So far this India-England series or 'the battle for #1' as most people (myself included) had billed it hasn't quite been the Hitchcockian thriller that it was expected to be. And though a lot has been said and written about it, the primary reason in my opinion is that England have been fitter, hungrier and more disciplined (with both bat and ball). Form is something that most sportspersons cannot really control but fitness and strength is something they can and as Sanjay Manjrekar points out in this incisive article, hiding behind injuries is not something a team aspiring to be the world's best should do. Given his fitness record and athleticism levels, this piece from Ganguly is a bit rich, but the point he makes is nevertheless a pertinent one. In my opinion, fitness (or the lack of it) is a broader cultural phenomenon and until there is a distinct change there, its hard to see how any Indian team could consistently be the best in the world.
Of more immediate concern I think is that even in terms of basic cricketing talent there don't seem to be enough players who have shown the ability to fill in the slots that will (soon) be vacated by Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Zaheer, and Harbhajan. Leaving aside Sehwag and Gambhir (who will hopefully be around at least for the next 4-5 years), none of the batsmen who have played since 2006 have been able to cement a position in the first XI. Kaif and Jaffer were dropped for reasons unknown and are now on the wrong side of 30, Yuvraj continues to blow his chances and the younger lot (Vijay, Pujara, Badrinath, Raina, Mukund, Karthik, Kohli) have struggled so far. The stats on the bowling front are not much rosier and you would have to say that purely in bowling terms, India would rate well below both England and South Africa, particularly the former. Ishant and Sreesanth can still be world beaters but they are young and need support. To me, the most worrying aspect of the bowling stocks is that no challenger for Harbhajan has emerged and for a country that used to open the bowling with spinners at times, we struggle to find one or two Test class bowlers. Given this, Ian Chappell is spot on in his assessment that its actually huge credit to Dhoni's management of resources that India held on to the #1 ranking for so long and the fact that they are on the verge of losing it should not really be a surprise. This series has given the team a glimpse into the future and hopefully (if Test cricket remains a priority once the #1 ranking goes), there will be some lessons learnt. The next 18 months will be fascinating viewing for how the team handles the transition.
In the meantime, Salil Tripathi has written the most sensible article I have read in a while on the series and the average Indian cricket fan's perspective (or the lack of it :-)) To paraphrase Docomo's annoying tagline (mouthed even more annoyingly by Ranbir Kapoor), "its just a game, silly".
Of more immediate concern I think is that even in terms of basic cricketing talent there don't seem to be enough players who have shown the ability to fill in the slots that will (soon) be vacated by Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Zaheer, and Harbhajan. Leaving aside Sehwag and Gambhir (who will hopefully be around at least for the next 4-5 years), none of the batsmen who have played since 2006 have been able to cement a position in the first XI. Kaif and Jaffer were dropped for reasons unknown and are now on the wrong side of 30, Yuvraj continues to blow his chances and the younger lot (Vijay, Pujara, Badrinath, Raina, Mukund, Karthik, Kohli) have struggled so far. The stats on the bowling front are not much rosier and you would have to say that purely in bowling terms, India would rate well below both England and South Africa, particularly the former. Ishant and Sreesanth can still be world beaters but they are young and need support. To me, the most worrying aspect of the bowling stocks is that no challenger for Harbhajan has emerged and for a country that used to open the bowling with spinners at times, we struggle to find one or two Test class bowlers. Given this, Ian Chappell is spot on in his assessment that its actually huge credit to Dhoni's management of resources that India held on to the #1 ranking for so long and the fact that they are on the verge of losing it should not really be a surprise. This series has given the team a glimpse into the future and hopefully (if Test cricket remains a priority once the #1 ranking goes), there will be some lessons learnt. The next 18 months will be fascinating viewing for how the team handles the transition.
In the meantime, Salil Tripathi has written the most sensible article I have read in a while on the series and the average Indian cricket fan's perspective (or the lack of it :-)) To paraphrase Docomo's annoying tagline (mouthed even more annoyingly by Ranbir Kapoor), "its just a game, silly".
Comments