India may occasionally err on the arrogant side because of their exalted status, but complacency is not something that Kohli is likely to put up with
India skipper Virat Kohli (centre) leads his team off the field after winning the 2nd ODI v NZ at Mount Maunganui last month. Pic/Getty Images
By the end of 2019, India will judge themselves on more than their triumphant tour of Australia and New Zealand. Their current rich vein of form will no doubt imbue them with the confidence to almost feel disappointed if they don't finish 2019 with at least one global trophy to their name, The World Cup in England and the T20 World Cup in Australia should hold no fears for them because they have finally put together a squad that can handle pace bowling, can dish out some heat of their own and they are no longer liabilities in the field.
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But before we look too far ahead, it is important to acknowledge the magnitude of what they have achieved Down Under these last few months. Retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy should never be under-estimated, even if the World Cup dreams go up in smoke. What they achieved here was a sign of things to come. Fearless and bold, they have now exorcised some demons. Winning away from home is no longer a fluke. India have the batsmen to handle these pitches, the bowlers who can meet fire with fire and the mindset that they can mix it with the home teams. A Test series win in South Africa is their next challenge but it is no longer Everest. It will be their Kilimanjaro moment, an epic mountain that cannot be taken lightly but it is not mission impossible. So long as they don't become so arrogant and out of touch that they forget the lessons that Australia still fail to heed.
Winning the ODI series in Australia was no great surprise but it is no less creditable. Winning in NZ too became a habit. Confidence is a wonderfully infectious thing. Even without Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, the best players in their positions in the world, and with experiments galore, India almost stole the T20 series in Hamilton. If they don't start as warm favourites for the World T20, the bookies have it wrong.
The NZ tour was a refreshing way to put some icing on a cake that had been baked in a more hostile oven in Australia. Whilst the Kiwis were every bit as competitive as Australia, their style of play is in stark contrast to the abrasive, sandpaper-like (pun intended) cloak that Australia finds impossible to shed. In NZ, you could clearly see the Indians relaxing, enjoying the cricket with smiles on their faces, comfortable that their hosts were playing to win but without the constant needling that almost every country experiences when playing Australia.
The hapless Sri Lankans got belted by both Antipodean neighbours but it was patently obvious that Kane Williamson's team managed to dominate with grace. It is a lesson that will take more than some mealy-mouthed press conferences and Integrity Reviews to truly take root in the Aussie cricket culture. When something is rotten, it can only be made pure again with a scalpel that cuts out any traces of the cancer. Cosmetic surgery merely hides the malignant cells that lurk beneath.
The recent Allan Border Medal underscored that very point. The current crop of Australian cricketers still do not fully comprehend the magnitude of what happened on that fateful day in Cape Town last year. It is clear that they failed to fully grasp the significance of that moment. I keep coming back to my constant refrain that they are sorry they got caught. Their regret does not extend deeper than that. How else can you explain Cameron Bancroft being given two points for his first innings runs in that Test?
Those points are awarded on a 3-2-1 basis by team-mates who cast their votes AFTER the Test is completed. The cricket world was reeling from what had just transpired, Bancroft was about to be suspended for nine months for deliberately cheating and lying...and his team-mates gave him two points? This is hardly indicative of a team culture that remotely comprehended the seriousness of what had just befallen them. To think that Cricket Australia allowed those two points to be credited to Bancroft beggars belief.
India's pitfalls lie in complacency and arrogance, traits that Ravi Shastri is unlikely to tolerate. They may occasionally err on the arrogant side because of their exalted status but complacency is not something that Kohli is likely to put up with. His desire to win sometimes draws him too close to the flame but I simply cannot see him allowing this team to take short cuts when it comes to attitude. As for arrogance, I can only speak as I find. Many many years ago, I befriended Dinesh Karthik when he was only a young man, a long time before he played for India. To this day, whenever I contact him, his respect and manners astonish me. If all Indian cricketers had his humility and decency, arrogance is a beast that will never darken your doors. India will rule for many years to come - it is my hope that they do so with a grace and a charm hitherto rarely seen Down Under. Oh, except in NZ of course.
Michael Jeh is a Brisbane-based former first-class player
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