Winning an overseas Test is always a big victory for any team let alone winning all the matches of a series.
However, India’s recent 3-0 win over Sri Lanka hasn’t been lauded as much as it should have been. India entered the series as the number one Test side in the world and performed as per the reputations, thrashing the Islanders in all the three Tests to complete its first overseas whitewash in a three-match series.
While Sri Lanka was not expected to win the series against the dominant Indian team, their poor performance has surprised one all. The Island nation conceded 600-plus totals in two of the three Tests and was asked to follow-on in the last two games before succumbing to innings defeats.
But just a year ago, they had whitewashed Australia 3-0, and so there is no denying that India should be applauded for the impressive win. Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke completely agrees with it, as he said that ‘any win away from home is a good win’.
“Any win away from home is a good win, whoever you play against,” Clarke told The Times of India. “It’s Test cricket; it doesn’t matter who you play, Test cricket is hard. So I think India deserve a lot of credit for winning 3-0 in Sri Lanka.”
The World Cup-winning skipper further asserted that the teams struggling to do away from home are not new in modern cricket. South Africa was recently defeated 3-1 in England while the likes of Australia, New Zealand and Australia were outplayed by India at home in the last season. In fact, England had failed to win a two-Test series against Bangladesh last year.
“I think it’s been like that for a long time. I think a lot of teams have found it hard to win away from home, it’s not one team,” said Clarke.
“That’s why I say, whoever can consistently win away from home will be the best team in the world. It’s not an easy thing to do. Throughout my whole career, it was always your greatest challenge as a player to win out of your own conditions,” he added.
With Virat Kohli & Co. set to play in Australia, England and South Africa next year, Clarke feels if they can manage to win in those tough conditions, they will hold onto their number one rank for a long time.
“You mentioned the number of teams that have lost away from home, India have just beaten Sri Lanka. In the next 12 months, India have got some really competitive cricket. They play South Africa in South Africa, England in England and then Australia in Australia. So if they can win there, they will stay No. 1 for a long time,” he said.