BOMBAY, 2 September 2005 — The battle at its best and contradictably at its worst co-existed in the week gone by. The Ashes series touched a new high, with every one of the three Tests, following the first at Lord’s, providing as engrossing a contest as never seen before. Especially, the last two matches, at Old Trafford and Trent Bridge, produced such nail-biting finishes as are rarely seen in Test cricket these days.
While all this was happening in far off England, where the burst of the new soccer season had to, for once, take the back seat, as cricket was flashed on the front pages and the prime time on all the TV channels, India and Zimbabwe, so close to each other in the lower rungs of rating in limited overs cricket, lost further face. India’s performance in particular, is a matter of great concern, as much to the new coach, as to the nation so sold out on cricket
Even as the side’s bowling for the first time held its own in comparison to the best around international standards, it is the all-too-familiar failure of the much-vaunted batting line-up that caused the Indian team’s hopes to dwindle. It happened in the tri-series in Sri Lanka and again in the following series in Zimbabwe.
If there was no great shame to go down to a resurgent New Zealand, currently ranked second only to Australia in this format of the game, the side’s batting did not even come up to scratch after the bowlers had done a great job. Another humiliating defeat was thus India’s lot once again.
Similar would have been the story against lowly Zimbabwe in the next match. India struggled to reach 226 after a most insipid batting display in which the batsmen just stayed put at the crease in Test match manner. It was once again the commendable work done by the bowlers, especially young Irfan Pathan, that enabled India to eventually bundle Zimbabwe out for 65.
The state of the present Indian team is such that they would consider themselves grateful for even small mercies like beating Zimbabwe, who, at present must be in a close race for the wooden spoon with Bangladesh. While the fans might rejoice over this victory, the overall performance must have left the team, and even more its coach Greg Chappell, in a state of unease.
Every one of the leading batsman is struggling to get out of poor form. Form is temporary, they say. But in case of the Indian team, the batting has been so brittle and for so long that repeated cries are going up for the sacking of all the senior players, who, on contract, are paid a retainer of Rs. 50 lakhs per year, irrespective of the quality of their performances. The match-fees, allowances and contribution to their benefit fund is all extra.
It is the younger players in the team who are making the most of their limited opportunities. In the first match, it was J.P. Yadav who gave the Indian total some respectability. And to think that this Railways all-rounder had been knocking the door to the big league for three years. Irfan, who today must be India’s leading strike bowler and one of the most promising in the world, is still only 20.
It was coach Chappell’s idea of infusing fresh blood that has led to some new faces earning their caps. He is not the one for giving undue importance to reputation at the cost of actual performance. He is bound to come on the players rather harshly, if they do not perform. He is already upset that a needless change in the captaincy was resorted to by the selectors, when Rahul Dravid wasn’t doing a bad job. Ganguly’s return to captaincy raises the same old question. Does he deserve a place in the team, first ?
Those who want to go into a thorough analysis of what ails the present Indian team, will have to start from the very top. It is a peculiar team where the rot starts up there and not at the bottom.
