By Ashis Ray, IANS
London : India's mostly unblemished record at home was terminated by South Africa, who impressively won both their Test matches in 2000. But this was compensated by a stunning win over the Australians in 2001, although Sachin Tendulkar was no longer captain after having briefly taken over from Mohammed Azharuddin.
India lost the first Test in Mumbai and appeared to be heading in the same direction in the following game at Kolkata. But an amazing recovery, after the visitors had enforced a follow on, not only secured victory but also turned the series on its head.
V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid put on 376 runs for the fifth wicket, with the former posting a dream innings of 281. Harbhajan Singh cast a spell on the opposition by capturing seven for 123 and six for 73.
In the next Test the off-spinner went a step further with match figures of 15 for 217. The mighty Australians under the ruthless Steve Waugh lost both the Tests – by 171 runs at Kolkata and two wickets at Chennai – and with it the series.
Now entrenched as skipper, Sourav Ganguly did not lose a single series at home, though some accused him of absolving responsibility in the 2004 series against the Aussies by opting out of the third and fourth Tests.
His critics allege he feigned injury, which he strenuously denies. Rahul Dravid, deputising for him, lost at Nagpur, but won at Mumbai to conclude the series 1-2.
In course of Ganguly's home run, India beat England 1-0 in 2002, the West Indies 2-0 in 2002-03 and South Africa 1-0 in 2004-05. But New Zealand and Pakistan escaped with 0-0 and 1-1 draws respectively in 2003-04 and 2004-05.
While the pitches played a part in the inconclusive result against the Kiwis, the Pakistanis saved the first Test at Mohali near Chandigarh from the jaws of defeat and replied in kind at Bangalore to the loss in Kolkata.
More importantly, India steadily improved their record abroad.
They could not avoid a 2-1 defeat in the West Indies, but drew in England the same year, quite remarkably enjoyed the upper hand in a 1-1 draw in Australia before winning 2-1 in Pakistan – the first time ever an Indian team had won a Test series in this country in over 50 years.
But the winless streak in South Africa remained.
As has been graphically documented, a stand off between Ganguly and India's new coach Greg Chappell cost the former not only the leadership but his place in the side.
His successor Dravid's fortune has so far been mixed – victories over Sri Lanka at home and in the West Indies, but defeats in Pakistan and South Africa.
He now stands on the threshold of another examination – taking on England, the second ranked Test unit in the world, away. He must be heartened by the form Tendulkar has revealed in Belfast and Chelmsford but should be concerned about the inconsistency of Wasim Jaffer and Laxman and Ganguly's lack of a big score so far, not to mention his rather expensive quicker bowlers.
It will be a feather in Dravid's cap if he can overcome the impediments and inspire his squad to success.