We all know that there has been no outstanding Test cricket team for many years. All the major teams are flawed, and all tend to fail away from home if they fail to arrive early enough to acclimatise.
I thought it was ludicrous when Pakistan briefly held the Number 1 ranking two years ago. But now that I've seen the 2018 Indians, it no longer seems quite so absurd that Misbah had his brief reign over the Test world.
In fact, how on earth did a team as poor as the 2018 Indians become the Number 1 ranked Test team?
The benchmark for the finest Asian team of all time was, as we all know, set by Imran Khan when he returned from long-term injury to resume the Pakistan Test captaincy in March 1985. In the next 7 years until his retirement Pakistan lost just 4 Test matches, 3 of which were in drawn series with the Number 1 ranked West Indies team (the other being in Australia).
That Pakistan team lost 4 Tests in 7 years. India has already lost 4 Tests this year!
And, lest we forget, India has not successfully chased a target of more than 100 to win a Test outside Asia for over 14 years!
So how did we get to the point where a team as poor as the 2018 Indians can hold the Number 1 ranking?
India's financial takeover of cricket has actually followed shortly after the break-up of its best ever teams.
The Indian team of the late 1990's to early 2000's was arguably its strongest ever, built as it was on the batting of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman. They famously lost 2 of their 3 home Tests against Pakistan in 1999-2000, but they did draw away to a weakened Australia in 2003-04, thanks mainly to the absence of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.
India first led the ICC Test Championship in late-2009 to mid-2011 in what was a clear transition period for Australia and South Africa, but few took that lofty rating seriously as the team then lurched from disaster to disaster in Australia and England and even New Zealand in the period 2011-2014.
India then went back to basics, gorging themselves on home series in doctored conditions, and worked their way back to the Number 1 rating by October 2016.
Yet the problems never disappeared.
This is a "Number 1 team" which lost its last Test series in Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa.
Both India and Pakistan have played 6 Tests in England since 2013.
India has won 1 and lost 5.
Pakistan has won 3 and lost 3.
Much of the problem comes down to arrogance and complacency leading to failure to arrive on Test tours early enough to acclimatise.
But to be totally honest, most of the problem comes down to the low calibre of the players currently representing India.
The openers are such lightweights that they don't even deserve the briefest scrutiny.
But what is Pujara other than a Poor Man's Dravid?
Kohli is, I accept, a fine player but at the same time he is an ignorant Test captain overseas.
Rahane, of course, is a Poor Man's Laxman.
Pandya is not even a Poor Man's Kapil Dev, he is a Poor Man's Chetan Sharma.
Karthik is not even a Poor Man's Kiran More, let alone MS Dhoni.
Ashwin has only ever taken 55 Test wickets outside Asia, at an average of 38.
Ishant Sharma has 125 Test wickets outside Asia at an average approaching 40.
Umesh Yadav has 33 Test wickets outside Asia at an average of over 40.
Mohammad Shami has 68 Test wickets outside Asia at an average of 33.
No wonder they keep losing. This is a team packed full of players who have never achieved anything outside Asia in Test cricket.
I thought it was ludicrous when Pakistan briefly held the Number 1 ranking two years ago. But now that I've seen the 2018 Indians, it no longer seems quite so absurd that Misbah had his brief reign over the Test world.
In fact, how on earth did a team as poor as the 2018 Indians become the Number 1 ranked Test team?
The benchmark for the finest Asian team of all time was, as we all know, set by Imran Khan when he returned from long-term injury to resume the Pakistan Test captaincy in March 1985. In the next 7 years until his retirement Pakistan lost just 4 Test matches, 3 of which were in drawn series with the Number 1 ranked West Indies team (the other being in Australia).
That Pakistan team lost 4 Tests in 7 years. India has already lost 4 Tests this year!
And, lest we forget, India has not successfully chased a target of more than 100 to win a Test outside Asia for over 14 years!
So how did we get to the point where a team as poor as the 2018 Indians can hold the Number 1 ranking?
India's financial takeover of cricket has actually followed shortly after the break-up of its best ever teams.
The Indian team of the late 1990's to early 2000's was arguably its strongest ever, built as it was on the batting of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman. They famously lost 2 of their 3 home Tests against Pakistan in 1999-2000, but they did draw away to a weakened Australia in 2003-04, thanks mainly to the absence of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.
India first led the ICC Test Championship in late-2009 to mid-2011 in what was a clear transition period for Australia and South Africa, but few took that lofty rating seriously as the team then lurched from disaster to disaster in Australia and England and even New Zealand in the period 2011-2014.
India then went back to basics, gorging themselves on home series in doctored conditions, and worked their way back to the Number 1 rating by October 2016.
Yet the problems never disappeared.
This is a "Number 1 team" which lost its last Test series in Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa.
Both India and Pakistan have played 6 Tests in England since 2013.
India has won 1 and lost 5.
Pakistan has won 3 and lost 3.
Much of the problem comes down to arrogance and complacency leading to failure to arrive on Test tours early enough to acclimatise.
But to be totally honest, most of the problem comes down to the low calibre of the players currently representing India.
The openers are such lightweights that they don't even deserve the briefest scrutiny.
But what is Pujara other than a Poor Man's Dravid?
Kohli is, I accept, a fine player but at the same time he is an ignorant Test captain overseas.
Rahane, of course, is a Poor Man's Laxman.
Pandya is not even a Poor Man's Kapil Dev, he is a Poor Man's Chetan Sharma.
Karthik is not even a Poor Man's Kiran More, let alone MS Dhoni.
Ashwin has only ever taken 55 Test wickets outside Asia, at an average of 38.
Ishant Sharma has 125 Test wickets outside Asia at an average approaching 40.
Umesh Yadav has 33 Test wickets outside Asia at an average of over 40.
Mohammad Shami has 68 Test wickets outside Asia at an average of 33.
No wonder they keep losing. This is a team packed full of players who have never achieved anything outside Asia in Test cricket.
