India goes into its 500th Test match today against a combative but not frightening New Zealand XI. The national expectation is that Virat Kohli and his lads will win, making it India’s 130th Test victory. A cooperative pitch is expected to play its part: it’s not called “home advantage” for nothing. In Indian cricket at least, ‘atithi devo bhavah‘ – the Upanishadic principle that says the guest is God – is blithely ignored. It’s more like ‘Ashwin devo bhavah’, in homage to India’s sharpest spin bowler.
India’s being at number one in the
International Cricket Council’s Test rankings from November 2009 to August 2011 has led the younger generation of fans to be starry-eyed about their team in Tests. The team was briefly number one again in January, February and August of this year; and but for last month’s foul weather in Port of Spain – and the fouler drainage at the ground – it would still be at the top. India currently sits in second place, a point behind Pakistan, and would return to pole position if it beats New Zealand in the forthcoming series.
Recent Test performances should not blind us to the truth that India has historically been a mediocre, and often poor, Test side. It has a better head-to-head record against only four out of the nine other Test-playing countries. Two of those are Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, teams largely undeserving of their Test status. Sri Lanka and New Zealand are the other sides against which India has prevailed more often than it has lost; but of those two, the Kiwis have the worst overall win percentage – 20.68% – of any major Test team, so they don’t provide a basis for a boast. And Sri Lanka’s total win percentage against all sides is actually better than that of India. So while India is superior head-to-head, the islanders fare better on average, against everyone else, than India does.
The point of this short piece, therefore, is an appeal for modesty. Let us not thump our chests in the modern Indian manner, but remember that for long stretches of its Test history, India has been a soft opponent. Its overall percentage of victories is a mere 25.95%, the second-worst among the major Test nations (comprising England, Australia, South Africa,
West Indies, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). Only New Zealand has a poorer record. Australia has won a dazzling 47.20% (or nearly half) of its Tests and every other team has won a
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