Lame duck Numero Uno

In one-dayers, India has proved that it is a formidable unit with the recent world cup victory and the consistency with which they have played in recent years. However, India’s first two tests in England have left it unambiguously and explicitly clear that India has not quite justified its number one test tag. And I hold the BCCI entirely responsible for the current state of affairs.

The BCCI scheduled match calendar is terrible. They have several grueling test match series, several one day series, as well as that stupid Indian Premier League. The IPL makes a lot of business sense but I don’t think it is a sustainable project and would soon fizzle out. I hope it does because it has completely screwed every other country’s cricketing schedules and priorities. The BCCI probably feels that player burn out is not a major problem and that by hiring more foreign physios and conditioning coaches, injuries would remain at bay. The first test was an eye-opener of sorts. Even before lunch on the first day, Zaheer Khan limps off the field with a hamstring injury and that literally made sure that India lost the test and will decide the fate of the remainder of the series. Add to that Gautam Gambhir’s elbow injury which has left him out of the second test. Sachin falling ill is something that could happen to anyone and so can be left out of this discussion. But the spate of injuries continued in the second test with Harbhajan Singh; whose place in the side on away tours is increasingly being called into question; who pulled a stomach muscle. If players have been playing cricket non-stop for six months, this was bound to happen. The South Africa test series began in December and continued into January. The world cup began soon after that series. And the morons at the BCCI scheduled the IPL barely a week after the World cup. That gets over and the players leave for the West Indies. Thankfully, WI is now a team which would probably lose to most Ranji sides even and that really saved India the blushes.

With a high quality opposition coming up after the world cup, I fail to understand why the BCCI even scheduled the WI tour. It doesn’t even make ANY business sense. England is arguably the best test side in the world currently. Strauss and Cook are good openers but their middle order is fearsome with Trott, Pieterson, Bell and Morgan. These men are colossal players currently; they don’t have the stats like Tendulkar or Ponting, but are the real deal when it comes to the English batting. Matt Prior is proving to be an exceptional keeper batsman and I’m amazed how “kacha limbus” like Geraint Jones and James Foster even got a chance after Stewart. I guess the fact that Prior is yet another South African import to the English team delayed his debut. The bowling is definitely a class apart from that of the Indians. I feel off late England have become a good team is because it has consistently produced high quality bowlers. Agreed that none of them have really survived to have a long career that they’d be called greats but when one bowler has fizzled out, another has inexplicably arrived to take his place. Harmisson, Hoggard and Simon Jones destroyed Australia in 2005. They’ve all been relegated to County cricket. Today, England boasts front line bowlers like Anderson, Tremlett and Bresnan who are as good as any out there today. The reserves comprise Graham Onions and Steven Finn, who though relatively inexperienced are decent bowlers. I’d say definitely as good as Ishant Sharma because they are both as tall as him; perhaps even a few inches taller. Stuart Broad has decided that he can be the next Flintoff because his contributions in both these tests have been invaluable. And he’s getting quality opposition players like Tendulkar out regularly. Swann is currently the top spinner in the world I’d say and he can bat. So can all these other bowlers. With batting that deep, and India’s bowling unit that shallow, there’s not a lot MSD can come up with to even try to win the series.

Let’s face it; teams that were rated high quality have always had the best bowling and fielding attacks. According to me, you can win a greater percentage of matches if you have a stronger bowling line up and weaker batting line up than the reverse and India has always belonged to the latter group. West Indies had Marshall, Holding, Garner and Andy Roberts to destroy even the best of batsmen. And Australia until recently had McGrath, Gillespie, Lee, Warne and a slew of reserve bowlers who would have been front line opening bowlers in probably any other team.

The hallmark of a marauding team is total domination for an extended period of time. Australia and West Indies of old are two such teams that come to mind. They dominated not just test cricket, but one day cricket as well and they played to win and won by big margins in terms of matches. India has played consistently in tests off late and has not lost too many matches. But they have never really dominated quality opposition abroad. To do so will need preparation and foresight. I’m not saying they don’t work hard. They probably work way harder than you and I. But the BCCI needs to play smart. From a purely business point of view, with India having just won the cup, they need to capitalize on the cricket frenzy engendered by the win and ensure that it remains for a long time by defeating quality opposition consistently. They need to ensure that they provide the right balance of things to make this next decade ours.