TheNews Blog

Omair Alavi

Winning  is a habit, and so is losing … said the great Australian cricket Ian Chappell while commenting about India’s fall and fall as a test playing nation outside Asia. And the Australian great might have a point … They might have the best batsmen in world cricket but as a team, the Indian cricket team has touched rock-bottom, especially in Test matches played abroad.

Some say their descent is because of the curse of ‘being world champions’ as all team go through a bad patch after lifting the trophy. Others feel that the Indian cricket team only plays well in front of their home crowd because they can’t stand the pressure of alien-crowd, alien-conditions. But the truth is that Indian cricket team doesn’t play well abroad because they are used to play on batting tracks in India, and anything different – like a bowlers’ paradise or a traditional bouncy track – will upset them.

And then there is the case of ageing cricketers and their lack of form. It has been more than 10 months since master batsman Sachin Tendulkar scored his last international century for India. For a country which rates Tendulkar as God of cricket, this 10-month period has been agonizing. They have been traumatizing for the little master considering his next century would be his 100th ton in international cricket. Neither the current world number 1 England nor the former number 1 Australia had the bowling attack that would have troubled India in India. But they caused many problems for the visiting Indians in their own conditions where the ball spun less, and swung ferociously.

The declining form of Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman is also a concern as is the brash nature of Virender Sehwag’s bat. Had they been in any other team outside the sub-continent, they would have been dropped for a younger batsman. But not in our countries because here, the game of cricket is due to the cricketers, and not vice versa. The Indian public knows that Rahul Dravid couldn’t judge the ball in Australia, VVS Laxman couldn’t bat to save his career, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag were shadows of their selves, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni didn’t seem like the same World Cup winning captain he was and all Sachin Tendulkar could think of was reaching one more three-figure mark, even then they didn’t demand their ouster because they once had been match-winners.

If the Indian cricket team is interested in getting back to its winning ways, they will have to induct young  blood in the side. Players like Umesh Yadav and Suresh Raina were the heroes on the tour Down Under and the selectors should point out players like these two who could do well anywhere, anytime. India has found a good  spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin, but they don’t have a fast bowler to complement Zaheer Khan. They should get rid of Ishant Sharma and Co, and either make Yadav the bowling partner of Zaheer Khan or find new one who can actually bowl fast. They should include batsmen like Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Ajankia Rahane in the side instead of used up cricketers like VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and others. In fact, the selectors should also consider dropping Mahendra Singh Dhoni from Tests (or as captain) and give him time to find his true calling. If he gets back to his old form, it would help the Indians, otherwise WP Saha is waiting in wings to take over from the Super Skipper of Indian cricket and take it to a new level!