The weirdest year in Test cricket

It's possible that coming into this series, you might have thought India were not the front-runners. However, it was perfectly reasonable to think they had a chance. Australia's top four wasn't performing very well, and they have an ageing bowling lineup. However, I don't think many would have thought, "Do you know what's going to happen in the first Test match? India are going to win by 295 runs."

295 runs. That isn't a small victory, and it could have been more than that. Australia kicked on a little bit when the game was already over. It's almost a 300-run victory. Even if you thought India had a chance coming into this game, there's a difference between a chance and 295 runs.

Look at how the game played out. India outbowled Australia on day one, stonewalled them on day two, made them bowl Marnus Labuschagne on day three, and cleaned the match up on the final day. It was a very efficient win all the way through. It wasn't like one moment went their way. Even if you say the conditions were in their favour at certain points, that wasn't the defining issue. When the conditions were pretty equal for both sides, India still massively outplayed Australia.

They did this without Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma. So Australia's top four was out of form, and India were missing two of their top four. They also did not have Mohammed Shami, who they would have wanted to have in Perth. Hardik Pandya, their premier seam bowling allrounder, seemed to be completely fit in South Africa but not fit enough for Tests—but that's a conversation for another day. Kuldeep Yadav, who started the year with a brilliant series against England, also missed out on this tour.

On top of that, they made a decision that could have really backfired. They decided not to pick R Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja. And usually the conversation is why they haven't picked Ashwin. But they also didn't pick Jadeja, and went with Washington Sundar.

India did not have several frontline players in this game and they still smashed Australia. In a normal year, this would quite easily be one of the biggest upsets of the year. I don't think there would be any debate about that. Test cricket, especially over the last couple of years, had become quite predictable with home teams and stronger teams doing well. All the draws went to either the stronger teams or the home teams, and it was like a pattern.

Nothing makes sense in Test cricket this year. This 295 run smashing of Australia, in Australia, in Perth, barely causes a ripple when you look at the madness that we have seen before us.

Remember when Shamar Joseph won a Test for the West Indies earlier this year? It's okay if it feels like a hundred years ago. Since Covid happened, all time seems to be relative. That means this India-Australia Test match, as big an upset as the 295 might be, is not actually the biggest upset in Australia this year.

If India actually go on to draw the series—let's say, two all—that won't be the most surprising result either, because West Indies drew their series one all. No one gave that West Indies team any chance of winning a Test match and drawing that series. They played brilliantly to do that, thanks to Shamar Joseph's incredible spell.

If you're thinking you could compare that with India missing several frontline players, let me just stop you for one moment. That spell was in a day-night game in Australia. Have you seen Australia's record at home in day-night Tests?

Also, I'm going to go off on a slight tangent here. But the Women's Test FTP came out this year, and there were a lot of Tests scheduled, which I did not expect. Teams like the West Indies and South Africa were that keen for women's Test cricket, when quite often throughout their history, they haven't noticed that women's Test cricket even exists.

As the men's game seems to be hanging on for Test cricket, the women's game consciously ignored it, mostly because of the male-run cricket boards. Suddenly, they seem to be running towards it. It's not an upset, but it's certainly a surprise.

In July, Ireland defeated Zimbabwe. Just think about this sentence. Zimbabwe were a very good team in the 1990s. They have an incredible history, having played domestic cricket in the Currie Cup in South Africa. In the 1990s, when Zimbabwe were doing well in World Cups and ranked above England among Test-playing nations, Ireland didn't even have a proper professional system. In fact, to play for Ireland in the 1990s, you had to pay for your own kit. We've come a long way that Ireland beats Zimbabwe and we don't even raise an eye anymore.

South Africa versus India is another series that I've been thinking about. I thought this was the time that India would beat them. The series was played on difficult wickets—the Cape Town pitch was rated 'unsatisfactory'—and the series was drawn. But India have never won in South Africa. So, I don't think we can call that a massive upset. It's probably just a bit surprising.

But there was another match involving India that I want to mention here. Do you remember that time when England were massively behind in the first Test in India? And then suddenly out of nowhere, Ollie Pope just reverse swept, and reverse swept, and reverse swept. Occasionally, he charged, and reverse swept while charging. England won a Test in India, against an Indian team that at that stage basically didn't lose at home. England were alright in the rest of the series, before eventually India were just too good for them. But that was an upset and a comeback within one match.

It's even more surprising that of all England players, it was Ollie Pope who did that. I think the Indian team is still confused how this happened. Again, like Shamar Joseph winning a Test in Australia, it feels like it happened a million years ago. But it happened this year. This is the year of Ollie Pope winning a Test in India.

There’s something else that happened in Test cricket this year that’s quite interesting. New Zealand played against South Africa. People started calling it South Africa D, or the 'SAD XI'—or at least Jon Norman did to me once, and I really liked it. So, I’ve gone with it as well.

So, in the same period that they went up against India and were so worried about it that they almost ruined a pitch just to try and win that series, they sent over players like Dane Piedt—who had retired from cricket and was living a lovely life in America—to New Zealand to play in a Test series. I’m not mentioning that because South Africa did pretty well, although if you remember, they were in front in one of those Test matches until there was a bit of a collapse.

The reason for bringing this up is because after Australia just lost, South Africa are the most likely side to go through to the World Test Championship Final at the moment. When I say "most likely," I haven’t done the numbers, but I’m assuming they’re the most likely now.

So, during this cycle, while this tournament is going on, they essentially quit on a series and didn’t even send over any of their best players for a T20 league. Test cricket is so weird this year, and South Africa have managed to string so many other wins together that they are now the most likely team to make the World Test Championship Final.

Since we don’t know who they’re playing against, I suppose at the moment they would have to be front-runners to win the World Test Championship Final. How did we get here? They quit Test cricket midway through the year, and now they have a chance of winning the title. What’s going on? How do you analyse stuff like this? Apparently, you don’t.