Dissector
International Debutant
I think India had the potential to be a dominant test team if Ishant had fulfilled the promise he showed a couple of years ago. Like many others I think the kid is special and could have emerged as a top class test bowler but obviously it hasn't happened and SS's wheel of mediocrity has turned with a vengeance.
The other obviously important condition was that Zaheer maintain reasonable fitness and form. If Ishant had emerged as a leader of the attack supported by Zaheer, Bhaji and perhaps Sreesanth you have a good test attack capable of winning series anywhere in the world. Combined with the batting I could easily see this team winning in Australia and South Africa and establishing itself as undisputed no.1. It's unlikely to happen now and India will probably lose its no.1 ranking soon, possibly after this series.
Pretty sad given that it will be a long time before we see an Indian batting lineup as good as this one but as Indian fans we can be happy with the achievements of the last few years where India has either won or been competitive in every single series. We have won at least one test in our last 15 series including 6 non-BD tours.
The other obviously important condition was that Zaheer maintain reasonable fitness and form. If Ishant had emerged as a leader of the attack supported by Zaheer, Bhaji and perhaps Sreesanth you have a good test attack capable of winning series anywhere in the world. Combined with the batting I could easily see this team winning in Australia and South Africa and establishing itself as undisputed no.1. It's unlikely to happen now and India will probably lose its no.1 ranking soon, possibly after this series.
Pretty sad given that it will be a long time before we see an Indian batting lineup as good as this one but as Indian fans we can be happy with the achievements of the last few years where India has either won or been competitive in every single series. We have won at least one test in our last 15 series including 6 non-BD tours.