A poor end to a wonderful year

It is the last day of 2007 and as the Indian team reflects on its poor performance in the Boxing day test, I too am reflecting on the year that was; and unfortunately on the most recent defeat at Melbourne which was Australia’s 15th test match win in a row. Let’s make no mistake about it, this has been an amazingly successful year for Indian cricket. The World Cup demise was a sad one and the inexplicable loss to England in the one day series a bit difficult to understand or explain, however the test series win in England, the T20 triumph and the home series win in both test and one dayers against Pakistan are land mark events that we should not forget in a hurry. Sadly the Boxing day test match was lost on an India friendly track in under four days by a margin of 337 runs and that has rubbed off some of the euphoria of the year’s achievements. But let us look ahead to the rest of the tour although sadly we cannot look at the future without looking back at what went wrong and learn from that.

A good opening
For as long as I can remember, after Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan, India have worried about the opening positions and have usually got it wrong. Anil Kumble has got many things right in his brief tenure as captain but he has really done harm to his long term colleague and friend Rahul Dravid in making him open. Dravid seems to be different from the dominant batsman of last year and the last Australian tour. Many of his current problems seem to be in his mind and he has taken backward steps as a batsman after resigning from the captaincy. This is a new Dravid that we are seeing and he is not giving us the same pride that he so regularly gave us. I wish he would be more assertive about his batting and more importantly about his batting slot. Why should he be made to open just to accommodate Yuvraj, however good his form in other forms of the game be? Yuvraj too seemed nervous and ill at ease though he was done in by poor umpiring in the first innings. As for Jaffer, he made Dravid’s job more difficult with his two failures. Let us get Sehwag in, who knows what can happen? Certainly Sehwag himself will have no clue as to what is going to happen. In any case it cannot get worse and at least we will give Rahul Dravid, our most successful batsman overseas for several years now, a proper run in his normal batting slot. Surely he deserves that. Sachin, Saurav and Lakshman all showed glimpses of what they can do. Sadly they did not do what Mathew Hayden did. But I am sure they will all come good soon, hopefully together at Sydney. Yet I think we need to remember one thing. We need to score at more than 3 runs an over if we are to win. At the run rate we maintained in the test just gone by we will have to face the second new ball at 200 and usually we lose wickets with the second new ball as well.

We cannot change drastically
There has been a lot of talk about our poor fielding, our poor running between the wickets and our inability to rotate the strike. I believe the last is a big issue that we handle adequately in the one day version of the game and must do it here as well. After all, many of the players are common to both versions of the game. I do not think anyone has the courage to tell Saurav Ganguly to ground his bat while he is trying to make his ground, after all we do not have a coach. It is amazing how true is the dictum that people do not change and at best they change for the worse, but if he continues running in the same haphazard manner between wickets Saurav could beat Inzy at his own game and become the worst runner between wickets of all time! I wish Saurav would watch the footage of his running between the wickets in the last game. But to come back to our fielding, while we are hardly agile I think we should get in more substitutes in like England did in 2005 and Yuvraj can come in to field at Sydney with Karthik and we can rest our big three provided they make runs! But we do need to look at the positions of our fielders who are unlikely to become the fleetest of foot in two days. Maybe they should stand closer or walk in faster as singles are being taken so easily, there is no pressure on Australia who consistently scored at four runs an over. I think the Indians [particularly the younger ones] need to watch Brad Hogg’s hand better instead of shooting off their mouths about how he is no Warne or McGill. Something tells me that the Indians play classic leg spin better than unorthodox chinamen bowlers like him and he may be more successful than the bigger reputations of Warne et al. Lets just hope I am wrong and we will take him to the cleaners at Sydney.

So what do we do?
Lets just forget what happened at Melbourne and move on to 2008 and try to prevent the Aussies from equaling their own record of 16 straight test match wins. Let us get in Sehwag for Yuvraj. Let Dravid bat at three. Let us play Irfan Pathan, it will strengthen our batting, bowling and even our fielding. Let us hope that Ponting continues to be Bhajji’s bunny as the sobering thought is that Australia won by 337 runs even though he made only 7 in both innings put together. I am sure Kumble will win the toss this time, let us bat and put runs on the board, it is the only way to put pressure on Australia. Let us not be intimidated by Australia, Kumble showed us the way on the first day, the others just need to follow their leader. And finally let us hope and pray that the beginning of 2008 is better than the end of 2007 for Indian cricket.

(Ramanujam Sridhar is the CEO of brand-comm and the author of One Land, One Billion Minds).

Heads up Australia! Here we come!!

• Before you can say Woolangabba it will be time for the Boxing day test match. The Indian team has been announced and it looks like the Indian selectors are reading Ian Chappell’s column, for they have got back Veerendra Sehawag into the team. Of course how someone who is not in the original 24 can make it to the final 16 is explained by our motto and guiding philosophy, “We are like that only” (Rama Bijapurkar solpa adjust maadi). But back to the tour of Australia and our own team morale, clearly it must be at an all time high as we have beaten Pakistan (however depleted and however divided) at home after a small matter of 27 years and more significantly beaten England in England after 17 years. And if we are to beat Australia we need to be confident perhaps not of the brash Ganguly variety but perhaps the more understated Kumble variety, or so one hopes! Can we beat Australia at their den, where they have not been beaten since the Golden era of West Indian cricket? Yes we can, however audacious that sounds today if we do a few things right and how easy it sounds sitting in front of my Sony Vaio and sipping chai! But how do we do this?
  
  In transition
  Australia are a formidable team and perhaps more so at home in front of screaming fans in their sea of gold and yellow, who wish everyone goes down under the Aussie juggernaut. Yet they are not the same invincible team of 2007. Players like McGrath, Warne, Langer and Martyn cannot be replaced overnight. Suddenly after a decade of Warne magic Australia is talking about a four man pace attack. How boring! Isn’t South Africa already there with this sameness? I strongly believe that they will be hard pressed to bowl the Indians out consistently in pitches that have slowly and surely become so batsman-friendly that wins if not draws are actually a possibility if the Indians play to their potential. People like Michael Vandort and Kumar Sangakkara have demonstrated just last month that it is possible to score and score heavily against the Aussies. The Indians are batting as well as they have ever been. Ganguly is oozing with confidence and fit enough to bowl after scoring a century! Wonders as they say never cease! Sachin has a point to prove I am sure to himself if to no one else and Dravid must be smarting at his own recent lack of success. Throw in a VV ‘Special’ Laxman whom the Aussies dread and an irrepressible S Yuvaraj, then you have a batting line up (on paper at least) that is extremely reassuring. Yet I suppose our normal diffidence must assert itself. The opening pair is still uncertain and if we lose early wickets it could be back to our own sorry past. If Jaffer can get past his early jitters, I am sure he will score and score heavily and who knows what Sehawag can do, not even himself. They used to say that our great Indian match winner B.S. Chandrasekar did not know what ball he was going to bowl, which explains his enormous success. I dare say the same thing could be said about Sehawag’s batting. If he is emotionally fit, he can make a difference. Maybe our great comeback king Saurav Ganguly should have a chat with him. God knows what a Gary Kirsten can tell him even if he makes it to Australia before the series is decided! But all these ageing warriors make for a pathetic fielding side and an even more disastrous set of runners between wickets. We will bleed runs and must do the simple things right. Let me just
  explain how things can go wrong if not enough attention is paid to detail. In the recent test match at Hobart, Marvan Attaputta who is currently in Chandigarh with the ICL hooked Brett Lee and was caught on the fence. Neither he nor his partner Sangakkara ventured an inch outside their creases even though the ball hung in the air for ages. Of course he was caught as one would expect in Australia and yet because they did not have the cricketing sense to cross over, the right handed Jayawardene received a swinging yorker first up only to lose his off stump and watched his team lose the game and the series from the comfort of the dressing room. I am sure the well-settled left-hander Sangakkara would have handled that delivery if only they had the good sense to cross over. It is in moments like these that matches are lost and won. India must seize the moment every time. It is difficult to come back in Australia and a poor session could mean that we are on the back foot. Lets hope that it is the Aussies are on the back foot and they are not cutting or pulling!
  
  A Don’t Do list for the Indian team
  Do not read the newspapers while on tour.
  Do not watch TV. If you must watch TV then see “Desperate Housewives”
  Do not talk to strangers (if they are Australian)
  Do not engage in conversation with cabbies.
  Do not sledge with the crowd. That is a battle that you cannot win.
  Do not get sidetracked by sledging. Let the bat or the ball do the talking.
  Do not respond if they ask you where Sreesanth is.
  Do not send anyone who knows English to talk to the media. How about RP Singh?
  Of course if we do well Saurav should handle post match conferences and be late for the media briefing!
  Do not win the toss and field for God’s sake!
  Do not get run out.
  Do not bowl short to Ricky Ponting.
  Never, ever declare even if you are 900!
  And finally, do not come back if you lose! (Okay not even I can give all nuggets, can I. Just ignore the last one. We will always love you, but perhaps more if you beat the Aussies)
  Remember you have a billion people who want you to win and remember you have support from South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, England and the West Indies and even Bangladesh who might be a bit reluctant given the generosity of our aid!
  Yes, heads up Australia, we are arriving shortly on platform No.1!

(Ramanujam Sridhar is the CEO of brand-comm and the author of One Land, One Billion Minds).

Entertainment thy name is BCCI

It is common knowledge that the BCCI is the only cricketing board that resisted twenty-twenty cricket. But they seem to be great admirers of the format and follow it in their functioning to the “t”. A twenty-twenty game has at least twenty twists in it and provides completely unexpected turns and keeps the viewers on their seats and constantly entertains them. The BCCI has decided that since people like Veerendra Sehawag no longer entertain us, they must take it upon themselves to keep us spell bound. Let me explain and take you through the last few months of cricket in India and forgive me if I missed out on a few highlights. The worst performance we have had in recent times has been our ignonimous showing in the world cup which was followed by the Greg Chappel fiasco. Of course our colonel went hammer and tongs at the seniors and the poor performance of the team. All our BCCI officials talks are with the media and never with the individuals who need to be talked to. I wonder if anyone in Indian cricket ever talks to their family members before talking to the media. I am sure if Vengsarkar’s son does badly in his school or college exams his father would talk to the Times of India first about his disappointment with his poor performance. The BCCI of course would be watching silently while everyone talked nineteen to the dozen to the media. Then we had a wonderful tour of England winning a historic test series and again the BCCI was restrained in its praise, if at all, and our revered colonel went to town about why Rahul Dravid should bat at NO.3 and again to the media who had a field day. Rahul Dravid as any self respecting individual would do, resigned from the captaincy. In the meanwhile the young brigade had a historic world cup win at South Africa and the board went overboard in its celebrations and rewards forgive the pun! The IPL threatened to upset the apple cart and the BCCI realizing that its money was under threat threw the kitchen sink at it. IPL now seems to be going the ABCL [Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd] way. God help it. Someone from the BCCI said Dhoni was the obvious choice for captaining the test team and then someone from the BCCI said he is not ready. Poor Dhoni must have been wondering whether he was coming or going. So the BCCI ran to Sachin Tendulkar who is no longer the naïve, wide eyed wonderkid of Indian cricket. He thought about it and politely declined. Our wonderful board got it right finally and still managed to mess it up. They appointed Kumble, but only for the Pakistan series. Sadly even the PCB seems to think more long term as it has appointed Shoaib Malik till 2008. Hopefully Shoaib Mallik will be a decent captain one of these days. In the midst of all this they dropped Rahul Dravid who batted brilliantly in the one days in England, based on a few matches against the Australians. They said they had dropped Ganguly for a game while poor Dhoni said the former captain was being “rested”. After all he is sensitive and that is something that no one can ever accuse the BCCI of being. Then the Board suddenly realized that a lot of the problems came from the out of turn and off the cuff remarks made by the selectors [read Colonel] and gagged them. The colonel was chafing at the bit or so the media told us. Then the BCCI said there was no need to have a selection meeting and said they could select the team over the phone. At the time of writing the colonel is sulking and may leave or so the media tells us. We do hope that the media is right for once. But the piece de resistance has been the appointment of the coach. The BCCI has excelled itself in appointing of all people “Gary Kirsten”! I am sure the only person more surprised than me is the dour South African opener. Only the BCCI could have come up with this masterstroke and what makes things even better is the fact that the new coach will visit the Indian team fleetingly in its most important tour of recent times: the Australian tour. He will start from March 2008 after which the Indian team will probably play Zimbabwe! I am sure Kirsten’s karma is good. Imagine getting the most high paying job (officially) in Indian cricket without even applying for it. And if media is to be believed Sunil Gavaskar is responsible for this. The player who has been a thorn in all other teams competing with India continues to be a thorn in the flesh of Indian cricket! How fortunate we are to have both Vengsarkar and Gavaskar in our midst long after they have outlived their usefulness!

More on the coach
I am sure the coach saga is something that must have consumed more tons of newsprint and television time than the progress of the Indian economy. Even Ekta Kapoor could not have come up with something which had such long legs! So many characters, so many applicants, so many meetings and finally whom do we have? An important member of the South African team that kept choking against the Australians in key encounters and someone who has never coached in his life will now join the team after the Australian tour. Will the BCCI ever learn? Will they stop entertaining us? The rest of the cricketing world must be watching all this with barely concealed mirth and thanking their stars that the greatest enemy of Indian cricket actually lies within. Imagine what a force the Indian cricket team would have been without the BCCI fighting tooth and nail for its decline! But then imagine how boring our lives would have been!

(Ramanujam Sridhar is the CEO of brand-comm and the author of One Land, One Billion Minds).