Rise of a cricketing superpower

Followers of a recent vintage perhaps need reminding that India wasn’t anywhere near the top of the list of preferred cricketing destinations at the turn of the millennium. Interestingly, even ironically, most of the same set of complaints — the massive crowds, the constant clamour for autographs and photographs, the incessant noise — that were once deterrents have now become India’s USP. All these, of course, and the visibility and financial riches that the undisputed powerhouse of world cricket has to offer.

It wasn’t unheard of for teams to travel to India with apprehensions and misgivings inflating their cricketing gear. They were wary of the heat, the dust, the hygiene, the water, the food, and even the quality of the hotels they would reside in, never mind if they were of the highest standard. As recently as in 1998, Qantas, the Australian aircraft carrier, flew in 1,900 tins of spaghetti and baked beans for Mark Taylor’s men, engaged in a three-Test series with the hosts. If all that seems a distant memory today, it’s because of the magnetic pull of the Indian Premier League, as much as anything else.

Indian cricket’s evolution over the last seven and a half decades has been gradual. Occasional bursts of brilliance were overshadowed by more sustained spells of underachievement as a nation reconciled to individual accomplishments rather than demanding excellence. The twin Test series triumphs in the Caribbean and England in 1971 under Ajit Wadekar ought to have been a seminal moment, but as India failed to build on those spectacular successes, solace came from the arrival in a blaze of Sunil Gavaskar, whose continued success against the best bowlers in the world across conditions lent solidity and respect.

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Towering presence

The inevitable decline of the mesmeric skills of the peerless spin quartet of the 1960s and 70s segued into the emergence of Kapil Dev as the country’s first genuine pace sensation. Again, a generation weaned on Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and their ilk, who today form the most potent pace force in the world, might struggle to understand the full impact of Kapil’s towering presence. Not only did he inspire his unfancied bunch to an epochal World Cup triumph in 1983, which changed the dynamics of the limited-overs game in the sub-continent, but he also was the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket at the time of his retirement! An Indian speedster at the top of the pile — who would have thunk?

Gavaskar had set the bar for individual incandescence, the first past Don Bradman’s 29 Test tons and the first to cross 10,000 Test runs. Over time, India assembled an enviable collection of riches in the 2000s — the golden generation comprising the incomparable Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. Backed up by such bowling stalwarts as the lion-hearted Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan, India began to hold their own away from home, though it wasn’t much later that they would lord countries overseas as well. The left-field elevation of Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain for the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007 was to mark the start of a new chapter. Bucking doomsday predictions, a young side went all the way to the title, providing the perfect fillip to the IPL, then but eight months away. Suddenly, 20-over cricket became the rage of the nation, the long-locked Dhoni the inspiration for those from the hinterland. Cricket stopped being a big-city, elitist attraction, as evidenced by the multitude of states that find representation in the national team.

Dhoni also took India to the No 1 Test ranking, the 50-over World Cup title in 2011 and the Champions Trophy crown in 2013 before gracefully ceding centre-stage to Virat Kohli. The Delhiite’s insistence on an uncompromising fitness culture and a slant towards fast bowling raised Indian stocks worldwide.

The on-field growth influenced the standing of the BCCI in India as the richest, most powerful body in the world.

As the IPL grew in magnitude and big bucks, it drew the best in the business. The heat and the dust are not even a factor today; it’s the buzz, the vibrancy and the craze for cricket that has become India’s drawing card. And oh, the money doesn’t
hurt either!

(The author is a senior cricket writer.)