THE BATON HAS BEEN PASSED

 

Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo.

Venue- M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru [August 31- September 04, 2012].

In the monsoon of 2012, the New Zealand cricket team toured India to play 2 tests and 2 T20 internationals. Unfortunately, Indian stalwarts like Laxman and Dravid announced their retirement from international cricket. Hence, Team India was truly in a transition stage now. The question was who could possibly replace them? Thus, it was too big a responsibility upon their successors.

Cheteshwar Pujara proved his mettle in the first test wherein he played a magnificent knock of 159 that helped India in setting up a huge first innings total. Post this, Ashwin played his part with the ball as he bamboozled the Kiwi batting line-up with his spin. The spinner from Tamil Nadu ended up picking 12 wickets in the first test as the hosts defeated the Kiwis by an innings and 115 runs.

The action now shifted from Hyderabad to Bangalore, which was decided as the venue of the final test. In a must-win game, New Zealand Captain Ross Taylor won the toss and decided to bat first. Moreover, Captain Taylor led from the front, as he scored a magnificent 113 in a crunch situation. Apart from Taylor, Guptill and Kruger van Wyk scored gritty half-centuries with the bat as the Black Caps ended up scoring 365 in their first innings. For hosts, Pragyan Ojha was the leading wicket taker, as he picked up 5 crucial wickets for his side.

In response, India got off to a shaky start as we were reduced to 80/4. However, this is when young Virat Kohli took control of the game. Kohli, who was taking strides in international cricket, scored a brilliant 103, which brought his side back to the game. In an innings which lasted for around 5 hours, he hit 14 boundaries and one six. Due to his valuable contribution with the bat, the hosts ended up scoring 353 in their first innings, just 12 runs short of the Kiwi total. The match was now on a knife-edge.

 Ravichandran Ashwin led from the front in the second innings as he picked up 5 crucial wickets which helped the Indians in bowling out the Kiwis for just 248 in their second innings. However, a target of 261 was a tricky total, and at one stage we were really struggling at a score of 166/5. Captain MS Dhoni joined Kohli in between, as we were still 95 runs short of the target. One more wicket, and our tail would have started.

But, this is when the captain and the promising youngster took responsibility on their shoulders. The duo stitched an unbeaten partnership of 96 runs as we whitewashed the Kiwis in the Test Series. Virat Kohli was awarded the Man of the Match award for his hundred in the first innings and fifty in the second innings. Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, was awarded the Man of the Series Award for his 18 wickets in two test matches.

These were truly great signs for India Cricket, as the baton has been successfully passed from the seniors to the youngsters.

To watch the Highlights of the Second Test, Click Here.