Is this the best Indian batting side?

A few months ago I had an unexpected visit from my nephew who teaches Finance at Columbia University. “You had better take a break from your blog” he suggested. When I asked him why, his response was quick and brutal like the batsman he was talking about “You had predicted the decline and {cricketing demise} of Sehwag and look how he is batting now”. Like all good writers I do not read what I write and I also have a selective memory, but took his word for it. In deference to his wishes and the chaos in the economy I took a break from cricket writing for some time. I am back perhaps not with a bang but hope it won’t become a whimper either like the New Zealand bowling.

Sachin speaks the world listens

Sachin is not one who talks idly, just ask Glenn McGrath! He usually lets his bat do the talking. Yet he stirred the hornet’s nest (or at least a lethargic blogger to action) when he said that this current Indian batting side was the best that he had been part of. I guess there is a lot of truth in the statement, made as it is, by someone who knows what he is talking about. Whose 43rd century, just a few days ago, shows that the old fires are still burning in his fatigued body, which has done yeoman service for his often unappreciative countrymen. Then Sehwag blasted a century, in just 60 balls off a hapless Kiwi attack that did not know where to hide. In fact, Vettori, in the post match press conference, quipped that 500 might have been a match winning target against the rampaging Indians. Yes Indian batting and cricket too is at all time high and when Sachin makes a statement the cricketing world sits up and takes notice.

Blistering batsmen ruling the roost

There is no doubt that the Indian top three in the one day version is easily the best in the cricketing world, and its value is perhaps best realized by a team like England, whose top three is perhaps the best indication of what such a line up should not be! But with Sachin batting with all his old skill and renewed vigour, with Sehwag in the form of his life, Gambhir bringing his own brand of improvisation, Yuvraj batting in the one dayers with the same abandon that he exhibited in the T20s, Dhoni being the binding stability that the middle order badly needed and dashers like Yusuf Pathan floating around, one can afford to be euphoric. Make no mistake; this is one helluva batting line up. I am not sure that any other team in the world has this ability, experience and potential amidst its ranks. Yet having been a disappointed Indian fan, who has been traveling around India in ‘96, England in ‘99, South Africa in 2003 and West Indies in 2007 on unsuccessful world cup campaigns, I am reluctant to celebrate just yet! Are we overreacting to our exploits on the wickets of Sri Lanka and the miniscule grounds of New Zealand? Seriously the ICC should do something about the sizes and shapes of cricket grounds in New Zealand!

A look at the past

India has at least for the last decade had an amazing batting line up. Sachin, Ganguly, Sehwag, Dravid and Lakshman have made runs in every condition, against every opposition and not only at home. Maybe some of them did not have the strike rates of the current lot. But to counter that they had to contend with the McGraths, the Warnes, the Bonds, the Wasims, the Waqars, the Donalds and the Pollocks in their prime, often on wickets that were not as benign as they have become universally today. In fact, it is a sad truth that despite the fab four making hordes of runs as often and as consistently as they did, never did we capitalize on that to win a world cup or be the best team in the world. This current team has the capability to do that and it seems certain that Sachin is pacing himself for the 2011 world cup.

A time for optimism

While I am not able to stick my neck out and say that this is the best batting side ever, I can certainly say a few things with a fair degree of confidence. This team has no fear. It has no ghosts from the past to handle, or any mental scars from repeated defeats like the English cricket team. Nor is it a bunch of ‘chokers’. It is full of confidence and can chase down any total under the sun or under lights. It has already won the T20 world cup. While one can argue about the batting, there is no debate about the fact that it has currently the most balanced bowling attack we have ever had. Zaheer continues to torment the best of batsmen, while Ishant is a handful, not to forget Harbhajan and our underrated fifth bowlers in Yuvraj and Sehwag, who can be invaluable in the world cup in 2011 played as it will be in India at least, if not in Pakistan. Yet I always remember what Geoffrey Boycott used to tell Ravi Sastri when he used to get too excited about the Indian team’s performance “Raavi, Raavi,” he would say,” don’t get ahead of yourself”. That is perhaps my message for the Indian cricket fan who borders between total arrogance and complete diffidence and does not realize that there is a happy medium in between. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but enjoy the moment and remember that 2011 is a long, long time away. Let’s just pray that our players remain modest, despite their phenomenal success. Let’s hope that they remain fit, what with so much cricket being played. And let’s hope that they field better than we are currently fielding or else the best batting line up will consistently have to chase down 400!

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