Indian cricket team getting there but not yet there

We Indians are a wonderful race, but believe in extremes. We are either in a state of total and misplaced euphoria or are down in the depths of depression. We do not know the middle path or refuse to recognize it even if it hits us in the solar plexus. This wonderful (!) quality applies equally to the cricket fan and the writers who contribute on this subject. The fan that was getting ready to attack the houses of the Indian team after their poor showing in the West Indies at this time last year, is now proclaiming that this is the best team ever and the media uses headlines like ‘world beaters’ without bothering to think carefully about whether this is really justified right now. Yet in the midst of all the jubilation, I think it is perhaps relevant to sound a word of caution, even if that may not go down well with the average cricket fan, if such a person exists in India. Make no mistake, this young Indian team has significant achievements already - winners of the Twenty-twenty world cup in South Africa and winning the recently concluded Commonwealth bank tri-series. Not very long ago the older version of the Indian team won a Test match in South Africa, won a series against England in England after ages and won a test match at Perth in Australia for the first time ever. Yes all the indications are there that this young team has a great time ahead of it but it still has a few frontiers to conquer before it is labeled as a world beating team.

Let’s look at the current world champions
However unpalatable it may be, the fact of the matter is that Australia has dominated world cricket since 1995. While they have been beaten comprehensively by us in the tri-series we need to remember that England too did that last year around and where are they now? There have been instances when other teams have run it close and even pipped it like South Africa which was ranked no.1 at the beginning of the world cup last year but for a very short time. It is likely to be ranked no.1 again after its triumph in Bangladesh. Notwithstanding their status they were found wanting in their first big game of the World Cup at St. Kitts against Australia and lost. They were also found wanting in the semi finals where they were pitted against the same team and were defeated quite comprehensively if not disgraced. South Africa have promised much and threatened more particularly in media conferences without having delivered. Now they must be fancying their chances of being the top team in the world again this time for a longer duration, but I have my doubts about their ability on the big occasion or on the big stage. Significantly India will be playing South Africa at home at the end of the month for a three match test series which should have far more significance than a mere three match series. It could in a sense determine which direction the cricketing world’s future leadership would point.

Consistency the key
If we go back to 2005 and the Ashes, we had England beating Australia in a memorable series. Since then England has regressed, having lost the Ashes 0-5 in 2007 and is now struggling with New Zealand having lost the first test, though it is New Zealand that is playing inconsistently in the second. To be world beaters in the true sense of the term we need to be consistent in all forms of the game, in all conditions and against all opposition. We are the reigning champions in the twenty-twenty format and we can expect to be well prepared for the future in this with so much cricket happening on the IPL format. We have a young team in the one day version of the game with Sachin the only senior around. But boy has he contributed! The test team has our senior gang but we need to remember that they may not be around for much longer. But there is an enormous amount of talent in the cupboard which has forced Dilip Vengsarkar to quickly change his opinion. He was the bright forecaster who said that there is hardly any talent in the pipe line after the dismal loss in the world cup. Our current plan of different teams for tests and one-days seems to be working for us. Ironical that Australia which first mooted this concept and took great credit for it has 9 of the same players in both teams and it was hardly surprising that they seemed tired and jaded after a long and controversial summer. So clearly a lot of the indications are positive for us. Yet there are a few realities that we need to remember. The pitches at home are quite different from Australia, England and South Africa where our recent victories have happened and we might well struggle to get twenty wickets regularly on our dust bowls. Strangely the BCCI is talking to Les Burdett the renowned curator from Australia for the IPL. I wonder why they never thought of him or other curators earlier for test matches. The BCCI is throwing money left, right and centre at cricketers of all ages and all countries which can actually prevent the development of youth. When someone asked Virat Kohli the captain of the under 19 team what he would do with the 15 lakhs he had earned because of his teams victory, his answer was honest enough “I will buy that Honda city”. We have enough instances of youngsters losing their way and the BCCI is just making things more difficult for today’s talent by providing distractions in hordes by way of money and the consequent media attention.

Patience the key for the Indian cricket fan
The war is not yet over though we have won the first few important battles particularly with Australia who even if they are not our oldest enemy are certainly the most vicious. India is rising and I am sure the fans must be patient. We shall prevail but it will not be as simple as some of us would like to believe. But whatever happens remember that this is our team. We have a young team. We are a young country and have enormous talent and cricket is the number one game in the country. We will be number one and soon and till that we must be wary of calling this team “world beaters”.

Ramanujam Sridhar is CEO, brand-comm and the author of “One land, one billion minds”.

Young India signals the end of an Australian Era

Some time ago when Australia toured South Africa and demolished them, the South Africans said openly that they could not wait to see them leave the country as they were so demoralized by the rampaging Australians. This tired, stressed and sorry Australian team after a long and bitter series must be relieved to see the Indian team leave their shores with the Commonwealth Bank trophy. This tour has been one of the most acrimonious ones in recent times and knowledgeable and older critics liken it to the same angst that was part of the bodyline series. But it has been a major disappointment for Australia who was nowhere near its best and yet made it to the finals in a canter. Still there were a few worrying signs on the way. They lost a low scoring game to India and could not chase a moderate score against Sri Lanka in the match preceding the finals. In the first finals they came across Tendulkar who played a once in a life time innings. The second final was no different as Tendulkar again made things count with a fantastic yet restrained innings of 91 that was still enough. What a farewell for the little master in a country that just idolizes him! In fact it would not be an exaggeration to say that Tendulkar has easily been the most admired international player above Worrell and even Lara. And he has entertained the doting Australian public and showed them what a great human being he is, surrounded as he is by lesser mortals. I speak of the beamer bowled by Brett Lee at the great man. Despite prodding by media the great man brushed it aside saying he had a lot of regard for the bowler and it must have slipped. I am certain, Brendon McCullum would not have agreed. Imagine the chaos that could have happened had he, as he was well within his rights to have done, complained. A reminder from the humble champion that cricket is still a game.

So what ails Australia?
Over the last twelve years, Australia and its team have built an aura of invincibility around themselves as they beat every team in sight at every venue. They did not lose a World Cup game in two successive World Cups in 2003 and 2007 and recently even won the Champions trophy that had eluded them for quite some time. When Australia lost a game it was news, though in the last few weeks the news is being made a lot more frequently than they would like. The problem has been that a lot of Australia’s success has been built around the amazing success, consistency and dominance of Ricky Ponting as a batsman who has delivered big time on the big stage. Remember Johannesburg and the World Cup final? This season, both in the tests and the one-dayers, Ricky Ponting has had an eminently forgettable season. I admire Ponting, but I do not like him, which is why he does not have my sympathy. But this tour has drained him more than anyone else and throw in some unplayable balls early on in the tour, accusations, hearings, media manipulations, complaints by his team mates, calls for his sacking... He has not had a moment of peace and will be waiting to take a break from the game. To Ponting’s poor form add the poor batting of Andrew Symonds, the sporadic brilliance of Gilchrist who was busy offering good byes, the scratchy form of Mathew Hayden and a below par performance by Michael Hussey who seems a far cry from the Mr. Cricket that he was a couple of seasons ago. The Australian bowlers have come to the party right through the summer and covered up for the poor performance of the illustrious batsmen. But in some defense of the Australian batsmen, they have had to cope with pitches that have not been their usual belters even in the one-dayers.

Let’s also put another fact in perspective. Australian and world batsmen are not comfortable with the moving ball. England won back the Ashes in 2005 after 17 long years thanks to the new ball and reverse swing that Mathew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones produced. One of the reasons for India’s success has been the phenomenal bowling of Ishant Sharma who seems to have rattled the Australians and Praveen Kumar’s bowling in the finals has been a revelation. With Gilchrist and the under-recognized Brad Hogg deciding to move on, Australia will be hard pressed to regain their dominance as they have certainly lost it, after this series, against the Indians who were hardly fancied. The climb to the top again may not happen for some time, in my view at least.

Lets focus on the future Champions
Now that we have knocked the world champions off their perch, it is easy to believe that we are the world champions. Sadly it is not as simple as all that as the ICC rankings are far more complex and we need to be consistent. We have a long and challenging home season with South Africa who have a couple of feisty fast bowlers and some stodgy but high scoring batsmen who will fancy our tracks. But clearly this team is on its way up. It has a mature test leader in Anil Kumble who led the team wonderfully in a hostile and challenging environment and deserved a far better score line. Unlike Australia where Ricky Ponting had to take the pressure in both forms of the game, we had a younger and more charismatic leader in Dhoni for the one-dayers whose captaincy and savoir faire have been wonderful to watch and relish. Clearly India is on to a good thing with this team and a lot of young talent seems to be on evidence in the under 19 World Cup winners as well. Yet it is worthwhile to remember that it has been by and large our bowling that has been winning us matches recently on pitches that have been quite unlike our own. Our bowlers could well struggle at home. But let’s just savour this moment without worrying too much about the future. Yes we have toppled Australia, at their den. This is a supreme moment for Indian cricket.

Ramanujam Sridhar is CEO, brand-comm and the author of “One land, one billion minds”.