life can turn around in your favour so well after all the rejections over the years isn’t it? All you gotta do is never lose hope because as they say, “Hope is a good thing, perhaps even the best of things and no good thing ever dies.” Surya’s story is all about the little things we may forget – hope and belief.
Another welcoming aspect of the series was the performance of pacers particularly from the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvi, who has been in and out of the side owing to various injuries and not playing consistently for the team has performed quite well in the series and also shown signs of him coming back to his best which can only be a great sign for team India. India will need his experience and his skills in the upcoming T20 World Cup and if he can replicate that talent and experience on the big stage for India, this would go a long way in making India’s case to help them lift the trophy for the second time after 2007.
