The gulf between this Indian side and their hosts over the last seven weeks or so has been quite significant (on average) from a cricketing perspective but two events from this past week highlight how big the gap is even off the field.
First, Dhoni's suspension for one game (for slow over-rates). Its hard to imagine the Australian team management (coach, selectors etc) allowing their captain to get suspended for the second time on a single tour. I'm a big fan of Dhoni's (despite all the flak he's copped this tour) but even an immensely capable man like him occasionally needs some guidance and support. And here, Fletcher hasn't had a single thing to say about it (more or less like his silence on the rest of the tour). Its surely not a coincidence that both the transgressions have come when India have chosen to play four seamers, so its not as though the solution is hard to find (even setting aside the tactical questionability of that team composition). Hopefully, someone (ideally Fletcher) is having a word with Dhoni behind the scenes.
Behind the scenes intrigue is something that needs to be avoided when it comes to the issue of the retirement of senior pros clearly past their best. Its refreshing to see the openness that John Inverarity has when it comes to explaining decisions and the agreement that he and Ponting had is how mature adult professionals should operate. The contrast with the Indian selectors is glaring whereby Kris Srikkanth has never bothered to indicate where Tendulkar, Dravid, and Laxman stand in the selectors thinking. Again (as in the case above with Dhoni), hopefully there's more going on privately than has been revealed to the masses. Judging by how Dravid had to force the issue when it came to his ODI career, its unlikely that there's any real plan that Srikkanth and co have.
Cricketing gaps can be made up to some extent with hard work on and off the field. How do you cope with attitude gaps though?
First, Dhoni's suspension for one game (for slow over-rates). Its hard to imagine the Australian team management (coach, selectors etc) allowing their captain to get suspended for the second time on a single tour. I'm a big fan of Dhoni's (despite all the flak he's copped this tour) but even an immensely capable man like him occasionally needs some guidance and support. And here, Fletcher hasn't had a single thing to say about it (more or less like his silence on the rest of the tour). Its surely not a coincidence that both the transgressions have come when India have chosen to play four seamers, so its not as though the solution is hard to find (even setting aside the tactical questionability of that team composition). Hopefully, someone (ideally Fletcher) is having a word with Dhoni behind the scenes.
Behind the scenes intrigue is something that needs to be avoided when it comes to the issue of the retirement of senior pros clearly past their best. Its refreshing to see the openness that John Inverarity has when it comes to explaining decisions and the agreement that he and Ponting had is how mature adult professionals should operate. The contrast with the Indian selectors is glaring whereby Kris Srikkanth has never bothered to indicate where Tendulkar, Dravid, and Laxman stand in the selectors thinking. Again (as in the case above with Dhoni), hopefully there's more going on privately than has been revealed to the masses. Judging by how Dravid had to force the issue when it came to his ODI career, its unlikely that there's any real plan that Srikkanth and co have.
Cricketing gaps can be made up to some extent with hard work on and off the field. How do you cope with attitude gaps though?
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