Subcontinent demystified

Ahmedabad: There was a time, in fact for several decades, when SENA (South Africa — following their readmission to cricket in 1991 — England, New Zealand and Australia) dreaded travelling to the Indian sub-continent. Apart from the energy-sapping humidity in places like Chennai, Mumbai or Colombo, or the dry, blistering heat of cities like Delhi, Nagpur or Karachi, the slow and spinning tracks would often puncture their confidence even before they stepped foot here. And as the baggage of the past kept piling on, they lost the battle mentality mostly, rather physically or skill-wise.

Bred on seaming surfaces, the spin examination against world-class operators was often considered the final frontier. While guys like England’s Graham Gooch, Australia’s Dean Jones, South Africa’s Hashim Amla, and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, to name a few, flourished, many found the challenge arduous. Barring an odd Test loss here or there, or a rare series defeat, India called the shots overwhelmingly in their own bastion. Even the supremely dominant Australian sides under the captaincy of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting couldn’t post a Test series win in India. Pakistan and Sri Lanka weren’t any less of a force either in their own backyard.

Things though have begun to undergo a massive change over the last decade, across formats. Take the last two World Cups in the sub-continent, where three of the four semifinalists are non sub-continent teams. At the ODI World Cup in 2023, Australia, South Africa, India and New Zealand entered the last-four stage, with the Aussies going on to hammer India in the final to win the coveted trophy for a record-extending sixth time. At the ongoing T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, it was the Men in Blue, England, South Africa and New Zealand who advanced to the semis. Bizarrely, Pakistan and Sri Lanka struggled on the sluggish surfaces in Colombo and Pallekele, while teams like England and New Zealand flourished there.

Even in Tests, India’s cloak of invincibility has been ripped open by New Zealand and South Africa in the last couple of years. While the former not only won their maiden series (3-0), they handed India their first-ever bagel at home involving three or more Tests. South Africa picked up the cue from the Kiwis and defeated India 2-0, giving the hosts a taste of their own medicine with unheralded off-spinner Simon Harmer bagging a whopping 17 wickets. New Zealand, who will take on India in the final of the T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad on Sunday, even won a three-match ODI series 2-1 in January.

This decade, both England (3-0) and Australia (1-0) have managed to win a Test series in Pakistan, the victors making the most of the batting beauties the latter doled out because of the lack of depth in their own ranks. In fact, England, who are often unfairly slammed over their perceived inefficiency at tackling spin, warmed up for the T20 World Cup strongly by blanking a full-strength Sri Lanka 3-0 in their own backyard. Throughout the series, the Three Lions appeared completely confident against the mystery Sri Lanka spinners, easily tackling them without the fear of the unknown. In Tests alone, the SENA nations’ win-rate ratio jumped to 24% between 2010-2018 and has risen to 40% since the start of the World Test Championships in August 2019.

So what has changed? How are SENA countries cracking the sub-continent code so effectively across formats? A massive contributing factor towards their growing success is the onset of the IPL since 2008. In the bygone era, players would come to the sub-continent only for tours and practice matches too were limited for a variety of reasons. But now they spend at least two months a year in India, travelling across the length and breadth of the country, that too during peak summer. They are exposed to the pitches a lot more, have gotten a better grip of the scorching conditions, and increased interactions with local coaches have enhanced their intellect. What was once considered alien has become part of the stable now. They understand the nuances as much as local players.     

“I think I guess you’d probably say that the non-sub-continent teams have adapted really well to, I guess, the conditions thrown at them,” reckoned England all-rounder Sam Curran ahead of the semifinal against India in Mumbai. “All of us play a lot of cricket in India now, so we know how to play on these grounds and we know what to expect. The IPL, no question, has helped a lot of that with the players, but yeah, I guess they’re just really quality teams. South Africa and New Zealand are fantastic teams, and we’re a really good team as well, and of course, India.”

Also, apart from improvements in batting, SENA nations also boast of equally strong spinners who can be as effective as the sub-continent ones. South Africa have Keshav Maharaj across formats, England boast of Adil Rashid in limited-overs and Jack Leach in Tests, New Zealand has the canny Mitchell Santner while Australia, the only team not to have embraced T20Is as much as Tests and ODIs, have been served exceptionally by Nathan Lyon for over a decade and a half in red-ball cricket. 

England skipper Harry Brook felt the perception that his team is poor against spin has been proven wrong in the 3-0 T20I series win over Sri Lanka and their run to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup where they lost to India but still handled Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel adeptly. “I feel like England always get a bad rap about playing against spin. We’ve gone to Sri Lanka and we’ve won six games in a row against the sub-continent side who are very good in their own backyard. We’ve got a lot of confidence playing on turning pitches.”

Brook also said SENA countries come better prepared now and have enough ammunition of their own to trouble sub-continent sides in their own backyard. “We have got some very good spinners as well. Our spinners have bowled extremely well throughout this competition and they have got to try and tackle that challenge as well. India have produced and always have produced very good spinners, and we know that and we accepted that before coming into this competition that we're going to face challenges throughout, especially on pitches that can assist spin bowling. But like I said before, we played six T20s, three ODIs against Sri Lanka in this world competition in Sri Lanka and we only lost one game so I think we're going in with a lot of confidence. Like I said before I feel like England players get a bad rap against spin.”

It’s safe to say, the playing field has significantly evened out now.