Cricket

 An interesting analysis 

Though most of us know about this trend but seeing it in numbers makes for an interesting reading.

Indian Test Cricket - some facts and figures.

After India's excellent come-back win in Ranchi yesterday, the current test series was won. India have taken a 3-1 lead in the series with just 1 test to play. It's an impressive achievement, considering the fact that some of India's world class test players were missing. 

Though the series is won, the fifth test in Dharamsala is important, as I see it. If India can win this game, we will achieve something that I had never thought possible I'd witness in my lifetime. 

After the Ranchi test, we have played a total of 578 tests so far, of which we have won 177 and lost 178. A victory in Dharamsala will reduce this gap to zero - which, as I mentioned, will give me great personal satisfaction.

When I first started following Indian test cricket in earnest, during the 1966-67 home series against West Indies, the figures at the end of that series were 10 wins and 37 defeats in 97 tests (minus 27).

In 1971 we achieved 2 great overseas series wins under Ajit Wadekar, in West Indies and in England. In spite of that, at Wadekar's retirement (after the 1974 series in England) the figures were 19 wins and 53 losses in 132 tests (minus 34).

We won the World Cup in 1983, which undoubtedly was a watershed moment in Indian cricket history. However, at the end of 1983, the figures read 35 wins and 80 losses in 219 tests (minus 45). The gap seemed to me to be ever increasing.

We won a lot of tests at home in the 90s, when Wadekar stepped in as coach, with Azharuddin as captain. Still, at the end of Azhar's first spell as captain, after July 1996, the figures were 54 wins and 98 losses in 298 tests (minus 44). 

Then Tendulkar, Azhar again and Tendulkar again had spells as captain, after which, in March 2000, the figures were worse: 61 wins and 112 defeats in 333 matches (minus 51). 

Then came the Ganguly era. It ended in September 2005, when the figures were 84 wins and 127 losses in 387 tests (minus 43). The gap was finally narrowing. However, it was still quite large for me to even imagine that I will be able to see this gap reduced to a single figure!

The Dravid and Kumble era that followed the Ganguly spell ended in October 2008, when the figures were 96 wins and 136 defeats in 424 tests (minus 40). The gap had decreased, albeit marginally.

Then came the Dhoni era, which ended suddenly in December 2014. The figures at that stage was 122 wins and 156 defeats in 486 tests (minus 34). The gap was decreasing, though too slowly for my comfort.

The Kohli era that followed was the one when this gap got reduced drastically. When Kohli removed himself as captain after the series in South Africa in January 2022, the figures were already giving me real hope - 166 wins and 173 defeats in 560 tests (minus 7). 

And now the Rohit era has reduced this gap to minus 1. Hopefully we will be able to win the last test of the current series and wipe the deficit once and for all.

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