Indian Test Team needs an overhaul
India has lost the fifth test match in three days, and the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia 1-3 and as a result is out of WTC finals for the first time. Coming out of whitewash by New Zealand in their backyard, the Indian team is not expected to do any better, but they caved in without much resistance except in the tour opener. By winning the first test convincingly they raised the hopes of a keenly contested series but that was not to be, the blame for which can squarely be put at the doorsteps of the batters. Right through the series, India had its moments and could have cornered Australia had their batters put in slightly higher totals. The pathetic form of Virat Kohli, who in the entire series could not figure out where his off steps were and the Captain Rohit Sharma and abrupt retirement of Ashwin has not helped the cause of India in any manner.
Unexpected developments:
Two unexpected developments took place in this series. Ashwin, the world’s number one spinner, has announced an abrupt end to his illustrious career, which is widely felt to have resulted from frustration with how he was treated. The other one is Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian team, being dropped/opted out of the final eleven in the interest of the team from the 5th test. When a team goes on a long tour the first thing to make sure of is that you have a player as a captain who is assured of his place in final eleven players. But this time is was not the case with Rohit, though there was no question marks on his leading the team, his form just before the series is not something which gave any confidence to any one. But as always thought, it is a matter of one test before a world premier batter like Rohit regains form and when he gets going he is unstoppable. But to our misfortune, it was not to be and things have gone from bad to worse to such an extent that Rohit holds a dubious distinction of scoring fewer runs than the number of wickets Bumrah took, which he would like to forget soon and his critics will never forget to remind him.
Virat’s woes continue:
Going by the current form both Rohit and Virat should have opted out of the final eleven and it would have served the Indian cause better. But it looks like Virat is not as gracious as Rohit is or team management is kinder to Virat to give him one more opportunity to find the long-lost form and figure out where his off stumps are but he squandered that opportunity as well. See what happened in 5th test, Virat again fiddled with the ball going outside the off stump in both innings and in dismissed below 20 runs. So had the team management gathered the courage to make Virat sit on the bench, giving company to Rohit,it would not have made any difference as far as the total posted by India is concerned. On the contrary like P Krishna, who came in place of Rohit, and ended up taking 6 crucial wickets in the Test, anyone who came into the Team Eleven in place of Virat would have contributed with bat or ball or both in a far better manner and who knows India could have given a scare to Australia in this low scoring match.
Stop reducing the India Team as Pensioners’ Club
No team selection for any series goes without facing some amount of criticism for biases in team selection, for not picking up a few well-deserving players and carrying a few pieces of baggage burdening the team, based on their larger-than-life reputation built over a period by the fans and media rather than their current form. No doubt one needs to value the contribution made by star players and no one is expected to be dropped if one is off colours in a couple of tests or series, but if the poor form continues for longer periods and if the batters average for 2-3 years is not better than all-rounders or lower end batters, then the situation is alarming, the selectors and coach should not shy away from taking tough calls in the interest of the team. It does not need an extensive research into figures to make out that in the last 4-5 years Virat has not been the premier batter he was – 3 centuries in 5 years and below 30 average in the last 2-3 years is an unprecedented low for any batter not only to the one who is given titles of `King’ `Emperor’ or `Badshah’. I doubt if any other international team would have kept on selecting any batter with such a dismal show for such a long time only because he has past performances to boast of and nothing of the present. If it is a Sri Lanka, West Indies or Bangladesh team which has a dearth of talent it is understandable. Indian team has such strong bench strength that it can field 3 teams at any given point of time and there must be 3-4 players waiting in the wings against each position in the final eleven. Under such circumstances giving such a long rope unendingly is a crime and grossly working against the interest of the team, as has been seen in this Australian tour. Going by the form in which Virat was in the last 4-5 years and his current form, even if he is made to play for the next 5 years he is not going to break Sachin’s record of 100 tons and breach the highest runs scored. So, what else is left for him to prove or achieve except earning a few more millions to add to his wealth through a contract with BCCI and advertisement revenues?
I don’t expect Virat or Rohit to announce their retirements and have a dignified farewell, so it is up to BCCI to show them the door even if it looks unceremonious
Do you play matches for records?
Cricket in general and Indian players in particular are obsessed with chasing records. This is true more with batters than blowers. Anyone breaking into International circuits is immediately labelled as the next big thing, next Gavaskar, next Sachin and now next Virat. After all, we play test matches to win not allowing the star players, especially the batters to make or break records. I honestly felt that Sachin was allowed to play 10-15 tests more than he should have so that he could chase that alluding 100 hundreds. In many of the matches in the last 2-3 years his wickets used to be castled (a pity sight to watch), the way Virat is struggling outside the off stump now.
It is high time the BCCI, Selection Committee, Head Coat, and Team management kept the interests of the Team ahead of individual players’ interests, even if it’s your premier batter like Virat and Rohit. Let the best players, strictly and purely based on their current form, be selected among the 15 players to tour and the final 11 to play any match.
Form cannot be regained by playing matches for India
It is very peculiar to our Indian team that when a star player, especially a batter, runs out of form, the Team management feels that he should be given more and more chances till he regains his form so that the Selectors and Team Management can beat their chests to say `didn’t we say form is temporary and class is permanent’. Going by this fixation they keep giving chances to top players like Virat Kohli unendingly till he scores a century may be after 10-15 matches which is a good justification to give chance for another 10-15 chances. In the meantime, they lose an opportunity to give a break to a budding cricketer to not only break into the final 11 eleven but cement his position the way Yashwasvi Jaiswal has done. By this disservice done by the team management, many careers would have finished before they started and it’s a huge loss for India, who has plenty of talent waiting for a break at the right time.
But what the selectors and Team management should adopt is any player whether it is your premier batter or bowler, if they are off-colour for a few matches or a couple of series, they should have a plain discussion with them to opt out of a few matches/series go back to nets and their trainers/coaches and address their issues and come back strong. I recollect an incident when Azharuddin after playing over 50-60 tests ran out of form badly and struggled to middle the ball. He was touring Pakistan and in one of the net sessions, Zaheer Abbhaswatched him at the nets and gave free advice to try changing his grip as holding the bat below is obstructing his wrist work. Following that piece of advice, Azar regained his form and scored loads of runs. Virat too must be struggling from such a minor technical snag, which cannot be rectified by playing match after match and failing match after match and putting more burden on himself losing his confidence and composure and doing silly things like shouldering a 19 years old debutant or hitting ice boxes with the bat while returning to the pavilion which makes for an ugly scene not behoving a player of his stature.
The player should have confidence, and if they do not have it, the Team Management have to give assurance to the insecure lot of batters that sitting out for a match and not considered for a match/series, by whatever name it is given for public consumption, is not the end of the road for them and they can always make a strong come back once they regain form. But the easy passage into the final eleven should immediately be stopped if the Indian team does not want to repeat this ignominious back-to-back defeats in Test cricket again.
Providing a level playing field for Batters and Bowlers
No match can be won only on the strength of the batters or bowlers; both have equal contributions to make. But the world over especially in India, batters are treated as the most favoured kids and everything is centred around the batters and their contributions. Impressions are given as if it is the batter who sets the tone for any match and their posting a big total will only make us win matches. This obsession has increased manyfold with the advent of ODIs and then T20 and the rustic crowd wildly cheering batters smashing bowlers all over the park. It looks like in the team selection meets it is first the batters fates are decided, and many of the top choosing themselves despite their poor current form without much discussion. Then comes accommodating the bowlers out of whatever has been left over. What goes around in selection also goes in retaining the players in the 15-membersquad and the final 11. There is no whimper when the world best-rated spinner like Ashwin is dropped in many matches while carrying around the burden of Virat and Rohit. The same goes with Ishant Sharma (who played more than 100 tests and took over 300 wickets), Shami, Siraj, and Chahal who are picked and dropped at will and they make innumerable comebacks. But the same yardstick is never applied to Virat, Rohit (who are just as good as Ashwin or Bumrah and not more), Rahul and Co.
Let us not forget that the great Indian team of 70s and West India team of 70s and 80s has won many matches on the strength of their bowlers – in the case of India the spin quartile of Bedi, Chandra, Prasanna and Venkat and in the case of West Indies, Andy Roberts, Holding, Garner, Walsh and Melcome Marshal. These great bowlers would get picked up automatically for any match on any pitch. In those days we hardly had any battling lineup to boast of except Gavaskar, Vishy and Vegsarkar, but whatever the total they put up on the Board our spinners used to defend those scores and win matches not only in India but abroad. We will be better served if those days are revived and bowlers are given equal respect and weightage as batters which they deserve. A Bumrah, Ashwin, Shami should get equal respect and leeway like Virat, Rohit and Rahul.
The Take-away from the Australia series
Though the final results have been disappointing, there are some good takeaways from this series.
Jaspit Bumrah : What a player Bumrah has been. A lot was expected from Bumrah in pacer-friendly wickets of Australia before the series began and he didn’t disappoint a bit. He, like what he has been doing for many years now, shoulders the major chunk of the burden of the bowling department on his dependable shoulders and delivered more than what we expected. Though he missed bowling in the last innings of the series due to injury, he ended up picking up 32 wickets and was declared Man of the Series.
Coming of age of Jaiswal: It is heartening to see the way and the confidence with which Yashswi Jaiswal has played in his maiden series to Australia. Neither the pacy and bouncy wickets of Australia nor the battery of fast bowlers of Australia could unnerve the free-flowing Jaiswal. He ended the series with the highest score from both sides with 391 runs. He was hard done by a poor umpiring decision because of which he missed a well-deserved century and he has been the mainstay and backbone of the Indian batting in the absence of a grand show by Virat, Rohit and Rahul.
Nitish Reddy: The batting all-rounder Nitish is for sure the find of the tour. The tremendous patience, application and maturity he exhibited while coming at No. 8, when the Indian team was back to the walls, and scoring his maiden century is monumental. Before that also chipped in with useful 30s and 40s and scored 298 runs in the first series. His bowling, though not used much, is a bonus having taken 5 wickets. But a word of caution, there was so much written about him, his innings, his family chased by media, their giving interviews and giving vent to their emotions in the public has gone overboard and not sure whether that was the reason or not, he didn’t reach double digits after that century in four innings after that. Nitish would be better advised to put his head down and focus on his cricket so that he does not end up being another Vinod Kambli or Prithvi – a one-series wonder.
K L Rahul was moved around up and down in the batting order in the series and did not set the stand on blaze with his performance and ended with a total score of 276 – just enough to retain his place in the final 11.
Virat, Rohit, and Grill have been the biggest disappointments of the series, though I felt Gill was not given a fair deal. If he is given half of the chances as Virat, it would help him settle down in the team.
Mohd. Siraj: He bowled his heart out and proved to be a perfect allay to Bumrah and claimed 20 wickets in the series.
All other bowlers like Jadeja, Sundar, and Akashdeep performed below-par
Australia – The deserving Winners:
Though this Australian team may not be an all-conquering and on-your-face type of team, a more sober and focused team under the captaincy of charming Cummins, they played better cricket on a given day and that clinched the deal in their favour. There were no instances of sledging, which is very normal when the Australian team plays, though the Indians were hard done by poor umpiring by the third umpires who were neutral.
Overall, it was a thrilling and entertaining tour with results in all but one match well within 4 days and it would do a world of good for Test cricket.
All pictures courtesy Instagram / Internet.
