BOMBAY, 6 February 2004 — Whatever the outcome of the best-of-three finals of the limited-overs series, the Indian team will be returning home with memories of what can only be described as the most successful and, in many ways, a highly fruitful tour of Australia ever.
How the critics have fallen and the Indian squad risen in the esteem of people as much in Australia as back home, on account of an excellent all-rounder performance despite several setbacks by way of injuries to leading players. It was able to overcome the crisis because of the lack of inhibitions and total commitment of the younger players, who grabbed opportunities by the forelock to try and outdo each other. They not only competed against each other, but also kept some of the senior players on their toes.
The position before the final matches is that the team management will have a tough time finalizing the playing eleven due to a surfeit of talent. It is possible that a couple of youngsters are going to be unfairly left out, for no fault of theirs.
The quality of the reserve strength, or rather the young brigade, was so high that even the absence of leading batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and bowlers like Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble was not felt so severely even in matches against Australia. Tendulkar missed three of the eight one-day matches and Sehwag, four. Harbhajan and Zaheer did not take further part in the matches after the second Test. Kumble was in and out of the team. opting for a long period of rest due to his shoulder injury. These frequent handicaps did not come in the way of the team drawing level in the Test series and making a fair fist of the one-day engagements to make the finals with better chance than they had in the last World Cup final against Australia.
So, as we look back on the momentous tour, there will be many pluses for the team than was ever visualized at the start of the tour. The greatest gain, perhaps, was the manner in which young Irfan Pathan performed on his first tour with the senior team. Actually he is not just a left-arm pace bowler, but a fine all-rounder in the making. He was picked for the Australian tour after his brilliant displays in Pakistan with the India under-19 team where he was named the man of the series. He has now graduated to be in line for greater glories. The happy tidings mentioned above, however, are spoilt somewhat by the queer stand some critics have taken on two particular issues. The first is that they have questioned the catapulting of young Rohan Gavaskar from nowhere to the Indian team and his inclusion in the playing eleven ahead of players like Sanjay Bangar and Hemang Badani.
People seem to forget that Rohan had played for India “A” teams on several occasions and had done fairly well. Had he played for Bombay, his cause would have been championed by many of the so-called experts. That he turns out for Bengal and now even captains the eastern state, does not allow him to hog the kind of limelight that players from Bombay and now the North Zone enjoys.
From a very young age, Rohan had shown that he had the makings of an all-rounder. He was left to fend for himself and be a self-made cricketer like his father was. Indian cricket of late has been cruel to potential all-rounders. No expert worth his name has fallen short of saying that India badly needs an all-rounder, if not a couple of them. But when it come to selecting the teams, this very need is completely lost sight of.
In the few matches that he has played so far, Rohan has shown total commitment in all the departments. It is unfortunate that skipper Ganguly did not utilize him more as a bowler, even when the team was desperate to break huge partnerships. A player has to be allowed to settle down for his real worth to be known. All the younger players in the present team must be persevered with. The other issue that is being raked up is the usual balderdash of far too much international cricket. This bogey is being raised once again in the form of injuries to Tendulkar, Sehwag, Kumble, Zaheer etc. because they do not want these players to tour Pakistan. One must remember that Pakistan at home are the most difficult side to beat and India must send its strongest team possible. No player, however big, should be allowed to pick and choose his matches. A time has come to make them feel that in the present scenario, no one is indispensable.
