Victory in 9 successive Test series — that’s what India will achieve if they defeat Sri Lanka (it’s a safe bet that they will) in the ongoing 3rd Test match. Only Australia have managed to achieve this feat, when they were a menacing force between 2005 and 2008. To break this record, India will have to beat South Africa away, which won’t be an easy nut to crack.
A lot of this success can be attributed to Virat Kohli’s great leadership skills, but then a captain is only as good as his team. The incredible depth of the Indian squad, and the abundance of all-rounders should also be appreciated.
Let’s look at India’s run to this glorious feat.
1. India tour of Sri Lanka (Aug – Sep 2015) – India win the three match series 2-1
2. South Africa tour of India (Nov – Dec 2015) – India win the four match series 3-0
3. India tour of West Indies (Jul – Aug 2016) – India win the four match series 2-0
4. New Zealand tour of India (Sep – Oct 2016) – India win the three match series 3-0
5. England tour of India (Nov – Dec 2016) – India win the five match series 4-0
6. Bangladesh tour of India (Feb 2017) – India win the only Test
7. Australia tour of India (Feb 2017-Mar 2017) – India win the four match series 2-1
8. India tour of Sri Lanka (Jul 2017-Aug 2017) – India win the three match series 3-0
It is to be noted that all of this has happened shortly after India’s tour of Australia (Dec 2014-Jan 2015), which saw MS Dhoni step down and retire from Test cricket. After that India drew one away Test match against Bangladesh. But haven’t stopped winning ever since.
Yes, you could say that they haven’t had challenging away tours yet. West Indies and Sri Lanka are hardly a threat, and everyone is a lion at their home. Virat’s true test of strength and mettle will come if they can win away tours to England, Australia and South Africa where the pitches are not suited for Indian players.
Still, given the absolute confidence that must be prevalent in the Indian dressing room at the moment, we can envision them winning these tours too.
