India defends top spot but now future tense

The first steps towards being acknowledged as a great team was successfully taken by Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side when they defended their No.1 status against a strong South African side, one which has enjoyed series wins in Australia, England and Pakistan and have a enviable record in India.

However, at a time when no single team seems to have a distinct edge in the Test arena since Australia gave up their long-held mantle to South Africa in August last year, a round of musical chairs for the top spot could be the norm, feel pundits. Nine rating points separate the top four teams in the ICC’s Test rankings. India and South Africa, the No.1 and No.2 sides respectively, are separated by four points, while only a difference of one rating point keeps Sri Lanka fourth and Australia third.

Former India skipper Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, under whom the country recorded their first ever Test win on a foreign soil (in Dunedin in 1968), believes that the side under Dhoni can be acknowledged as the best at present but cannot be called a great team till they dominate consistently in all conditions.

“At the moment we are good enough to be No.1 but we will have to win abroad — in South Africa and Australia  — consistently to be considered a great side like the West Indians of the 1980s and early 1990s and the Australian side over the past decade,” Pataudi told DNA on Friday.

Pataudi isn’t too impressed with what he has seen on the future stock. “There will be a slide in a couple of years or so because we will lose great players like VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar to retirements. The second rung haven’t really impressed yet. When Zaheer Khan is injured, our attack is considerably weaker and that speaks volumes of our rather thin bench strength,” Pataudi added.

Mahela Jayawardene believes there is no truth in saying that the race for No.1 is a three-horse affair. “It will be tough for one team to dominate. Most of the teams are well balanced and have talented players coming through. We were No.2 a few months ago. There are five to six teams that can win Test matches consistently,” Jayawardene told this paper.

Dhoni’s next assignment will be against Sri Lanka, a three-Test series in July-August. “It’ll be great for us to have a crack at India. The last time they played here they lost and this time we lost in India. It will be a fascinating series. It’ll be a challenge for us to become No.1 but staying there would be the important thing,” Jayawardene, the No.3 Test batsman in the world, added.

Former England skipper Mike Gatting believes the health of Test cricket will be better off with three-to-four teams vying for the top spot. “It is good for the game that equally competitive sides, each capable of beating the other, will strive hard. It’ll add to the competitiveness of Test cricket. I don’t see any one team dominating world cricket at the moment, but the side which ultimately does will be the one which can retain a set of great players for a long time or one that has another great set of players on the rise,” Gatting said.

“It is very interesting to see a team like India producing good fast bowlers like Ishant, but I guess there is a cause of worry in the spin department with the team having to depend heavily on Harbhajan to deliver the goods time and again,” Gatting added. Pataudi sees no team ruling the world in the near future like the West Indians did or the Australians. “It remains an exciting time for Tests,” the former India skipper said.