From World No 1 to Whitewash… Why..?

“This might take half an hour.” When asked to pinpoint the reasons behind India's disappointing series in England, Rahul Dravid's had this to say. By the looks of it, half hour may not be enough.

What constitutes a World No 1 team? An invincibility cloak wrapped around them, with competitors struggling to find loopholes to exploit and inflict damage. An Aura off the field, that transforms into ruthlessness on it. Some great players for whom conjuring Virtuoso performances are just another day’s work. The West Indies team of the 70’s, The Australian Cricket Team of the noughties, Indian hockey team of the grass era, Barcelona in recent times, Liverpool of the old. They all had it. When India rose to the top of the World Test Championships, many questions were raised about their longevity. Some good performances from their side and a lot of ordinary performances from their opponents made sure that it lasted longer than what many would have imagined. When they arrived for the 1^st day at Lord’s for the 2000^th test, in a series that was most anticipated to be exciting, nobody would have imagined the kind of abject surrender that this Indian team has given their opponents, who looked more like a lion starving for ages. No wonder the 3 lions had a hearty feast.

It’s true that both England played well and India played badly. But a deeper insight will reveal that the problems plaguing India is more off the field it than on it. This series was a reality check more for the management than for the players. Lack of form, bad selection, untimely injuries, mis-management, you can find a number of reasons for the failure but there is no need to press the panic button as yet. You cannot stop BCCI from thinking about making money because that’s what they are best at. But a strategic approach to the following is absolutely needed to make sure that they don’t lose the money making tree in the future.

There is a calling from experts about the opportunities that needs to be given for the younger batsmen to get used to different conditions. Yes, there is a need for opportunity but not at this level. The likes of Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Abhinav Mukund, Murali Vijay, Chateshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Ravichandran Ashwin, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Mithun, and Pragyan Ojha to be sent to different conditions like England, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, not on the Senior level but at an A level or the likes of Emerging Players tournaments. All these youngsters are promising but are not quite ready to replace a Sachin or a Dravid or a Laxman or a Zaheer. They have been carrying the team for a long time now and will continue to do so. One bad series do not make them dispensable.

No matter how many times this has been debated, injury management is where the BCCI makes repeated mistakes. Zaheer, Sehwag and Gambhir just didn’t look ready. Just after surgery and pushed straight into a high profile series was a major blunder. And BCCI’s management of fast bowlers has never been any good. We will keep losing promising youngsters unless BCCI changes its attitude.

He has been the frontline spinner for the country for some time now, but Harbhajan Singh seldom showed that responsibility. His line was too defensive and never quite looked like the guy who recently crossed 400 test wickets, where at one point he promised much more at this age. I reckon Harbhajan needs to be dropped, given the treatment that Yuvraj Singh was given pre-world cup. May be Ganguly will do to Bhajji what Sachin did to Yuvraj.

I sympathize with Dhoni. I mean the guy who just won the World cup for India and took CSK to a second successive IPL title cannot be a bad captain overnight. Too brain dead may be? I don’t think so. I think it’s the case of too many things going out of his control but Dhoni the test batsman needs to improve.

The money mongers of the BCCI, for a change need to make some wise decisions about things other than making money. Former captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi said he didn't anticipate too many changes coming into place. "The BCCI is not going to show a great deal of vision," Pataudi said. "Cricket will continue [in India] the way it is, but I sincerely hope that some sense does come in." Will the BCCI respond in kind?

The search for India’s Michael Clarke

At the outset it seems a premature topic to write upon. A lot of you might think, why so soon..? Considering what Mahendra Singh Dhoni has done over the past few years some might think this is outright rubbish. But in the midst of enjoying a "Captaincy Calm" phase and a bright set of youngsters knocking on the selection door, we must not fail to realize that barely any of the bright young talents are captaincy materials. India must do similar to what Australia did with Michael Clarke. They have to find a good player who can also be a captaincy material and groom him. As much as captaincy is about instinct, a lot of it can be thought as well. Let’s look at the options.
He has been handed the ODI captaincy in Dhoni’s absence, but Suresh Raina has not showed great promise as a captain. He is more of a text book captain and lacks imagination to improvise and create a result out of tense situation. He needs to play and captain in domestic games to convince every one of his leadership abilities.
He might be credited for changes the fortunes of the Kolkata Knight Riders but Gautam Gambhir still has so much to prove as a captain. His temperament resembles more like that of a manager in a software company. Bossy, Orders, always angry and always complaining. The emotions that he shows on the field are quite not Gangulyesque as what some might think he is. This was on full display during the IPL where KKR rose and fell with his temperament. Plus his age is against him.
So that pretty much leaves with one choice and that’s Virat Kohli. He is young, confident and brash much like how Clarke was when he started. A lot of experts feel he has what it takes to be captain. His attitude is a problem although he has worked on it significantly. He did a fair job as a stand in captain for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. But then a lot more needs to be done and this is where BCCI can help by giving him more responsibilities and making him change his attitude to suit the needs of the team.
Personalities like Saurav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are excellent captains and outstanding leader of men. India has been extremely lucky that they had and still have an outstanding set of senior batsman and led by capable men. But its time BCCI realize that may not be third time lucky to get a brilliant leader out of nowhere. They have a mould one.
Will BCCI do a Cricket Australia..?

IPL4 – Champs all the way

Let’s face it; this has been the boring of all IPL’s. It proved that not even IPL can top a World Cup Win. But beyond the Cricket overkill and the seemingly unstoppable no of lop sided games (Including the final) the real reason for the IPL flop show is the lack of quality in the teams. So it’s ironic that season 4 is won by the team that processed the best of all round qualities, the Chennai Super Kings.

Bangalore relied too much on Chris Gayle, Punjab left too much to do in the end, the newbies threatened for a bit and faded away, Mumbai and Rajasthan were inconsistent and Kolkata rose and fell with Gautham Gambhir’s temperament. Delhi and Deccan… Well… No comments. Perhaps Chennai’s victory is best summed up by Harsha Bhogle’s tweet after the match

“Eventually the best team, the best organized, the best selected and the best led won the IPL and that is how it should be”

An in depth analysis will reveal that CSK is also the team that had fewer distractions from their job of playing cricket. No controversies, No spotlight grabbing owners, No glamour. They won because they played Cricket and one that is of the highest quality. Their batsmen and bowlers did not top the list yet contributed collectively. The fielding was of the highest standard and led by a magnificent captain and a shrewd coach. In fact CSK’s victory was sealed in the transfer market (I prefer the term to the much cheaper sounding, auction) when they bought most of their own players back. I had predicted that it’s going to be CSK all the way and that’s exactly it turned out to be. This is what happens when you have team owners who are involved in Cricket for the past 60 years. It feels proud to be a CSK fan.

Much of IPL’s lack of quality is because of the organizing. Four years running and there is not a single defining rivalry in IPL. The quality would be much better if they let clubs (Again, a better term than franchisees) build their own teams through transfer market rather than stupid auctions. Only then we will be able to see a healthy rivalry and contests like Manchester United-Liverpool or Real Madrid-Barcelona in the IPL. CSK showed that IPL can only be won by quality, not glamour and glitz or star studded players. It’s about time other teams follow suit. Until then IPL will continue to be a grand circus.

Short and Sweet, The best team won IPL Season 4… Period..!

CSK ku Wistle Podu

India the World Champions – Reflections of the monumental triumph

“He (Sachin) has been carrying the burden for 21 years, it time we carry him”

(Virat Kohli sums up what’s been an emotional world cup victory for India).

The best team in the tournament won the World Cup. Make no mistake about it. Along the way India huffed & puffed against England, choked (!) against South Africa but peaked at the right time to beat 4 former world champions on the trot to win Cricket’s most coveted prize, giving India’s greatest cricketer what’s been his due for a long time.

It wasn’t an Australia like domination from India but a very determined one, much like how they are holding on to their No.1 spot in tests. And who would want an Aussie like domination anyway? I find it boring. India played with so much resolve and their biggest motivation was most rightfully, Sachin Tendulkar. After what he has done for the team for 22 years & after 6 world cup appearances, team India gave him the ultimate prize.

The batting was always going to be the strong point. But it didn’t quite set the tournament on fire. Yet it was so strong that the slips ups didn’t cost much. The bowling after being under so much criticism improved leaps and bounds. Zaheer led the way and well supported by Yuvraj. But yet, Harbhajan needs a lot of improvement and a Yuvraj like treatment needs to be given to him. The fielding took an entire different picture once Raina came into the team. Some of the ground fielding in the final was outstanding to say the least.

The transformation of Yuvraj Singh from a mercurial basher to a matured all rounder has been the talk of the World Cup. No wonder its Sachin who’s behind this transformation. I also liked the way Mahendra Singh Dhoni handled him. Dhoni the captain has to be given a good share of credit for the win. His methods and decision hasn’t been very popular, but he has led by instinct and backed his players completely. He soaks up all the pressure that he relieves his team mates off it. The best example is his innings in the final and he chose the perfect stage to showcase his talent. World 20/20 triumph, taking India to No.1 spot in tests, IPL & CLT20 victories with CSK & now a World Cup winning captain of India.., he has been the man with the golden arm.

After all said and done, the real contest starts now. As experts would say, India is now the hunted team. Every team will breathe down their neck. How well they perform in the next 4 years will determine how worthy they are as champions. I reckon with the kind of steel, determination and resolve they showed it will be worthy. But just because they gave Sachin what he dreamt, doesn’t mean that they can let it go.

Go on India..! Show the World what you are Capable of..! For now, enjoy every bit of the moment..! You deserve it thoroughly...!