Debate over debacle!!

The recent remark by India's cricket coach Gary Kirsten that fatigue from too much cricket caused India's early exit from the T20 world cup has evoked strong reactions from across the cricket community. At the moment, nobody seems to concur with him. Former cricketers, both Indian and foreign, think India just had a few bad days with none of its batsmen clicking. That coupled with few tactical errors got India down in crucial games. Though it's always difficult to pinpoint the exact cause, I agree with the observation made by Kirsten, though not with his recommendation of holding back players from IPL.

The Indian team has been on a back to back tournament run since Feb '09. First, the tour of New Zealand, then a series against England, IPL and then this world cup. The rigor of international cricket must have taken its toll by the time Indian team arrived for the T20 event. India's fielding said it all. The fumbles, misses, inability to bend, dive. It was all there for us to see. The fact that team India opted to rest and skip practice ahead of both super 8 matches proves beyond doubt the team was not in the pink of health.


But then, why did Dhoni play it down as a possible reason?
Clearly, there is a conflict of interest between the player's willingness to continue playing the hectic but highly rewarding IPL and performing well in the T20 world cup. No Indian player would openly admit that the fast and furiuos format of IPL has any adverse effect on their fitness level or performance. Even BCCI would support the players in this. Because IPL pays it well too. I am really surprised that none of the former Indian players see any harm in the hectic schedule that the team India is made to go through.

Clearly, holding back players from IPL is not a solution. BCCI would never accept that. IPL can never happen without Indian players. The IPL could be scheduled keeping in mind other international events, so that players get sufficient rest in between tournaments.
Next year, again there is IPL and T20 world cup. I hope India puts on some outstanding performance that its current breed of young and talented players is capable of, instead of making a case for failure analysis.

India's thumpatic win against the aussies...

The win against australia on 10th Feb at the MCG established beyond doubt that India does have that potential to challenge the world champs on any kind of pitch. The fact that Sunday’s convincing win was after a long hiatus of 21 years on that ground is indicative of the strides Indian cricket has made. But then, talent has never been india’s problem. If one has observed properly, India has always had world class batsmen in its armory. Performance apart, Indian batting line up has always looked strong on paper. One would argue that I am looking at the wrong aspect wrt Sunday’s win. It was mainly due to some world class bowling by the India’s current pace trio Ishant, Pathan and srishant. Even harbhajan was quite tactful and showed some great cricketing sense. Ishant, in particular, has been in tremendous form throughout this Australia tour. He was instrumental in the perth test win where he scalped the wicket of inform Ricky Ponting in their second innings and set the tone for India’s win. I fully agree with this conclusion. I don’t want to take any credit away from this young yet tough breed of bowlers India has produced. Still I would say that batting is and will remain India’s stronghold for times to come. The main obstacle in way of India’s getting to top despite abundance of talent is their tendency to succumb under pressure. In my view India has had such solid batting strength as would make any target achievable on any kind of pitch or would consistently set 300+ target. But the same bunch has been found to get bundled out for less than even 150 quite often. It’s a common sight watching Indian batsmen finding it hard to play their natural game after India looses some early wickets. The consistent failure of the batting has put pressure on the bowlers to take the charge and often worked India’s way. But in the long run India will have to depend on its core strength. Since last so many years India has not been able to produce a single world class bowler. But many of its batsmen are among the top run grossers. Six or seven out of eleven would be having atleast one century in their name. even then it is not a coincidence that on one day they can chase mammoth targets but the next day they all r struggling at once. Indian cricket team surely needs mental toughening if they r to perform on a consistent basis. Had Ishant got nervous after being hit for 18 in that over or had Rohit or Dhoni crumbled when Australians were trying to make inroads after India lost 5 wickets, it would have been the same old story.
The professional cricket has evolved much. With the kind of cricket that the Australians are playing, you need to be physically and mentally very fit to push them from the top. Talent alone would not suffice at all.