With apologies to South Africa, who took an unassailable series lead against New Zealand, this has been a week when cricket’s focus has been on events at Colombo and Ranchi.
First of all, congratulations to Bangladesh for recording only their fourth away Test victory in their 100th match. Beating Sri Lanka by four wickets was arguably their best performance on foreign soil, and coming fewer than 6 months after giving Alastair Cook’s England a momentous hiding. To some extent the result in Colombo this week is an indication of Sri Lanka’s regression as much as Bangladesh’s progression, but let’s not take anything away from Mushfiqur Rahim’s side.
Whilst not being one of the three centurions in the game, Tamim Iqbal was named Player of the Match. Whilst never really fulfilling his early potential on the global stage, Tamim remains an important part of the Bangladeshi line-up. And yet the world’s undisputed number one all-rounder Shakib al Hasan still had a major role to play in this latest triumph. He has participated in almost half of his nation’s Tests, accumulating almost 3,500 runs at over 40 and 176 wickets at barely 34 apiece. That’s pretty good going, especially as most of his performances have come in a losing cause.
India’s spin kings Ravi Jadeja and R Ashwin are hot on his heels, and both stand on top of the ICC bowling rankings. The former has emerged from the shadow of his team-mate over the winter, and added a further nine wickets and a rapid half-century in the latest contest with Australia. After the surprise thumping in the series opener, Kohli’s men seem to have regained the upper hand. It’s been an impressive period for Cheteshwar Pujara, too. Amidst all the headline-catching six-hitters and tight slowies, the 29 year-old right-hander has grown in my estimation. It’s brilliant to see a five-day specialist adding a third double-century to his tally, boosting his average to almost 52.
The opposition skipper Steve Smith may be heading for a series defeat but his personal stock as ace batsman continues to rise. His imperious first innings 178 not out did, in hindsight, probably saved his side in the 3rd Test although it was the resilience of Shaun Marsh and Handscomb which kept the Indian attack at bay on the final day.
In 98 Test innings, Smith has already amassed 19 hundreds and 20 fifties, boasting an incredible average of a shade below 61. His ICC ranking score of 941 is also up here with the best batsmen not only of his generation but any era. Not bad for a much maligned converted leg-spinner! Not bad, either, for someone burdened with captaincy of the green baggies, forever in the media spotlight. Few can outshine Virat Kohli but, at least in the five-day format, Smith is doing just that.
The Smith-Kohli battle in the remaining two fixtures will be almost as fascinating as that of the two teams, and I’d love the overall result to rest on the final match. Five-Test series outside the Ashes are rare but this one thoroughly deserves it.
