The generally dire performances of Team India since the immense World Cup win in 2011 seemed set to continue after another early World T20 exit but three separate (and hopefully not unrelated) occurrences since give me some hope that things might take a turn for the better in the not too distant future. First, the combination of a sound (dropping Rohit Sharma) and a cheeky (not picking a spinner) move by the new selection committee for the India A squad against the touring Poms smacks at least a little of the boldness that Sanjay Manjrekar asked for. Equally commendable was the decision to downgrade the other Sharma's contract (Harbhajan's was less of a surprise) and the removal of Sreesanth altogether. If the fact that he is now in the same boat as an on-the-rise Umesh Yadav and a resurgent Irfan Pathan plus the exile of his fellow seamer from the England tour just a year back does not serve to put Sharma on notice that this represents his last chance, then nothing will. Finally, the requests by Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan to play in Mumbai's opening Ranji game are a great sign that India's ageing pair of MVPs are still hungry to achieve.
Notwithstanding that hunger though, it is in their future that the toughest decisions lie for Patil and co. as well as Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher. Tendulkar has long retired from international T20s and given his declaration that he won't be at the 2015 World Cup, its probably time for him to go the Dravid/Ponting/Laxman route and focus solely on Test match cricket in his remaining years. Not only would that help plan a proper defense of the world ODI title, it would also ensure that Tendulkar was around to mentor the younger brigade of Pujara, Kohli etc who are just easing their way into the rigours of the five-day game. The same goes for Zaheer whose effectiveness with the ball has greatly diminished in limited overs cricket (apart from his being a complete liability in the field). Given that Ishant has failed to take on the mantle yet and Umesh Yadav is still learning his trade, India can ill-afford to lose Zaheer from Test matches because of injuries or burnout from the shorter formats. So decision #1 for the selectors: nudge Tendulkar and Zaheer to retire from international limited overs cricket altogether.
The second important choice the selectors (and Fletcher) need to make is about the captaincy. I personally do not subscribe to the view (variously expressed here, here, and here) that Dhoni's time us up and a new leader is needed. Its amazing how quickly people are ready to throw brick-bats at someone after a few defeats even though the person and their approach hasn't really changed significantly. Dhoni has always been a defense first captain with sudden bursts of aggression. The recent dip in results are driven largely by the fact that the personnel he has at his disposal are not firing in unison thereby making his tactics look questionable. And apart from the fact that he is still the best possible person to captain the team, there isn't an adequate replacement on the horizon even if a change was needed. Sehwag and Gambhir are fighting for form and Kohli is too inexperienced. The best solution might be the one suggested by Harsha Bhogle and Boria Majumdar, ie installing Kohli as the T20 skipper (and Dhoni retiring from that format internationally). Apart from rejuvenating the T20 side ahead of the next world tournament, it would also ensure that Dhoni was able to focus on the two goals that should really matter - the ODI World Cup in 2015 and getting the Test match side back in the top two. Dhoni will be nearly 34 by the time the 2015 World Cup comes around and despite being possibly the fittest cricketer on the planet, a non-stop schedule of captaining, keeping and batting in all three formats for India in addition to the IPL and CLT20 has got to have taken its toll on his freshness. It also creates a succession plan giving Kohli the chance to lay his claim as long-term successor in all formats.
Number three on the list of priorities has to be homing in on and grooming a new opening pair for India. I have written at length about Sehwag and Gambhir's struggles and the two upcoming series against England and Australia have got to be the last chances they get to continuing as India's goto pair. And Sehwag at least should also be given a hint that his limited overs time is running short. In Rahane, Pujara, Tiwary, Karthik there are options aplenty so it would be futile to persist with a 33 year old who's averaging less than 22 in limited overs cricket in recent times (excluding a freak double hundred against the Windies last year). Gambhir should also be put on notice at least as far as T20s go though he is a fighter and I would be surprised if he didn't have at least one more purple patch in him.
Finally, if there is any seriousness at all in getting the team back up the Test match rankings and correcting the horrendous recent trend from overseas tours, then a strong seam bowling bench is imperative. Thirteen bowlers (excluding Ganguly, Dhoni, and Kohli) have bowled seam-up for India in Test matches in the last five years but aside from Umesh Yadav none of them inspire any sort of long-term confidence. Bowlers win games (in all formats, but especially so in the five-day version) and if India have to make a serious push for overseas wins it is imperative that Yadav, Dinda, Aaron, Awana (and Ishant) don't go the way that Sreesanth, RP Singh, Munaf, and Irfan have done.
Based on the above, my squads for the future (ie in a post Tendulkar, Zaheer, Sehwag world) would look something like this -
Tests: Dhoni (c, wk), Kohli (v-c), Gambhir, Mukund, Rahane, Pujara, Tiwary, Rohit , Karthik, Ishant, Yadav, Aaron, Pankaj, Unadkat, Ashwin, and Ojha
ODIs: Dhoni (c, wk), Kohli (v-c), Gambhir, Rahane, Yuvraj, Raina, Tiwary, Karthik, Irfan, Ishant, Munaf, Dinda, Ashwin, and Ojha
T20s: Kohli (c), Raina (v-c), Karthik (wk), Rahane, Yuvraj, Tiwary, Dhawan, Jadeja, Binny, Irfan, Yadav, Munaf, Ashwin, and Awana
Notwithstanding that hunger though, it is in their future that the toughest decisions lie for Patil and co. as well as Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher. Tendulkar has long retired from international T20s and given his declaration that he won't be at the 2015 World Cup, its probably time for him to go the Dravid/Ponting/Laxman route and focus solely on Test match cricket in his remaining years. Not only would that help plan a proper defense of the world ODI title, it would also ensure that Tendulkar was around to mentor the younger brigade of Pujara, Kohli etc who are just easing their way into the rigours of the five-day game. The same goes for Zaheer whose effectiveness with the ball has greatly diminished in limited overs cricket (apart from his being a complete liability in the field). Given that Ishant has failed to take on the mantle yet and Umesh Yadav is still learning his trade, India can ill-afford to lose Zaheer from Test matches because of injuries or burnout from the shorter formats. So decision #1 for the selectors: nudge Tendulkar and Zaheer to retire from international limited overs cricket altogether.
The second important choice the selectors (and Fletcher) need to make is about the captaincy. I personally do not subscribe to the view (variously expressed here, here, and here) that Dhoni's time us up and a new leader is needed. Its amazing how quickly people are ready to throw brick-bats at someone after a few defeats even though the person and their approach hasn't really changed significantly. Dhoni has always been a defense first captain with sudden bursts of aggression. The recent dip in results are driven largely by the fact that the personnel he has at his disposal are not firing in unison thereby making his tactics look questionable. And apart from the fact that he is still the best possible person to captain the team, there isn't an adequate replacement on the horizon even if a change was needed. Sehwag and Gambhir are fighting for form and Kohli is too inexperienced. The best solution might be the one suggested by Harsha Bhogle and Boria Majumdar, ie installing Kohli as the T20 skipper (and Dhoni retiring from that format internationally). Apart from rejuvenating the T20 side ahead of the next world tournament, it would also ensure that Dhoni was able to focus on the two goals that should really matter - the ODI World Cup in 2015 and getting the Test match side back in the top two. Dhoni will be nearly 34 by the time the 2015 World Cup comes around and despite being possibly the fittest cricketer on the planet, a non-stop schedule of captaining, keeping and batting in all three formats for India in addition to the IPL and CLT20 has got to have taken its toll on his freshness. It also creates a succession plan giving Kohli the chance to lay his claim as long-term successor in all formats.
Number three on the list of priorities has to be homing in on and grooming a new opening pair for India. I have written at length about Sehwag and Gambhir's struggles and the two upcoming series against England and Australia have got to be the last chances they get to continuing as India's goto pair. And Sehwag at least should also be given a hint that his limited overs time is running short. In Rahane, Pujara, Tiwary, Karthik there are options aplenty so it would be futile to persist with a 33 year old who's averaging less than 22 in limited overs cricket in recent times (excluding a freak double hundred against the Windies last year). Gambhir should also be put on notice at least as far as T20s go though he is a fighter and I would be surprised if he didn't have at least one more purple patch in him.
Finally, if there is any seriousness at all in getting the team back up the Test match rankings and correcting the horrendous recent trend from overseas tours, then a strong seam bowling bench is imperative. Thirteen bowlers (excluding Ganguly, Dhoni, and Kohli) have bowled seam-up for India in Test matches in the last five years but aside from Umesh Yadav none of them inspire any sort of long-term confidence. Bowlers win games (in all formats, but especially so in the five-day version) and if India have to make a serious push for overseas wins it is imperative that Yadav, Dinda, Aaron, Awana (and Ishant) don't go the way that Sreesanth, RP Singh, Munaf, and Irfan have done.
Based on the above, my squads for the future (ie in a post Tendulkar, Zaheer, Sehwag world) would look something like this -
Tests: Dhoni (c, wk), Kohli (v-c), Gambhir, Mukund, Rahane, Pujara, Tiwary, Rohit , Karthik, Ishant, Yadav, Aaron, Pankaj, Unadkat, Ashwin, and Ojha
ODIs: Dhoni (c, wk), Kohli (v-c), Gambhir, Rahane, Yuvraj, Raina, Tiwary, Karthik, Irfan, Ishant, Munaf, Dinda, Ashwin, and Ojha
T20s: Kohli (c), Raina (v-c), Karthik (wk), Rahane, Yuvraj, Tiwary, Dhawan, Jadeja, Binny, Irfan, Yadav, Munaf, Ashwin, and Awana
Comments