On December 30 last year, Indian cricket was sitting on top of the world, with a rainbow around the shoulders. They had won 2-1 in Australia, led 2-1 in England and had won a Test in Centurion for the first time. Sixteen days later, they had lost the Test series in South Africa, and in another eight days had been outplayed 3-0 in the ODI series.
India’s dramatic slide in South Africa, a team much lower on the scale of talent and experience, means that transition — inevitable, inexorable, inescapable — might have been advanced by a couple of years. It also means, of course, that the game in South Africa has recovered at a faster rate than expected. This is good for the game. Test cricket needs strong teams and robust competition.
