Team India is boring. And for it to succeed, it’s the best thing possible

The Indian cricket team, headed by Virat Kohli, showed in Sri Lanka that they are a ruthless force. They won the Test series 3-0 (with two of the matches won by an innings after asking Sri Lanka to follow-on), and the ODI series 5-0.

There have been cynics of the current cricket team saying that they are boring to watch, and that they have only been playing in home conditions (or subcontinent-level conditions), which isn’t proof of how they will do outside Asia. The series in South Africa series will be proof of how well this team is, is a constant argument I have heard. While I buy it, given India’s poor performances – particularly in Test cricket – in the past five years, it’s hard to discount the performance of Virat Kohli and his team.

Firstly, they have stuck to basics. They have made the runs and taken 10 wickets (or 20 in Tests) on a consistent basis. They have worked on their fitness and fielding. And while there is a vast scope for improvement in the catching department, people who have seen this team play can vouch that there has been a vast improvement since New Zealand came to tour India last year.

Secondly, everyone wants to win. And winning is just another day at office. They are business-like in their approach and treat both victory and defeat as a learning curve to improve their game. For me, Kohli’s team reminds me of the Australian squad under both Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. The teams play a ruthless form of cricket, which may not be easy on the eye, but gets the job done. At the end of the day, that’s the job of a professional sportsperson.

Why boring?

A number of people have called Virat Kohli and his team’s brand of cricket ‘boring’. They say it’s not fun watching the Indian cricket team anymore. But here’s a question: When Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting or Graeme Smith’s squads delivered the same type of results against weaker oppositions, we called it a dominating performance.

When Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman made history, thanks to that memorable partnership at The Eden Gardens, we said that Test cricket is alive and strong. It was the period of romanticism in Indian cricket, following the renaissance period between 1971 (when Ajit Wadekar led India to wins in West Indies and England) to 1983 (when India won the World Cup).

MS Dhoni, as captain, started the professionalism and the belief that India could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But his Test losses in England and Australia after the 2011 World Cup victory showed that he was tired and had run out of ideas.

When Kohli took over, we lost two Tests in Australia, but India had its head held high, primarily thanks to Kohli’s batting in the Adelaide Test, and then his partnership with Ajinkya Rahane in the final Test. Since then, India has lost one Test to Australia and one to Sri Lanka. In ODIs, India reached the finals of the Champions Trophy, won a home series against a good England side and whitewashed Sri Lanka, just to name a few. In T20s, India reached the semi-finals of the World T20 only to lose to eventual champions West Indies.

And in all these matches, Kohli and his team stuck to the basics. Make runs, score wickets. It did not matter if Ravi Shastri was Team Director or Anil Kumble was coach. Whatever was happening off the field, stayed off the field. When the match began, all the focus was on winning.

Criticism

If there is a criticism of this Indian team, it is this that like other great teams, while Plan A is a well-oiled machine, the team is lacking in a good Plan B when things don’t work in their favour. Ravindra Jadeja panicking and running out Hardik Pandya in the Champions Trophy final is an example of it.

Good teams have weak spots and this is the Achilles Heel of the current Indian team, which is on the brink of being a great side if they figure this out.

And if the crack it – and I believe they do – we can see more ‘boring’ records happening .