Pune: Team India will take on South Africa in the 2nd test of the Freedom Trophy in the World Test Championship at Pune. Having won the 1st test in convincing fashion, If India win this 2nd test, this will be its 11th consecutive Test series win at home, the most by any side.
Team India will look to script history by winning the 2nd test against South Africa and winning the series as well.
The only series they have lost in the 2010s was against England in 2012 where defeats in Mumbai and Kolkata resulted in a 2-1 series win for the visitors. The other two losses (in matches) came against South Africa in Nagpur in what was their first home Test of this decade and more recently against Australia in Pune in 2017.
The table below suggests that India has been the best ‘home’ team in the world in the 2010 decade. This is a phenomenal achievement which basically means that India in India is stronger and more difficult to beat than even Australia in Australia or England in England or South Africa in South Africa in this decade.
Former Indian coach and spinner Anil Kumble said India's Test victories at home should not be undermined, saying they are no less than away wins. There is a tendency among the cricketing fraternity, fans included, to take wins at home for granted owing to India's dominance in these conditions. India have lost only four Tests at home since 2010, the last coming in 2017 in Pune.
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Kumble said the perception that victories at home are easier has been there since his playing days.
"Yeah, that was the challenge when I was playing as well," Kumble told Cricketnext. "I mean, whenever India plays at home, you tend to take those victories for granted, and when you lose abroad, everyone jumps up and says that those are the matches that you need to win. In any other sport, take Tennis for example, nobody bothers about where you win. Yes, some people are clay court champions, some are grass champions but they’re champions. So, you don’t look at their record and say “no, no, this individual did not win do he’s not a complete champion”, nobody gets to that. They’re all great players.
"So, yes, you need to give equal importance and I’m glad that since the advent of ICC’s Test Championship, nobody looks at a home victory as lesser than an away victory. So, India has started exceptionally well in the Test Championship with 3 wins out of 3."
Kumble said it's important for a player to look at 'a Test match as a Test match' but stressed on the importance to win overseas too.
"You need to win overseas as well. If you want to be a complete team, you need to have consistent performances across formats and countries. In difficult situations, you want the team to respond. I think if you look at an overall 5-year period, and if you performed consistently well in all these counties and are winning series, then you’re looked at as a very good team. Yes, you’re judged by performances not just at home but you also how you’ve performed outside of India, especially outside the Asian sub-continent. So, yes, those performances certainly count a lot more when people assess a team’s or an individual’s performance," he said.
"But for me, as a player, you need to look at a Test match as a Test match, irrespective of where you’re playing, you still have to win consistently those situations and those moments in a Test match. You have to identify the key moment and winning those moments will matter in a Test match. Although you have time to come back and those are little moments where India has done really well. Yes, you’ll be judged by your performances, India was certainly judged by winning in Australia. People talk about the losses in South Africa and England, so those losses will certainly rankle as India keeps consistently winning at home. So, it’s only fair that there’s a debate. But having said that, I don’t think anyone should take Test matches at home for granted."
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India’s domination in this decade, especially in the latter half, has coincided with Kohli’s leadership and captaincy.
The Indian captain has the best home record for any captain in the 2010s. He has won 15 of the 21 home Tests and lost just one! He has won all the 6 series (two or more matches) at home since taking charge in 2015 – one against all the major Test nations who have toured India in this time-frame.
India has dominated this decade and how!
Overall, if we take an aggregate, 2010s has been the best decade for home teams, both in terms of win-loss ratio and win percentage.
And India has been the most dominant home team in the most dominant home decade in Test cricket history.
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