What is the Indian cricket missing ?
I am an avid cricket fan, and right now a disappointed Indian cricket fan.
After 2 losses & a potential exit from the World cup, its easy to find faults with the Indian cricket team. A lot of people are doing so 24X7, but to me most of their "analysis" seems shallow, just like out cricket board president's statements - "we need youngsters". If the Indian team has failed, its a reflection of the entire system, which HE is the head of. He appoints the coaches & the selection team, so if anything he should have started out by taking some responsibility, promised to introspect & fix our weaknesses. Instead, he acted like a true politician, well its our fault that a politician and not a cricketer is heading our cricket board. As I wrote that a thought occured to me, may be the Board & the selectors should be elected by the Indian people. I am sure a lot more people would turn out to vote for that election & in general the process will be better & self-healing.
Enough digression.
Back to what I wanted to pen down are issues that our team faces:
1. Fitness - We continue to play the game like it was played 10-20 years back, while most of the other sides have changed enormously. For Indians the game continues to be mostly about skill. While skill's important for other sides as well, Fitness & agility are now taken for granted. I cant think of 1 side that fields worse that India - not even amongst the minnows : Scotland, Ireland, Bangladesh all are good agile fighting fit units. They easily save 20-40 runs more than the Indians on the field & run 30-40 runs more with their faster running between the wickets. I am not saying skill is not important, but then Ponting has as much skill as Sachin(almost), but that doesnt deter him from staying fit & running like a Bevan. In the indian squad there are a few players who are fit - especially amongst the young lot, but even there we dont mandate a regime that would make a person fitter, a better fielder. Most of ouor pacemen, and spinners too are below-average fielders. Munaf patel is a good example. A very quick learner of the game, he completely changed his bowling - his run-up, his style. Sacrificing speed to become more accurate - like a McGrath. And I respect him a lot for that, wouldnt he become a better fielder if there was enough emphasis on ensuring that everyone playing cricket in India at all levels needs to be a good fielder.
2. Intensity & Spirit - We lack the fire, thats generally a sign of a team trying enough. Not just when we are losing, but even when we start trying. We wait for some heroic - the bowler to keep bowling beauties & get lucky, and only then do you see a spring in the step of the fielders. Thats exactly the opposite of what it should be - If there is enough spirit on the field, the bowler will bowl well & the wickets will come with the pressure. Exactly how we lost our wickets to the much spirited Bangladesh & Sri lankan side. While the spirit is most visible when fielding, even when we go out to bat - the commitment & intensity is not visible. I have already mentioned our running between the wickets. Simpler things like learning from the past mistakes (yes Sehwag, Sachin .. and more are guilty of not doing this enough). Putting a price on your wicket, caring for the country's run rate more than your milestone. Its the spirit of the aussies that saw them make a huge total yesterday
The captain getting out in the nineties, in an attempt to keep the run-rate going higher. I am sure Dravid would do similarly, but I am quite positive that a lot of other Indian players would not. Yesterday's match was a brilliant game, with outstanding cricket. The South african opening pair had run away to a brisk start and looked almost set for repeating the history of their famour world record chase. Then it took utter brilliance in the field - hitting the stumps from deep square leg, to get a wicket. I am quite positive that had we been South Africa's opponents yesterday, we would have been on the losing side unless 1 of our bowlers bowled exceptionally well. Its a reflction of how less we work as a team and how much we depend on individual brilliance.
3. We pick champions in our team, instead of working on a team thats a champion - Marvan Attapattu, 1 of Sri Lanka's best batsmen - comparable to a Dravid/Ganguly in the Indian scenario, was not in the team, because he plays best at #3 or #4 and right now Sri Lanka have players who are performing better at those numbers - given what they now expect from #3 or #4. This is in stark contrast with the Indian team that we fielded - We had 4 openers at the top of our order - Ganguly, Uttappa, Sehwag, Tendulkar. Ganguly was bowling in this critical match, not having bowled for a long long time in a match. He bowled well, but that doesnt take away from the fact that we havent groomed a 5th bowler. Ganguly, Tendulkar, Yuvraj & Sehwag have stayed part-time bowlers, while Jayasurya is now as economical as Muralidaran. Its good to have options, but those options also need to be groomed, and chiselled.
When we pick a new batsman for the team all we look at is his scores in the domestic games, not giving enough weightage to which position he has played, has he faced international teams, which position in the indian team might be vacant ?
Flexibility is good, but too much of it can cause instability & inexperience in various scenarios.
To me whats more disappointing than the loss & possible early exit from the world cup, is the fact that none of the issues would get fixed anytime in the near future. We have politicians & businessmen running the cricket, in this country. Its not impossible that a good politician can also be a good administrator & reform the cricketing infrastructure of this nation, but its highly unlikely. I would place my bets on a seasoned cricketer who has seen the ups & downs and is a lover of the game.
Update:
Actually as Rileen poits out - there are way too many points.
The entire infrastructure needs a major overhaul.
Junior players need to get a lot more international exposure - counties, playing other A teams (or even minnows).
The Indian national team should not be the grooming ground for young talent. Right now, I don't know the name of a single promising youngster who might be tomorrow's Sachin or Dravid.
We, as a country, need to make cricket what it is - a sport. Play a lot more if it, watch a lot more of it - not just the national team's outings. Have a lot of good local competitions. Like an NBA or even the english county.
I wish some big media house starts seeing things this way & they get the Board officials under the scanner.
I wish ...
After 2 losses & a potential exit from the World cup, its easy to find faults with the Indian cricket team. A lot of people are doing so 24X7, but to me most of their "analysis" seems shallow, just like out cricket board president's statements - "we need youngsters". If the Indian team has failed, its a reflection of the entire system, which HE is the head of. He appoints the coaches & the selection team, so if anything he should have started out by taking some responsibility, promised to introspect & fix our weaknesses. Instead, he acted like a true politician, well its our fault that a politician and not a cricketer is heading our cricket board. As I wrote that a thought occured to me, may be the Board & the selectors should be elected by the Indian people. I am sure a lot more people would turn out to vote for that election & in general the process will be better & self-healing.
Enough digression.
Back to what I wanted to pen down are issues that our team faces:
1. Fitness - We continue to play the game like it was played 10-20 years back, while most of the other sides have changed enormously. For Indians the game continues to be mostly about skill. While skill's important for other sides as well, Fitness & agility are now taken for granted. I cant think of 1 side that fields worse that India - not even amongst the minnows : Scotland, Ireland, Bangladesh all are good agile fighting fit units. They easily save 20-40 runs more than the Indians on the field & run 30-40 runs more with their faster running between the wickets. I am not saying skill is not important, but then Ponting has as much skill as Sachin(almost), but that doesnt deter him from staying fit & running like a Bevan. In the indian squad there are a few players who are fit - especially amongst the young lot, but even there we dont mandate a regime that would make a person fitter, a better fielder. Most of ouor pacemen, and spinners too are below-average fielders. Munaf patel is a good example. A very quick learner of the game, he completely changed his bowling - his run-up, his style. Sacrificing speed to become more accurate - like a McGrath. And I respect him a lot for that, wouldnt he become a better fielder if there was enough emphasis on ensuring that everyone playing cricket in India at all levels needs to be a good fielder.
2. Intensity & Spirit - We lack the fire, thats generally a sign of a team trying enough. Not just when we are losing, but even when we start trying. We wait for some heroic - the bowler to keep bowling beauties & get lucky, and only then do you see a spring in the step of the fielders. Thats exactly the opposite of what it should be - If there is enough spirit on the field, the bowler will bowl well & the wickets will come with the pressure. Exactly how we lost our wickets to the much spirited Bangladesh & Sri lankan side. While the spirit is most visible when fielding, even when we go out to bat - the commitment & intensity is not visible. I have already mentioned our running between the wickets. Simpler things like learning from the past mistakes (yes Sehwag, Sachin .. and more are guilty of not doing this enough). Putting a price on your wicket, caring for the country's run rate more than your milestone. Its the spirit of the aussies that saw them make a huge total yesterday
The captain getting out in the nineties, in an attempt to keep the run-rate going higher. I am sure Dravid would do similarly, but I am quite positive that a lot of other Indian players would not. Yesterday's match was a brilliant game, with outstanding cricket. The South african opening pair had run away to a brisk start and looked almost set for repeating the history of their famour world record chase. Then it took utter brilliance in the field - hitting the stumps from deep square leg, to get a wicket. I am quite positive that had we been South Africa's opponents yesterday, we would have been on the losing side unless 1 of our bowlers bowled exceptionally well. Its a reflction of how less we work as a team and how much we depend on individual brilliance.
3. We pick champions in our team, instead of working on a team thats a champion - Marvan Attapattu, 1 of Sri Lanka's best batsmen - comparable to a Dravid/Ganguly in the Indian scenario, was not in the team, because he plays best at #3 or #4 and right now Sri Lanka have players who are performing better at those numbers - given what they now expect from #3 or #4. This is in stark contrast with the Indian team that we fielded - We had 4 openers at the top of our order - Ganguly, Uttappa, Sehwag, Tendulkar. Ganguly was bowling in this critical match, not having bowled for a long long time in a match. He bowled well, but that doesnt take away from the fact that we havent groomed a 5th bowler. Ganguly, Tendulkar, Yuvraj & Sehwag have stayed part-time bowlers, while Jayasurya is now as economical as Muralidaran. Its good to have options, but those options also need to be groomed, and chiselled.
When we pick a new batsman for the team all we look at is his scores in the domestic games, not giving enough weightage to which position he has played, has he faced international teams, which position in the indian team might be vacant ?
Flexibility is good, but too much of it can cause instability & inexperience in various scenarios.
To me whats more disappointing than the loss & possible early exit from the world cup, is the fact that none of the issues would get fixed anytime in the near future. We have politicians & businessmen running the cricket, in this country. Its not impossible that a good politician can also be a good administrator & reform the cricketing infrastructure of this nation, but its highly unlikely. I would place my bets on a seasoned cricketer who has seen the ups & downs and is a lover of the game.
Update:
Actually as Rileen poits out - there are way too many points.
The entire infrastructure needs a major overhaul.
Junior players need to get a lot more international exposure - counties, playing other A teams (or even minnows).
The Indian national team should not be the grooming ground for young talent. Right now, I don't know the name of a single promising youngster who might be tomorrow's Sachin or Dravid.
We, as a country, need to make cricket what it is - a sport. Play a lot more if it, watch a lot more of it - not just the national team's outings. Have a lot of good local competitions. Like an NBA or even the english county.
I wish some big media house starts seeing things this way & they get the Board officials under the scanner.
I wish ...