Over the last seven months, Indian cricketers have indulged in plenty of white ball cricket. The Indian team has competed in 50-over and 20-over contests at home, in Australia, in Bangladesh and most recently in Zimbabwe.
Several of the Indian cricketers were also seen in action in the high-intensity and highly competitive Indian Premier League which was played in the months of April and May. Here’s a look at India’s record in the white ball formats so far in 2016:
The Indian cricket team will play four Test matches against West Indies. The tour of the Caribbean will be India’s first taste of Test cricket in the year 2016. Here’s what awaits the Indian cricketers on their Caribbean expedition:
With the team preparing for its first taste of Test cricket in over seven months, it is worth reflecting back on how the Indian team fared in its most-recent assignments in the red ball format.
Home Series vs South Africa, November-December 2015
South Africa landed in India as the number one ranked team in the ICC Test rankings, but failed to win a single match in the four-match Test series. To say the visitors were annihilated would be an understatement; the Proteas struggled to cope with the conditions which aided the Indian spinners and caved in meekly almost every occasion they had the chance to post runs on the board.
The visitors could post in excess of 200 only once in the seven innings that they batted in the series.
The series was Virat Kohli’s first home series as captain, and thanks to a sensational performance from the spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, India won the series comfortably by a margin of 3-0.
Three-Test Match Series vs Sri Lanka, August-September 2015
India lost a close first Test at Galle. Virat Kohli’s lads, after having taken a lead of 192 runs in the first innings, needed to score 176 in the fourth innings. But the Indian team folded for 112 runs in 49.5 overs to suffer an embarrassing 63-run defeat at the hands of the hosts.
However, Virat and Company turned things around spectacularly, winning the second Test by a mammoth 278 runs and the third Test by 117 runs to clinch the series 2-1. India’s series win was the first in the Island nation since 1993 and it gave Virat Kohli his first Test series win as captain.
The Indian team is ranked 2nd in the ICC Test rankings presently. If they can extend their unbeaten run in the Caribbean since 2006, it will definitely do their confidence a world of good.
And most certainly strengthen their claim for the number one position before they begin a monumental home season.
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