As the last Test against New Zealand was disrupted by rain and the match ended in a draw, once again the cricket fans and commentators have turned against the Indian cricket team captain and management saying that they should have declared earlier. The final result of the match with India just 2 wickets short of a victory gives some credibility to their opinion.

This is perhaps the 4th series in recent memory that India has not attempted a second victory in the series. Two of them came against England – one in England and other at home. The other came against Pakistan. But in all the matches, India could have easily lost.

So I don’t think this criticism is really fair. By playing it safe, India ensured that there would be no New Zealand victory under any circumstances, thus delivering a historic series victory in New Zealand after four decades. The series victory was the prize, not trashing the Kiwis 2-0, even though that would have been welcome too.

What the critics miss is that India, for far too long, has been mocked as tigers at home and paper tigers abroad. We have seen too many tours where the vaunted Indian batting lineup has crumbled like dry, rotten bread. India’s performance abroad was a joke and everyone knew that.

But in this decade, India has made great progress towards getting rid of the “poor tourists” label. They have won series in West Indies, England, Pakistan and now New Zealand, and matches in Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa. That is the yardstick and that is what matters.

If India wish to become No. 1 in Tests, they have to rake in these series wins and become formidable enough not to lose Tests. Right now, they are on that path to establishing themselves in that respect. At that point, let us clamor for whitewashes.

[Photo licensed from koppdelaney]