India’s Tour Down Under- Squad Review in a Nutshell

GEET BEHERA

20/12/15

2K16 is fast approaching. And also approaching another tour down under for the Indian cricket team. It may have lost some of its relevance, given that the mental fatigue of the complete Australian tour, including the CWC 2015, just a year back, is yet to wear away. Another factor is the T20 World Cup just after, to be organized in India, which raises the question that why India have to warm up and acclimatize in Australian conditions, when they should be providing the finishing touches to their preparation exclusively in home environs.

Even though India will play against Sri Lanka and in the T20 Asia Cup, the logic behind the team going all the way to Australia is beyond comprehension. It may wrongly influence selection for the WC, since the conditions are going to be vastly different- rather a tour of Kangaroos to India would’ve augured well for both the teams. Another factor, which can be considered against this series is the format itself – Lately, ODI bilateral series has got quite cold responses from the spectators.

Still, this series is quite relevant, from both teams’ perspective. There are a host of contenders in both the teams, claiming their stake for being a part of the pinnacle of T20Is. If we talk about the Indian team, an unexpected chance has come in the hands of many new faces as well as supposedly spent force. Whereas, quite a few players are sent the signal that they can’t take their place for granted, by dropping them after the dismal home performance against South Africa. Let’s take a ephemeral look at the players and their individual aspiration apart from the collective goal in this seemingly bizarre tour down under.

1.      Shikhar Dhawan: Surely, he is surviving on borrowed time and some extra-ordinary confidence, invested on him by the team management and selectors alike. Despite ordinary performances in the recent past (just a single half century in past 13 international innings), he has been retained for both the squad, a squad which is short of batting reserves. It’s a clear indication for him. He has to make it count, if he wants to prove his critics wrong. And there is no better place than Australia to turn it around.

2.      Ravindra Jadeja: He is in the middle of a purple patch again, as he overwhelmed the South Africans in the recently concluded test series. Many would argue that this success came on some tailor made surfaces against some insipid batting performances and he had previously enjoyed similar success on home soil before fading out in more gruelling environments. But he can be the key to the much needed control in the crucial middle overs in ODIs and can also provide 4 economically threatening overs in T20Is and is crucial in the scheme of things, as far as the World Cup is concerned. He has to prove his worth in this tour to dispel the doubts surrounding his abilities and should also look forward to contribute with the bat in hand.

3.      Axar Patel: The surprising fact about his selection is his exclusion from T20I squad. This underlines the fact that he has not provided the control needed to inhibit the rampaging batsmen, a threat, which gets magnified in the shortest format. It also sends a signal that he has effectively got behind in the pecking order, as far as the World Cup is concerned. After some disappointing performances in the previous series, where he had the freedom to take the responsibility, courtesy Jadeja’s absence, he must deliver in the ODIs, should he get his chance. And for that to happen, he should work on his bowling, which appears so one dimensional due to the darts, as well as on his batting.

4.      Manish Pandey: The man, most remembered for his IPL debut’s exploits, he came across as a responsible head in his debut match against Zimbabwe, early in the year. Subsequent return of regulars left him with no place in the home series against the Proteas. But he continued to remain in the radar of the selectors and ousting of Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu made him an immediate choice, ahead of the likes of Kedar Jadhav and Shreyas Iyer. He should look forward to grab the opportunity with both hands.

5.      Gurkeerat Singh: He had been in the fringes in all 3 series against the Proteas, but didn’t get a single chance to exhibit his skills. Known for his explosive lower order batting and handy off-spin, he provides another dimension to the spin bowling all-rounders present in the squad. Still, the management would ideally like him to come good with his batting, given the paucity of option in the batting reserves in this squad.

6.      Barinder Sran: The most surprising and out of box inclusion in the squad, Sran will do well to know that the spotlight has shifted to him, from nowhere. He didn’t exactly set the stage on fire in the recently concluded group stage of the Ranji Trophy. Nor he has outstanding List-A record against his name. But the fact that he is a southpaw, went heavily in his favour. Add to that, the promising spells delivered for Punjab and apparently good pace with some natural swing made him a choice, which can provide an unforeseen boost to Indian fast bowling reserve, which appeared quite uni-dimensional.

7.      Rishi Dhawan: When he was ignored for the last tour down under, and also for the tour England earlier, even after being the highest wicket taker in the preceding Ranji season by a distance, he might have lamented the lack of significance and focus, generally associated with the weak group C teams in the competition. By no means, he is just a beneficiary of playing in the weakest group. On top of that, Stuart Binny from more celebrated side of Karnataka, getting a chance ahead of Rishi, was inexplicable for all those, who observed and were impressed by Rishi. He appears to be the best option to India’s continued hunt for a pace bowling all-rounder and can be the long-time answer to this nagging problem. He sent a timely reminder of his batting abilities by hitting a crucial century to propel his team HP to the knock-outs of Vijay Hazare tournament. During an interview, when asked about his batting, he said that he primarily is a batting all-rounder, who has to take responsibility of strike bowler due to paucity of options. He may be India’s greatest find of this tour.

8.      Suresh Raina: A player, who always seems to promise much, before invariably sucked into his own fallacies. There are talks of selectors sending a strong message to him over his non-performance and his lack of runs- his primary job amidst the peripheral roles of handy off-spin and extra-ordinary fielding. Still, it appears to be more of an exclusion resulted from selectors trying to weigh in other options and Raina’s constant conundrum against short pitched bowling – which he would’ve faced more in Australia and which would not have done any good for his confidence ahead of an important tournament like World Cup. T20s will provide him the much needed match time before the tournament, hence justifying his inclusion in that squad.

9.      Hardik Pandya: A hyped stint with Mumbai Indians, the eventual champion in this year’s IPL, where he played a couple of good knocks, and a handy season with Baroda in Ranji trophy, were enough to draw focus of the national selectors. Especially when he belongs to the endangered species of Indian cricket-seaming all-rounder. He, along with Rishi, has the onus to provide hope of a brighter future and come out with some promising, consistent performances.

10.   Bhuvaneshwar Kumar: 106 runs from 10 overs in the final ODI against the South Africans, was one of the lowest ebb, Bhuvi has seen in his career so far. And his inability to contain at death has forced the selectors to overlook him for the ODIs, especially on hard and non-seaming pitches down under. What made it tough for him is his lost panache for taking wickets, with the new ball. He has to rediscover himself soon, if he wants to be in the team for the World Cup and not just a reserve in the T20I squad.

11.   Yuvraj Singh: The most anticipated and talked about comeback, Yuvi is making it with an unpleasant mental baggage, the infamous 11 off 21 in the 2014 T20 WC final. He acquired a villainous image among the fickle minded Indian supporters, after that innings. Still he is the man behind the 2K11 ODI WC victory and 2007 T20 WC victory and the epitome of fighting spirit after his perilous battle with Cancer. But selections for national team neither happen on the basis of past laurels or emotions. And extending the criteria for past failures also, selectors reposed their faith back on the man, who is a proven match winner and also displaying some his best recent form in the ongoing domestic List-A tournament. He is the highest run getter for his team, Punjab, in a successful Vijay Hazare knockouts’ foray. Many ongoing arguments about his selection has reached on a conclusion that he is better suited for ODI than T20, in that, recently, he is taking a bit of time settling down, before opening up. He himself has expressed his ‘personal’ disappointment for being ignored for the ODIs. Still, any kind of international cricket would be most welcomed by him and his supporters. And these 3 T20Is are going to be crucial for him to showcase his appetite and commitment to team’s cause, if he wants to make the cut for the T20 WC. The spotlight is firmly on him.

12.   Ashish Nehra: “Age is just a number.” This is the popular sentiment regarding Ashish Nehra’s unsurprising, yet unlikely inclusion. The veteran of two excellent World Cup campaign, Nehra had an outstanding IPL 2k15, as he was one of the most successful CSK bowler. It’s a general perception that he always had lot more to offer than he actually did. His injury ravaged career always came between him and long term success. But no one can forget those career defining spells- the 6/23 against England in WC 2003 is one of the best spells ever by an Indian pacer. Surely, he is well past his prime and he may not have much to offer. But by virtue of being left armed and his fast yorkers, he can still prove to be handful for the Aussie batsmen and can earn a berth in the World Cup squad. Whatever may be the outcome, he is definitely going to provide some nostalgic moment along with Bhajji and Yuvi.

With this selection, the national selectors stressed on the fact that they’ve not side-lined anyone, but have increased the pool for selection and are of the view that everyone deserves fair chances to showcase their talent. If we are to believe this viewpoint, the World Cup hopes of the likes of Ambati Rayudu, Sreenath Aravind, Amit Mishra, Stuart Binny and Mohit Sharma are far from being over. To be fair, Rayudu and Mishra have faced the vagaries of inconsistent selection in the playing XI, even if we consider their limitations. They’ve performed well in whatever limited chances they’ve got, but they surely have to stand out in performances, in whatever chances they are going to get from now on. Aravind’s indifferent Vijay Hazare campaign may have contributed in his fall in the pecking order while Stuart Binny’s limitations and his struggle to overcome them are far from hidden. Mohit Sharma’s injury is quite unfortunate, as he had performed exceptionally well in the CWC 2015 as a core member of the 3 pronged pace attack, which destroyed batting line-ups after line-ups. His travails in the recent home series, though, presents a different story, still no one fared better than him then. Harbhajan Singh is also facing a stiff prospect, after already finding him out of the ODI squad. He has to come up with strong performances to justify the faith of the management on his experience and abilities.

Still the T20 selection showed that there is no long term strategies, as far as the shortest format is concerned and experience and current form is as valuable as youth and an eye on future. Overall, the selections reflected the fact that selectors have mulled quite a bit over the repercussions of the home drubbing, India faced in the hands of Proteas and are looking forward to build a solid and versatile team by giving players, the confidence and backing. Opinions are formed and changed, but at the end of the day, performances matters and the results of this tour will go a long way in giving a much clearer picture of the ultimate team composition.

Is Test Cricket Really In Danger?

Geet Behera

14 December 2015

India vs England, Nagpur 2012 – four spinners toiling and giving their all on a slow turner which was so slow that Ian Bell and Joe Root could have easily dozed off and still read the turn.

India vs New Zealand, Wellington 2014 – Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling batted India out of the game and series from a hopeless position of 90 odd for 5 in their second dig, trailing by 200 odd runs. Indian bowlers gave their all, but the pitch became truer and truer.

India vs England, Trent Bridge 2014 – India batted whole fifth day to save the test without any trouble, pitch termed as poor by the ICC for its extreme slowness.

Pakistan vs England, Abu Dhabi 2015 – A batting feather-bed nurtured two desperate (for different reasons) batsmen with double centuries and produced a dull draw in an era where test cricket has become quite result oriented.

Australia vs New Zealand, WACA 2015 – The fast bowlers’ paradise produced one of its most uncharacteristic surface, where batsmen from both team made too much merry for a true cricket fan’s liking. An absolute poor surface coupled with a lightning fast outfield provided a mockery of bowling.

India vs South Africa, Nagpur 2015 – A minefield of minefield, producing confounding turn and bounce from the very beginning, culminated in a huge defeat for the visiting team. Even after considering the home advantage factor, it was considered poor by the ICC.

All of these matches and pitches have one thing in common. They appeared as a blot on all the ongoing efforts to enhance the credibility and popularity of the Test format of this unique sport. They all presented an extremely poor advertisement for test cricket and provided genuine support to people who are advocating against the survival of the oldest and traditional form of the sport. The logic behind producing such surfaces was never fully understood, barring the last case which was done to provide the so called home advantage. Weather preceding the matches before may have something to do with it. But in this age of updated technology and ultra-awareness, it is naïve to think that the curators couldn’t produce a better sporting wicket than these dead pitches in countries famous for producing lively result oriented wickets.

The ever increasing murmur about the survival of the test cricket seems to get traction with the advent and popularity of the T20 format and different leagues associated with it. With it came a brand of cricket, where flamboyance and improvisation are the key foundation for success. People are getting more used to watch high adrenaline, 3 hours affairs of rampant cricket rather than the slow, serene grind of test cricket over days altogether, which can also be thrilling in its own way. But probably, we are missing the plot in analysing the challenges faced by test cricket.

The major inhibitor of the test format is not exactly the growing popularity of T20. Rather it’s the standard of cricket itself on display in this format, which is largely responsible for the recent rise in voices against tests. It’s true that T20 is more viewer and spectator friendly as well as generates more revenue and keeps the broadcasters happy too. But a strong image of the real test cricket would never do any harm to its image and would always be popular among the true cricket fans irrespective of T20’s popularity. If we project our attention in the same time frame as the above matches, battles like Lords 2014, Cape Town 2014, Wanderers 2013, Gabba 2014, Adelaide 2015 and Delhi 2015 presents a perfect picture of what test cricket is all about.

Such has been the aggressive nature of the players in this past decade that we have seen numerous matches reaching their conclusion long before the stipulated period of 5 days. Though it may appear quite a progressive evolution for a format termed as quite a lengthy affair. But it undermines the joys and vagaries of a match spanning over all five days, where all four results are quite a possibility and where winning is not always the motto. Life don’t always provide us with the opportunity of winning. Sometimes you’ve to survive and weather the storm. Test Cricket provokes your survival instinct and stretch it to the hilt. We don’t need to look too far behind to find a glaring exhibition of this aspect, as the recently concluded Delhi Test between India and South Africa showed us. South Africans showed us the thrill of a graft to tackle the rampaging Indian bowlers and nearly stole a famous draw. This is test cricket at its endearing best.  Not long ago, Sri Lanka and England played two gems of a test in England, with both matches going down the wire and Sri Lanka coming on top was the cherry on the cake as it countered the ongoing trend of home teams pressing their advantage to facile victories.

In contrast to the above two examples, the England – New Zealand series this year provided as much quality, but in a very different style. Attack was the motto for New Zealand and soon England was following their suit too, setting up a beautiful series of attacking and counter-attacking cricket. So, contrary to general perception, Test Cricket is not about defence only.

Test Cricket is not a choice between attack and defence. It’s about the talent, temperament, grit and application, players must show in order to achieve the objectives of the game. It’s not about doctored or benign pitches, early finishes, being number one team or anything of that sorts. It’s about playing it with a passionate attitude, when you are at fire or on the top of your opposition, or playing it with a ‘never say die’ attitude, when the chips are down. If you are good enough to win or dominate a match irrespective of the nature of the pitch, you deserved to be called great. But for the victory of the cricket itself, quality should be the primary concern of all the cricketers and various stake holders of this game. If we have to fight the pessimism surrounding Test format at the moment, we have to provide quality cricket to the spectators and bank on the same factors, which helped it reach the pinnacle of cricket viewers’ list. The charm never wears off.

Matches like Australia vs West Indies Hobart 2015 will do no good to the cause as it showed that scheduling of such series is nothing more than mere formality. Though the day-night test is a welcome move, strategists need to focus more on the monitoring of existing system and making it more competitive. ICC should formulate strategies which can force its members to produce quality rather than secondary strategies to win at any cost. People see matches because they are passionate about the game. People see matches as a form of entertainment too. Both the aspects can be accomplished, if players start showing their heart and play tough, competitive cricket rather than showing their skills enhanced greatly by the playing surface. That said, benign surfaces should be heavily punished too and ICC must look forward to prevention of such kind of poor advertisement of our beloved form of cricket.

THE UNSUNG HERO OF INDIAN CRICKET

I just opened my Facebook account to realize that an era has set into oblivion. A chapter of Indian cricket has been closed, forever. The feeling of loss, however insignificant and redundant that may be, dawned upon me. And finally I clicked on the Cricinfo link to verify the news, inevitably discovering the inevitable of Indian cricket, especially Indian bowling. Yes, the 'Sachin Tendulkar' of Indian bowling department, as allegedly called by the Indian skipper MS Dhoni, has announced retirement. The bare cupboard of Indian bowling has suddenly lost its fulcrum, however weary it might have been recently. And those, who have loved watching him in action, were left with disappointed after the announcement, as they got the raw deal of only being able to enjoy his short IPL 2K15 run of 7 matches as his only recent memories.

The culprit obviously is an extremely creaky body, which had hardly done any justice to his talent and wily attitude. Still amidst all those, he created a golden legacy to be remembered and cherished forever in the various echelons of Indian cricket. It was phenomenal to observe that, how every comeback of his after a career threatening layoff has been more determined and productive. The strength of his character can be gauged by this very fact, that despite being suffering from so many breakdowns, which could have easily broken any bowler of the past and present plying their trade in an ever increasing amount of cricket, he never gave up and showed time and again, what he is made up of.

And he never shied away from taking up the mantle of the much maligned department of a team, which is predominantly known for its batting prowess. Despite facing numerous obstacles for his ever present race against time to be fit, he was always there to bear the force of expectations of a billion, to deliver each and every time, and mostly single-handedly. Need a wicket in the opening overs, give him the ball. Need to break a partnership, hand over the ball to him. Need to strangle the marauding willow wielders in the death overs, bank on him. And invariably, he would come out triumphant.

A guy bustling with confidence, entered the Indian cricket scenario in 2000, who was capable of delivering fast, swinging deliveries, and was soon touted as the India's answer to the real quick bowlers of other cricket playing nations. Under the dynamic captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, who was renowned for his penchant to nurture the young talent, he made quick strides. Along with another great Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehera -- another injury prone left arm quick -- he helped the Indian attack in decimating batting line-ups after line-ups until they collided with a Ricky Ponting inspired Oz batting line-up in the World Cup 2003. It was a commendable performance from him and his partners after they were largely written off. Before that also, he was the only saving grace in the otherwise forgettable New Zealand tour.

The first real blow to his career was his injury before the Australian series of 2003-04, a series, which changed perception of the world of India being only the home tigers. And his presence could've inspired India to an unprecedented series victory down under. He came back from that blow with reduced pace -- a regulation advice given by Indian bowling coaches. But he got more valuable assets as blessing in disguise. The beautiful and seamless bowling action of his started delivering impeccable lines and lengths, with eye popping banana swingers. And besides his bowling, he was a handy old fashioned slogger, who might look ungainly and came under the scanner for irresponsible dismissals at crunch times, but was invariably successful in contributing crucial runs and sometimes in providing a late lower order impetus. But his most telling contribution with the willow came in the test against Bangladesh in 2004-05, when he helped Sachin to his highest test score batting at number 11 and in the process, acquired the then record for highest test score of number 11 by scoring 75 not out.

His bowling kept on improving and he kept on adding new skills to his repertoire. And when he started bowling those deadly reverse swinging deliveries, he had his coming of age to spearhead the fragile Indian bowling unit. New bowlers came like shining stars but soon faded away. But he was a constant, constantly shouldering all the burdens of the expectations. And his exceptional performance in the England tour of 2007-08, inspired India to a famous series victory. He messed with the batsmen of England and later, South Africa, with his menacing swing and flamboyant guile to outfox the opposition batsmen, especially the lefties. He had non lesser than Graeme Smith and Andrew Strauss as his bunnies. And the Oz left handed openers as well Alistair Cook were also not left untroubled. Meanwhile his hide and seek with injuries continued throughout, but he started delivering on each and every front of bowling, irrespective of oppositions, pitches and venues. It had almost become a regular affair to prise out batsmen at will.

 And that culminated in a grand role in an utterly successful World Cup campaign of 2011. On the dry batting friendly home wickets supporting spinners, he topped the bowling charts by becoming the joint highest wicket taker. The highlight of that inspiring performance from the senior pro was the wicket of Andrew Strauss in the crucial group match against England, when he outfoxed Strauss, playing at 150 and in total control of the situation, leading India to a tie from a situation of no hope. Many critics of his expected it to be his swansong. But he knew he had a lot left in him to deliver.

Then came a moment, which signified India's over reliance on him. On the England tour of 2011 as the world number 1 test team; India started the first test in Great Spirit, courtesy him, as he reduced England to 2 for nothing. He got both Strauss and Cook with delightful away swingers, and soon created chance by taking the edges of Trott's and Pietersen's willow, which Dhoni was not able to latch on. And then he grimaced in pain. Another injury scare forced him off the ground, match and the whole series, in turn setting the tempo for the series. Not only Indian team grappled with his absence, but was forced off the track and was duly decimated in a 4-0 whitewash and initiating a flurry of overseas debacle. For many all those were due to various reasons ranging from incompetence of players outside the subcontinent to poor captaincy by MSD. But for me, that hobbling off of him from the ground was the defining moment of the impending doom.

He came back successfully in short spurts to prove his worth to the team, only to be pulled back with more injuries. For some time, the cupboard looked entirely devoid of talent and future looked bleak. But fortunate rise of some promising fast bowlers and an ever maturing Ishant Sharma, under his guidance, provided some answers to team's woes and reduced its over-dependency on him. With a start-stop career like that, he managed to play 92 tests and 200 odis, quite an achievement, and came as a real match winner and an impersonation of hard work, sincerity, determination, courage and a hope against all odds attitude.

 He is one of the best fast bowlers India has ever produced and certainly the best left arm pacer. And that smooth action with a jump is a picture symbolizing Indian bowling for nearly a decade. He managed to prove his critics wrong time and again. His career ended something similar to that situation in England 4 years back. The feeling of not being able to continue the mayhem he had started. Maybe he was made for providing this hope and guidance to the future of Indian bowling that no matter what, hang on and pull your socks up. He as a coach is an invaluable asset and certainly a bright future awaits him. If only we could've seen one last time in action. Still some things are meant to be just like that. We accept it and look forward towards new rays of hopes with an eternal respect for the 'Zaheer Khan' of Indian bowling.

 As many might have raised their eyebrows, it may not be the end of an era as mentioned in the first line, but it certainly is the end of an ever present assurance of Indian cricket. Zaheer you will be sorely missed. Hats off to you ZAK! Hope Zak will be back soon with his 2nd innings.

-GEET BEHERA

Perks of Inconsistent Aggressive Approach

GEET BEHERA

India lost.

From a position of absolute dominance, India lost yet another test match. Sounds stale? The reason behind that maybe because of the frequency of these occurrences in the recent Indian test cricket scenario. Still this particular loss came as a brutal shock to the critics and fans alike. It was disheartening to see the young team full of exuberance, to still not being able to learn from their previous mistakes.

The words of skipper Virat Kohli reverberates across the cricketing domain. The words, which comprised of buzz words like aggression, positive intent and fearless approach, were a sign of a young leader having colossal self confidence. He had his most preferred team at his disposal and presumably, he had done enough homework to inculcate his aggressive intent in his team mates. Glimpses of that intent was on display during the match at Adelaide Oval last year, where he was the stand in captain in the absence of regular skipper MS Dhoni. He remained true to his character and led a spectacular attempt to chase down a humongous target in a fast deteriorating strip.

Everybody was so impressed by that approach that they started touting him as the future leader of Indian cricket team. Moreover, the perennial criticism of his predecessor for the defensive brand of cricket and safety first approach, he was providing a new, refreshing brand of cricket. Also, it was much more imperative to show that kind of intent in an era, where even a traditionally conservative team like England is also talking about aggression and achieving lot more success. So when MSD came back for the rest of the series, some of his on field decisions didn’t go well with Virat’s perspective. And he was outrageous enough to hint at it to ever prowling media.

And there was the birth of a debate in Indian cricket. Whether Virat’s aggressive approach is the way forward, or MSD’s cool head will be sorely missed. Though it appears a straight-forward clash of ideologies and methods, but it hardly is. As the proofs of one better method out of two was never substantiated with defining clarity. Without being too harsh on Virat (he has only skippered in 3 matches), the fact remains that India lost matches from similar position in both Virat’s as well as MSD’s captaincy.

If we look at the recent past of Indian test team, we will find more heart breaks than outright losses. For example, there is a marked difference in the twin losses in England and Australia in 2014-15 season, as compared to 2011-12 season. Back then India got a hiding from both teams, even in the presence of stalwarts. But a relatively young team showed the guts to fight out the alien conditions and rampant teams having massive home advantage. But both the tours culminate in painful ifs and buts. And those arose from plethora of missed chances, either in pressing home their advantage or in closing out the game from a near invincible situation.

After winning the Lord’s test on the back of some inspired captaincy by MSD and impeccable bowling by the Indian seamers, the team couldn’t sustain the same aggressive intent. It became a burden for the players to conjure up the same energy levels for the rest of the series. Then a rejuvenated India approached a fresh series in Australia, and circumstantially, they happened to play it under a fiery skipper. But the negative result, albeit a close one, did no good for the morale of a team, whose belief in wins outside sub-continent was visibly shaken. And another inexplicable batting collapse at Gabba in the next match hampered it much more, even though bowlers made it close again. Then India returned to the MSD’s brand of cricket for the remaining couple of matches and earned respectable draws.

But the question raised was whether those draws are more preferable than the gamble Virat risked in first match, where an easy draw was there for the taking. It could’ve resulted in a more respectable 0-1 series score line. But then in MSD’s own words, a loss is a loss. Similar consequences preceded these tours, when India had toured South Africa and New Zealand earlier in the year. An assured winning position was squandered at Wanderers, when South Africa nearly chased a record 450 odd runs on the face of some insipid Indian bowling. And the drop of confidence led to another drubbing at Durban on a sub-continent like pitch. The series which could’ve easily in India’s favour went the South African way by 1-0 margin.

Similar series followed in New Zealand, where after losing the first test, they showed a significant turnaround to stamp their authority. Trailing by nearly 250 runs after first innings, New Zealand was reduced to 5 wickets for just 93 in their second dig. But Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling not only saved the innings defeat, they took the test far out of reach from India. Again, the inability to polish off the lower order came into the forefront.

After the last series in Australia, looking together at all the 4 series, the young generation of this Indian team didn’t showed any major technical deficiency, and actually created excellent winning situations, that too early in the series, but failed in capitalizing the crucial moments, either through defensive mindset, or lack of a final killer blow. They happened at a frustratingly consistent basis, to the utter dismay of their fans and administrators alike. Something was wrong. MSD left the future leader to find the solutions to some of these recent as well as long standing problems of Indian cricketing psyche.

When Virat went to Bangladesh and then on the Sri Lankan tour, he repeatedly emphasized the need to play aggressive cricket. To play for wins rather than draws and to stamp authority on the opposition from the word go. In Bangladesh, the rain played the spoil sport, but the sporadic play signaled otherwise. Kohli failed to declare in the evening session even after having a substantial score. It might be just plain inexperience on his part. But then what has now happened in the Galle test against Sri Lanka underlined an important lesson for him and his team. 

It was another of those recent tendencies to offer the match to the opposition on a platter from a fairly dominant position. And in this case, the effect was more acute. The supposedly best players of spinners were humbled on a far from alarming slow turner. The aggressive intent was inexplicably missing, with aggressive players like Shikhar Dhawan going into their shell, in a situation, where quick aggressive runs would have thwarted the Lankan tweakers. On the contrary, when Dinesh Chandimal attacked the Indian bowlers, they couldn’t recover from that. It was humbling for Virat, however benefit of inexperience we may give to him. It was more of a lack of intent and the missing desire to earn the hard yards.

So we had two opposite instances of losing from a winning situation. Like in most of the matches under MSD, the defensive and relaxing approach led to the downfall, whereas the Adelaide and Galle test under Virat provided another such situation due to aggressive intent. So basically both failed in their approach to arrest an unsettling trend for the Indian cricket.

Any batsman can step out and whack an odd delivery or any bowler can deliver an attacking delivery once in a while. But what real aggression means the timing of attack and the relentless approach regardless of the match situation. It is what the Australian team of yore and the present New Zealand team do on a consistent basis. So basically there is no need to abort this attacking approach. The need of the hour is to back up this attack with little bit of prudence, immense determination, grit and relentless approach to capitalize dominating situation and guts to turn around a hopeless situation into a potentially match winning or saving situation.

And the discernible lack of appetite for a gritty fight to recover from Chandimal sized shocks is quite concerning, if this young team under the young leader wants to scale new heights. And a full time coach may just provide the lack of clarity in thoughts and a new direction towards resilient attacking brand of cricket rather than directionless attacking cricket.

Virat’s start to test captaincy has been inauspicious, unlike MSD. He has plenty of time to identify the problems and rectify them, and with experience that will surely happen. But for the time being, the Indian team should focus more on the buzzwords like determination, resilience and grit, if they want the mantra to go back to winning ways and win crucial moments. And rather than debating on the right method and right skipper, we should focus more on the basic nuances of test match cricket, that is the virtue of patience, which will always remain a good ally in front of the challenges that test cricket puts forward.

And well, more than MSD, the skipper, India is currently missing MSD, the batsman in those Sri Lankan pitches, as they remain obdurate on their 5 batsmen, 5 bowlers’ strategy. Hopefully, the heart breaks will diminish soon from the Indian cricketing scenario.

Ruthless Australia drowned India in its depth.

 March 26,2015,BITS Auditorium

 Geet Behera

 

 It was just another day.Another eventful day ,as usual in our drab and dreary life.But it was extraordinary for more than a billion people.It was one of the biggest day for them in last 4 years.It was a day ,which assigns some much adored and idolised persons ,the tag of real protagonists or antagonists of the 22 yard strip.Or maybe of the vast swaths of grass ,of the breathtakingly beautiful SCG.There was a battle, worth to be seen by the 42000 odd spectators.Considering the stature of the match- besides being a world cup semifinal ,it was one of the most exciting rivalry in the cricket field of recent times.The promise of unabashed stares and glares ,coupled with some cheeky abuse hurling added the necessary spice to the build up of the match.Also the pre-match  ,in the words of Steve Waugh, 'mental disintegration' ,just provided the match the spark it needed in it's build up.

India had failed to win a single match against their mighty opponent cum host ,in the entire tour ,starting from the Tests ,continued through tri series and then culminated in a warm up match humiliation.Or so we thought ,as no one really foresaw an Indo-Oz clash in the knockouts before finals.But as the tournament unfurled ,it appears increasingly likely ,with New Zealand raking up wins after wins ,and against general expectation ,resigned the more popular co-host to the second spot in the group.And here it was ,another India-Oz match - 8th ,across formats and including the unofficial warm up one also.Statistics were suggesting another win by the dominant team ,especially on their home turf.But they were up against a team ,which was on a roll.

Having won 7 games on trot in the CWC 2015 ,and their supposedly weaker department-the bowling ,firing in unison ,their bowlers having taken all 70 wickets possible in those 7 matches.They were a transformed lot.A lot oozing confidence in plenty ,were being led by a skipper who very well knows what he had to do to defend the title ,which he himself so emphatically earned from the same opponent they were facing now.He keeps talking about the need to focus on the process ,rather than the outcome.He was definitely expecting a complete performance from his guys ,to render all the previous result against them on this tour insignificant.

So ,all in all it was a battle of equals ,equals in terms of the momentum and confidence they have carried through to the semifinal.But after 8 hours ,there was only one team ,which justified their fans' faith on them.Atleast statistically ,there was only one team which played the complete game.And it was the same team which had decimated their opponents time and again this summer.The Mighty Oz.

The toss was a significant factor in this match.Though as much the pitch was batting friendly ,it had good carry and bounce ,and a chase was never really on on it ,especially if you are chasing in excess of 300.And for the batsmen who grow up playing in Indian stadiums ,the challenge of doing so in SCG with much bigger boundaries was not a bright prospect.But Michael Clarke won the first battle-the battle of luck.MSD's bad fortune with tosses is no surprise for the Indian fans.

Shami delivered a testing opening over ,being right on the money with his line and length.But Umesh Yadav ,in the process of loosening up ,provided David Warner the perfect appetite ,he wanted.A meaty push through mid off ,off a half volley and a short of length leg side delivery was met with a short arm pull for maximum ,which was an ominous sign for the Indian bowlers of another Warner spanking.But before that could materialize any further ,with Warner top edging another short arm pull off a not so short delivery down Kohli's throat at covers.Meanwhile in that small passage of play ,Shami was bowling with menace ,beating a struggling Aaron Finch all ends up.And Warner's fall brought on field , the chief tormentor of the Indians in the test series ,Steve Smith who is in the form of his life ,scoring 3 fifties on trot since replacing out of form Shane Watson at the pivotal number 3 position ,extending his remarkable consistancy since the wonderful Ashes comeback.It all started happening ,with punches and counter punches flowing throughout- Warner attacking ,India attacking back with his wicket ,Smith attacking ,and Yadav hitting back with speeds touching 150 Kph.

Indian bowlers were once again showing their ability to crank up the pace ,with Yadav leading the charge ,followed by Shami with a succession of well directed bouncers.Though India were in desperate search of Smith's wicket ,resulting in an extra over for Yadav ,which instead of deterring Smith ,inspired him to take the challenge head on.He unleashed a series of pulls off limp short balls by a jaded Yadav ,preceded by a furious cut through point region in the 10th over ,which set the tone for a long haul for the 2nd wicket partnership.The powerplay brought 56 valuable runs for the hosts ,as this period is being regularly regarded as the time to size up things and preserving wickets for a later assault.

Virat Kohli was brought on for a one off over straight away after the powerplay ended ,ahead of the favoured tactic of bringing spinners on.It could have been a tactic to break Smith's rhythm and  force him to commit a mistake against the dibbly-dobblies of Kohli.Instead Virat duly provided the customary short ball ,which was easily pulled away.From the other end Mohit Sharma was perfectly executing his buisness with a air of calmness ,by bowling tight intermixing the pace of his deliveries.Jadeja provided some jittery moments to Finch but soon a change of ends for him and R.Ashwin bowling in tandem brought the pressure back on the Oz batsmen.Jadeja started chipping through his over nonchalantly ,whereas Ashwin started showing his repertoire of variations and guile.The over excitment of Jadeja cost India their lone review ,despite Dhoni being convinced about it being not out.And in his next over ,Smith broke the shackles with a well manufactured shot to a not so bad delivery.

Mohit was brought back for another tidy spell.And though run rate stayed under the radar ,but they had nine wickets in hand and with 18 overs left ,they took the batting powerplay early.And that opened the floodgates for Smith ,whose fluent innings was effectively neutralized by a struggling ,but fighting Finch.Finch reached his fifty ,while Smith punished Shami and Mohit to reach his hundred off just 89 deliveries.Initial couple of overs brought 30 runs for the Aussie.Though the tactic of bringing Umesh back into attack yielded instantly as he finally provided the breakthrough as he coaxed Smith into top edging a hook straight to square leg fielder.

Though that brought the dangerman Maxy into the crease in a reshuffling of the batting order ,to take advantage of a solid base.Indian seamers started bowling some tired balls and and he duly dispatched them to the on side boundaries.One Pontingesque pull stood out off Yadav.The batting powerplay brought 64 runs ,just at the loss of one wicket.400 was a distinct possibility and anything under 350 would have been an achievement for India.But a strong comeback started from some spirited performance by the Indian bowlers and fielders ,who are, as throughout the tournament were brilliant.It all started in the first over post powerplay with a fresh spell of Ashwin.He first delivered a sharply turning off break to plant doubts in Maxwell's mind and then followed it up with a quicker one ,which was swept away straight down to the lap of deep backward square.It was the longer part of the ground and it resulted out of some really smart field placings.With that, the tide turned in India's favour as Umesh hurried the well set Finch in a pull which went nowhere and settled in the hands of short mid wicket.

Dhoni started rotating all his 5 bowlers to pull Aussie back in the contest ,with skipper Michael Clarke and Shane Watson going into a rebuilding mode.Though Clarke perished in trying to break the shackles with a pull straight to Dhawan at short midwicket off a harmless short ball from Mohit.Watson and Faulkner struggled early on in the face of some very disciplined bowling from the Indians.Both tried to generate some momentum with Watson spoilt the finish of a great Ashwin spell with a sailing six off his last delivery and Faulkner cashing on some tired short pitch bowling from Shami.

But ,the situations continued to oscillate with Umesh hitting the timber with an absolute beauty,an inswinging fuller length which beat the hoick across the line by Faulkner.Meanwhile Jadeja bowled some Malinga inspired slinging yorker to keep Watson quiet.And the mounting pressure resulted in yet another wicket for Mohit off a slower delivery.It looked like the Indians had almost pulled back the Aussie in the game and had a chance to go for the kill and reduce the once humongous looking target into a par one ,considering the extreamly dry nature of the pitch ,which might negotiate the pacers ,and Oz might rue the absence of a genuine spinner.

Though all hard work was undone in the last couple of overs ,with Johnson taking the attack to a tired Shami in the penultimate over ,smashing 3 consecutive fours and then finishing off in style by scoring 15 runs off the last over ,delivered by Mohit.It raised some questions on the captaincy as Umesh was looking as an obvious choice ,as he was the only one who was using the short pitched delivery with vengeance and bowled at a pace ,of which Indian fans only dreamt of earlier ,consistently bowling north of 145 Kph.It propelled their score to a still daunting 328.The first time in the whole tournament ,India couldn't take all 10.

India went to break ,knowing fully well that it's going to be quite a task ,if they have to chase the highest ever total in a world cup semis ,that too on a pitch where ball wouldn't come onto the bat.Still fans had faith on the young ,but consistent batting line up.They had showed the charecter in the whole tournament so far.They had to do it again.

Shikhar and Rohit entered with the usual confidence ,being not too much concerned with the target.

Both had some jitters early on ,with Rohit edging a Mitchell Starc ball , just short of the slip and Dhawan giving a relatively easier chance to Haddin off Josh Hazlewood ,which he couldn't get hold of.Starc was on absolute fire , touching speed in excess pf 150 Kph ,with a stunning average speed of 148.On the other end ,Josh was right on the money with some incisive line and length coupled with a hint of swing.Though the pitch was completely dry and was on the slower side ,it had some extra bounce ,which was well exploited by both of them.

Soon though ,introduction of the other Mitch ,Mitchell Johnson ,which inspired Rohit to break free and he effortlesly hooked a fiery short delivery over the deep square leg fielder.Soon ,Dhawan also got into his groove with a glorious cover drive off James Faulkner,followed by a mighty pulled six in the same over.Dhawan went on a boundary hitting spree and Sharma was perfectly playing the second fiddle.India finished the powerplay with 55 runs on board without losing a wicket.Dhawan continued to torment Faulkner though.But when the innings got going ,Dhawan ,who was till then in a cruise mode ,lost his concentration and carelessly flayed a short and wide one from Hazlewood ,straight into the safe hands of Maxwell ,the only man in the deep in the off side.

Unfortunately for the Indian team ,this dissmisal brought a mini collapse of sorts ,as Virat Kohli's scoring region was blocked in a well prepared plan against him.He repeatedly tried to strike through the field ,but unable to find the gap ,he perished trying a desperate hook in the face of some impeccable bowling by Johnson ,who soon got his act together after straying initially.He rediscovered his mojo and soon started spitting out fire against the new batsmen.Ajinkya Rahane tried to stabilize things with Rohit ,while looking particularly edgy at the start.Rohit though was trying his best to somehow retain some momentum ,which was provided earlier.He started taking some risk and in the process ,pulled another Johnson bouncer imperiously ,sending the ball sailing straight over squarish mid wicket in front of square.Though Johnson delivered a peach of a delivery next ball ,as he bended a short of length one into Rohit ,who was beaten by the pace & swing ,playing on to his stumps.

Suresh Raina came and looked confused about his role as whether to attack or build on.He pulled Faulkner for a confident boundary ,but perished next bowl in an attempt to run a slower one down to third one ,nicking off.He didn't do any justice to those fans ,who were expecting him to shoulder some responsibility on the big occassion.Out came the skipper ,one of the best finishers of the game ,facing a task more daunting than just finishing.On the other hand ,Rahane's lack of fluency against some really attacking bowling and fielding helped in escalating the run rate towards 10.With Clarke having preserved Starc's most of the overs for later and Maxi and Watto running though with economical spells ,Aussie were clearly dominant.Rahane horribly scratched around to score his runs at a run per two balls.Dhoni started taking some risks but rewards were hard to come by.Rahane bludgeoned one over mid off ,off Watson ,but played too many dots ,increasing pressure on Dhoni.

Batting powerplay yielded little for India ,as their run rate remain sub 5 and they lost a wicket for the first time in that period.Rahane tried to fiddle with a wide Starc delivery ,and no one really appealed ,though Smith and Maxi came running from covers forcing Clarke to gamble by using their review.While there was no visible deviation ,they certainly heard a sound ,which got verified by Snicko as a very small spike.Jadeja was in no great form and the quality of bowling was too good for him.Though he cracked Hazlewood for a boundary through point in his final over ,he struggled to get going.Dhoni's drop by the skipper himself denied another wicket to Hazlewood.

Jadeja was then caught short of his crease during a tight single by brilliant Smith.As the required run rate escalated over 15 ,Dhoni started aiming for big hits and absolutely smeared Watson for two biggie over long off boundary ,with an air of a man who wanted to go down aftet giving his all.India needed couple of those each over ,for a miracle to happen.But it was far too much an ask.He got run out without even trying to dive or ground his bat leaving all to probabilities ,symbollic of the state of the match and his submission to it.

And that brought a swift end to the innings ,as tailenders had nothing much to do except accepting the bitter truth -the truth of losing after playing so well ,after showing real domination ,their tormenter of the summer again out-muscled them and dethroning them.Fans of India were left with disappointments and lots of what-ifs.And some questioned the strategy of Dhoni ,after he came out to bat.But people should realize he is no God and miracles can't happen day in day out.And that too against the face of some ruthless brand of cricket played by Australia.

They should respect the man ,who had given them so many reasons to rejoice in the past and who lifted the spirits and transformed the team into churning out flawless win after win to reach semis ,after being largely written off by everyone.He provided the ray of hope to us.And he did his best to preserve that ray ,by first showing skillful captaincy to pull the hosts back after the Smith-Finch assault.And then he batted with the application and temperament ,which other lacked and while he kept loosing partner and momentum ,he played an innings worthy of praises against some ruthless bowling ,if you see that in isolation.Indian team lost ,but he won the respect for his efforts and one knock out defeat certainly don't make this team bad.They played like champions and they deserve some acknowledgement for that.Come on India ,show some heart!!