Asia: The Ultimate Test for Cricket’s Best Players

Kolkata: In a surprising turn of events, England suffered a 1-2 series loss in Pakistan, while India faced back-to-back Test defeats at home for the first time since 2012. This marked the end of a remarkable era of dominance that saw India clinch 18 consecutive series victories.

Both results weren’t inevitable, yet there was an undeniable aura about England and India that had successfully deterred the idea that they could blink. Taking it upon themselves to revolutionise the game, England had often tried to underplay defeats in their quest for playing entertaining cricket. India, on the other hand, were probably blindsided by the glacial but steady decline in the form of more frequent losses at home. When it finally blew up in their faces, history was quietly changed.

Victories can’t be appreciated without going through defeats. But it’s not a coincidence that Asia continues to be the centrestage of such history-altering results, reiterating the importance of skill, discipline and respecting the conditions as a batter.

Hitting through the line is easier in Australia because of the consistent bounce that fast bowlers get, followed by England where even mishits off pacers tend to clear the smaller boundaries. For all the time England were riding the high of ‘Bazball’, most of it came unsurprisingly at home where they had crossed 300 in 17 out of 35 innings. Take it overseas and that drops to nine out of 25 innings.

Seven defeats out of 13 Tests away from home, losing in India and Pakistan in the span of seven months, England have rarely looked this vulnerable. Key to it remains their staggering failures on pitches that have aided spin, with Pakistan unapologetically refurbishing a used Multan pitch to hand their inexperienced spinners as big an advantage as possible.

But England, encouraged by their innings victory in the first Test, didn’t flinch. Once the series was levelled in Multan, Brendon McCullum was asked if the pitch had got to them, to which he replied: “I certainly don’t mind if it spins in the next one. I think we’ve got the artillery to be able to handle it, but we’ll find out.” But Rawalpindi was an encore of the second Test.

At the heart of this unarrested slide is England’s refusal to add a safety switch to their batting gears, automatically creating more opportunities to bowlers than it would have normally had. Which when you compare with the immediate past, seems an unnecessary risk.

Since June 2022, England have won five and lost six Tests in India and Pakistan, averaging 31.63 runs per wicket. Go back to 2012, and it was 40.59 during the 2-1 win in India, that too minus any humdrum over the brand of cricket England were intent on playing. Playing to win was reason enough.

Transition is a factor, but India too seemed to have gone down a similar road as England, losing track of the bigger vision trying to make short-term statements. Intent abroad doesn’t necessarily mean the same at home, but trying to force a certain type of approach backfired in the form of a few disconcerting first-innings scores. Till it culminated into a misreading of the conditions in Bengaluru and not converting starts in Pune.

For those who still claim they didn’t see this coming, Pune was India’s third Test defeat at home this year. Which is incredible when put in context of the last three decades of India’s home record—four defeats in the 90s, eight in 2000s and four in the 2010s. Six years to go, India have already lost five Tests at home in this decade.

More could come if there isn’t a concerted effort on fixing the basics of batting at home. Mitchell Santner is no Monty Panesar. Sajid Khan is no Saqlain Mushtaq. But most Asian venues continue to torment even the best batters if the spinners are steadfast in their consistency. Add to that factors like reverse swing and the use of SG ball in India and no bowling attack can be passed off as run-of-the-mill. Which is so important in the context of the game that has been allowed to devolve into a batter-friendly charade. But Asia restores some balance by staying the most exacting leveller in Test cricket.