Ramachandra Guha: With their clean sweep in India, New Zealand show how cricket is a team game

I live down the road from the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, and in normal circumstances would never have missed watching the beginning of a Test match there. However, on October 16, I had some academic work to finish; besides, with New Zealand having performed so poorly on their recent tour of Sri Lanka, and the great Kane Williamson missing through injury, I thought I would give this first day a miss but show up later if the match turned out to be at all competitive.

Hence I missed the spectacle of the powerful Indian batting side being bundled out for 46. It appears that, like Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma and company, I had grievously underestimated the resilience of these Kiwi cricketers. That evening, as I rued my foolish non-appearance at the ground, I chose out of remorse to honour the visitors by choosing an all-time eleven of their country’s greatest players.

The exercise was stimulating and enjoyable, as such making up of hypothetical teams always is. This, after a couple of hours of cogitation, is the side I finally came up with: 1. Glenn Turner 2. Bert Sutcliffe 3. Martin Donnelly 4. Martin Crowe (captain) 5. Kane Williamson 6. Brendon McCullum (wicket-keeper) 7. Chris Cairns...