Until the very last week, 2013 was a good year for Indian cricket. Six successive Test victories, albeit at home, and that epic draw at Jo'burg, around that success in the Champions Trophy in England & Wales, gave the squad plenty of confidence. Tendulkar departed the scene but with Dhawan, Pujara, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jadeja et al firing more often than not, the future was beginning to look rosy for MS Dhoni's side.
However, a heavy defeat in the Centurion Test and seven winless ODIs in succession has, to borrow an analogy from the local weather news in Somerset, left the Dhoni express running into South African and now New Zealand floodwaters and drifting off the rails across the Levels and into the trees. Losing a few 50-over contests overseas isn't a disaster but failure in the Auckland five-dayer is a real setback for a side bristling with global superstars. This is form reminiscent of Moyles-era Man United. As with the Fulham encounter, this was ultimately an exciting game in which the underdogs were in control from the start before almost throwing it away and nicking it at the death.
For New Zealand, Kane Williamson is in tremendous form. Five consecutive half-centuries in the ODI series, then a first-innings 113, has made him a young batsman to be reckoned with. Skipper Brendon McCullum has a great reputation in the shorter formats but his 224, one short of his career-best (also achieved against India) showed his more patient side. His seamers have impressed in recent months, too, and here Boult, Wagner and Southee made life tough for India's stars, leaving them floundering at 10-3 until Sharma steered them towards 200. McCullum didn't enforce the follow-on and may have been ruing that decision when NZ were dismissed for just 105.
India had a stiff but not impossible target of 407. That they had two days in which to get the runs was not part of the equation. They needed a strong foundation, and this was duly delivered by Dhawan and Kohli. Then, having reached 222-2, things turned against them. Wickets began to fall regularly and Dhoni, Jadeja and Zaheer Khan slipped into one-day strokeplay mode. However, the NZ seam attack combined with BJ Watling's gloves to end the opposition's resistance and made it three Test wins in a row. That hasn't happened for six years and that sequence included two against Bangladesh instead of the West Indies and India.
Great stuff for New Zealand but, with the Asia Cup, World T20s and IPL on the horizon, India needs to get the train back on the rails in the next Test to keep the fans and sponsors happy. As they showed second time around this weekend, they don't need to improve too much. Nevertheless more incisive bowling is desperately needed along with a Plan B when Kohli and Dhawan get out. Throwing the bat is fine in an ODI when the game is slipping away but the likes of Jadeja, Sharma, Dhoni and Khan surely have the ability to do better in Tests. I don't think this reverse will have any bearing on the T20 tourney but England must be licking their lips in anticipation of a post-KP win-fest come the summer!
