For the longest time, ever since I can remember i.e. 1994-95, the complaint has been that India does not have fast bowlers. In the 1996 tour to England also, we used to play two spinners in the side, the seamers being a very ineffective Paras Mhambrey and I think Srinath. So the issue is not new.
But since 2003, we had arguably one of the greatest batting line ups' the world has ever seen and might ever see. I think cumulatively the Indian batting line up used to have close to 50,000 test runs between them, which I guess must be a historic record.
As a result we used avoid abject humiliation on tours abroad as used to happen during the 1990’s, resulting in creditable drawn series in Australia and South Africa, and victories in West Indies (2006) and England (2007) and New Zealand (2009). These impressive away victories and invincibility at home took us to the top of the ranking.
However in typical "Don't fix it till it’s broke" style, nobody planned for a future post the Big three. What happened to the great Australian side was there for everybody to see, but we chose to ignore it. Also, I do not have access to relevant statistics, but the contribution of Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag to Indian victories was immense to say the least.
But like all castles, where defences are not strengthened from time to time, a really focused assault can breach the walls and that is what has happened on the Tour to England. This English attack while good, is being made to look legendary by our pathetic display and that baby faced little Stuart Broad has earned himself the fairly impressive moniker of "The Enforcer" based on his exploits in this series.
The reasons for the defeat in England have been discussed endlessly. In my opinion some of the reasons were just bad luck and some pointed to a deeper malaise in our system.
1. Injury Management: It was public knowledge that Zaheer, Gambhir and Sehwag were all carrying injuries. What is the quality of the medical staff that gives the go ahead to play when it is plain to see that the recovery is not complete and in many cases feigned?
2. Test Squad: Where is the pool of players who have to be ready to play for India at a moments’ notice. Tremlett got injured, was replaced by a stronger Bresnan with Onions on standby. R. P. Singh on the other hand, not his fault by the way, looked out of shape and unfit.
3. Bad Luck: However, like all other incidents, this defeat is not as bad as it looks. In the first two test matches, India played creditably, but for a few sessions it could have gone either way. At two nil however, it became abject surrender because by then we had depleted our resources and the skipper was forced to be defensive whereas if he had the full strength squad we could have tried to force our way through tough situations. In retrospect, the following events had had huge consequences for India:
· the injury to Zaheer in the first session
· the controversial Stuart Broad Hattrick
The way forward for Indian Cricket
1. Structural Change:
a. Since a lot of the improvements to Indian cricket have brought or rather imported from the football leagues of Europe. We should also try and copy their team management structures. A coach is in charge of the immediate playing squad, in addition to the coach there is also a Director of Football, who is in a consultative position with responsibilities for new player scouting, signing and an overall strategic blueprint for longer term achievements. These could be somebody like an Anil Kumble or Saurav Ganguly for the Indian Team
b. A few changes have been suggested by Anil Kumble which include lowering time limit for retired players to be eligible for selection. Which would again make recently retired greats like Kumble and Ganguly play a part in management of Indian Cricket sooner rather than later
2. Commission of Enquiry: Don Argus was asked by the Cricket Australia to probe into the loss of Australia in the Ashes series and Ken Schofield was appointed by the England and Wales Cricket Board with a similar brief when England lost. Due to recent successes of the Team, we did not need such endeavours, however now there is need for a strategic review and a new blueprint to regain the No. 1 Test status.
3. Contract for Fast Bowlers: David “Bumble” Lloyd made a brilliant point in commentary, fast bowlers a rare commodity in modern cricket should be remunerated more handsomely than batsmen. Objective criteria should be defined for identifying a “fast” bowler and an increment based system combining performance and availability should be created to encourage fast bowlers e.g. Base Contract of 2 times a Batsman + impressive incentive for playing 90% of all tests played in a year + Good Performance incentive.
To put it simply more kids should want to be a Fast Bowler, the toughest job in cricket!
4. Replacement for the BIG THREE: However tough it is to imagine, there is soon going to come a day when Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid will not be available and then what? We have to identify our replacements and blood them as soon as possible. For example on the upcoming tour of the Windies, as soon as we get an early lead in the series, the middle order for the remaining tests should consist of Kohli, Pujara and Rohit Sharma (names are indicative)
5. Future Tours Program: We realise we are not good away from home; however there is never a serious attempt to solve this problem. One of the most important ways to do that is to tour their more often. Australian cricket great Steve Waugh dubbed India as the final frontier; an analysis of the Border Gavaskar Trophy would highlight what I am trying to prove. Since the Border Gavaskar Trophy began in 1996-97, we have had Nine Test Series, of which only THREE have been played in Australia (1999-00, 2003-04 and 2007-08). With such planning it is inconceivable that our players would ever graduate to becoming experts in Australian conditions simply because learning from each series would never get institutionalised as the next tour would be so many years later that the team constitution would have changed substantially. The new test squad should for the next three to four years keep touring S. Africa, Australia and England. I understand this is easier said than done because the Future Tours Program is planned years in advance, however, this could be one of the instances where the BCCI could use its clout in a manner that benefits Indian Cricket in future.
6. The IPL: There is a tendency to blame all ills on the IPL, I disagree, it is a good place to spot exciting stroke makers. However, it’s format is such that Bowlers do not have a say, and hence our best should be excused. One has to commend the way in which a few of the best Australian and English players avoid the IPL to concentrate on Tests. It is very hard to see this happen in India, primarily as this is a marquee event of the BCCI and the Indian players would hence have to play, however a commission of enquiry such as one suggested earlier may recommend that Indian Test Squad bowlers be excused and compensated for their absence from the league. One very important change is that the special prices that Indian players command should be linked to Test caps and not One day selection !
7. Ban the Champions League: No explanantion required. Stupidest tournament in the World.
8. New Bowlers are Precious: Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Ashish Nehra, S. Sreesanth and Munaf Patel, all the names mentioned here have been touted as the next big thing at some point or the other. They all start out as raw pace bowlers and within a season or two end up being military medium at best. I am not an expert and hence do not know why, what is beguiling is that even the experts do not know why? In my opinion they cut down pace to retain their fitness for the unending cricket that India plays. This is why the Test Squad bowlers should be exempt from IPL and Champions League so as to have an off season like players of yore!
Very soon Varun Aaron, Deepak Chahar and Unadkat will graduate to the big league... please let us treat them on par with some dynastic offspring of politicians!
Conclusion: My endeavour here has been to point out, in the most rational manner possible, some of my thoughts post a most harrowing series in England. It is not intended to be critical in any manner. Over the past 48 months, this team has taken us on a joyride, that I for one never thought was possible. All through school in the 1990’s I have followed the team from one disappointment to another, always flattering to deceive. Hence, the past four years have been almost like an illusion, the 2007 T20 cup, 2011 World Cup and rise to No. 1 test status. It has almost been too good to be true.
Also, we must realise that the Indian Cricket Team has never been a great cricket team. We have 110 test victories (97 if we exclude Zimbabwe and Bangladesh), in contrast Ricky Ponting has a 100 Test Victories. Thus I would like to state, that what has been achieved by this team was monumental. Probably it was a freak team, looking back we might wish that some of these gladiators should have come one after another... Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag, Dhoni, Zaheer, Kumble, Harbhajan....this is almost an embarrassment of riches. Right there in those names we have 1000 test wickets and more than 40,000 test runs. Incredible!!
But I hope for the generations that come, that we are able to go to greater heights. Because simply put, on a lazy weekend there is no greater pastime than watching an Indian team slowly grind out worthy opponents on a dustbowl in Motera!
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment