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does sachin slow down ?

One thing which you might have come across before ( a gazillion times ) is this quote ‘ whenever sachin scores a 100 , india loses’  or ‘ sachin plays for himself, not for his his country’ or even ‘ sachin tendulkar has redefined selfishness’  . There is a senior news anchor who once opined ‘ Sachin Tendulkar is a traitor’  . Its obvious that anyone can get misled by such hard hitting statements , and start believing in them .

I believe slowing down or batting defensively doesn’t have much impact on the result of a test match because that’s what batsmen are supposed to do in tests- be cautious and take time to build an innings . The impact of slowing down can be larger in Limited over internationals . Sachin hasn’t played many international T20s , so I am going to consider his performance in ODIs only.

Cricinfo started the text commentary from 2001. So I am doing the 100s he has scored since 2001 because text commentary is necessary to calculate his stats in various parts of an innings .

OUT OF THE 21 HUNDREDS , the strike rate from 85-100 is more than that during the next 15 runs in 10 occasions . I am going to analyse those 10 innings one by one.

kenya

VS Kenya

He opened the batting with Ganguly 111 (124). SR 89 .It should also be considered - Tendulkar consumed 80 deliveries to score 81 . And then 19 deliveries to score the next 20 runs. There is hardly any chage in his strike rate .

Namibia

Tendulkar scored 70 runs off 84 deliveries . strike rate 83 . He scored the next 30 runs from 31 deliveries . Strike rate 98 . Which shows he accelerated after reaching 70 and DIDN’T slow down. His strike rate in the match was 100.66 , slightly better than that of Ganguly (112 from 119, Strike rate 94) and Sehwag ( 24 from 24 , strike rate 100)

Australia

Sachin managed to score 100 from 117 deliveries . Strike rate 85 . He was on 64 after facing 75 deliveries . Strike rate 85 . VVS Laxman scored 102 from 134 deliveries . SR- 76

Pakistan

141 from 135 . he made a substancial contribution in the chase . Pakistan had posted a mammoth total of 329 . sadly , apart from sachin no one else could play a knock of any substance . Wickets fell like ninepins and inspite of the valiant knock of Sachin the indian team couldn’t chase down the total . Sehwag scored 26 , Laxman 4 , Dravid  36,  Ganguly 15 ,Yuvraj 19 .

Australia

After facing 79 deliveries Tendulkar had scored 73 .Strike rate 92 .  He scored the next 27 runs from 27 deliveries . He DIDN’T slow down . His knock was a match-winning one.

Sri Lanka 138 from 133

After scoring 78 from 74 balls , Strike Rate 105 . He scored 22 from 18 . Strike rate 122 . The difference in strike rates says only one thing – he didn’t slow down .

SA 200

The first real indication that Tendulkar perhaps did take his time in the 90s as there is a marked drop in the strike rate

England

 His first 100 of the 2011 World Cup, it was as a result of a direct onslaught against the likes of Graeme Swann that helped him get some momentum after a very slow start ( he was on 32 after facing 50 balls). He was 87 (88) and then 102 from 103 . No apparent slowing down .

Bangladesh 114

83 from 114 balls. Strike Rate – 72.80 , 17 from 24 balls. Strike Rate – 70.83 . Change in Strike rate – 1.97 . , which had a little consequence on the net run rate .

. At the end of this analysis, I think there has been just one occassion when he slowed down – 200 vs SA . But he made up for it by scoring 100 from 57 deliveries . ..To hold this against him seems a little unfair

Its pretty clear that the myth  ‘he slows down’ , or ‘ he is selfish’ is really baseless . Calling him selfish on this innings is totally uncalled for. He recognised the need to get it out of the way and did use up balls.  Had he been selfish , he would have retired from cricket , spent the whole year shooting for ads and earned millions . Had he been selfish he would have played the ODIs against Indies and England to get the 100^th 100 out of the way , since its relativrly easier for most Indian batsmen to score in the country than abroad .

The next gen superstar

18^th December 2006 , a certain batsman started his slow walk back after scoring a chanceless 90 . He was on 40 at the close of play on the previous day with his team staring at a follow on with the last recognized pair in the middle

Not many thought the guy would be able to report at the dressing room that morning , let alone bat. Why ? the lad lost his father , Prem , at 3 am that morning . But surprisingly he came to the stadium that morning . He was persuaded by his teammates and coach to return home , but the guy denied , ‘ I want to bat ‘ , he said.

He was involved a match saving partnership with Puneet Bist ( scored 156) and saw his side through to safety. He looked focus and kept telling his partner  ‘ stay at the wicket ‘.

Mike Singletary, a legendary American Football player and coach, once said, "Do
you know what my favourite part of the game is? The opportunity to play". Fortunately , Kohli got his , quite early in his career , and whats noteworthy is he grabbed them with both hands . Kohli , the batsman is all about – hard work , work ethics . Never gives up , neither does he give away an inch to the opposition . There hasn’t been an occasion where he has given away his wicket to an undeserving delivery .

I have not been as atingled by a batsman for a long time. For all the ball-munching arête of Trott and Bell or the occasional audacity of Morgan and KP, the current England team does not simultaneously take the breath away and have you purring in acknowledgement of cricketing correctness. For all the monumental batting feats of Ponting, Hussey and Watson, Kallis, de Villiers and Amla, none are particularly easy on the eye. Same goes for the best of Pakistan, New Zealand and West Indies. Oh, and Tamim too.

Then there’s India, that vast nation of iron-wristed batsmen. In terms of purity of stroke and easy elegance, Ajinkya Rahane is close, but not quite Kohli’s equal (there is the chance, of course that this could be the whole throbbing spectacle distorting my perspective and usually impeccable judgment). Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag – great players all, but none of them are so completely classical as is the 22-year-old from Delhi (Laxman and Sehwag are not big movers of their feet, while the King of Method, Dravid, is often bailed out by lightening hands and defensive instincts). So it is probably not since Lara and Sachin that I have been as turned on by a level of batsmanship that more or less says to the bowler: “whatever you have, it’s probably not enough.”

Talking of quick hands, Kohli wields his willow like a ping-pong paddle, bringing the blade through an extraordinarily pure arc, too, whether tucking it into the legside, clipping it wide of mid-on or playing his signature stroke: the lofted extra-cover drive, hands accelerating up through the hitting area like a golfer. This shot is not played inside-out, with fade, as it is for so many who hit the ball well in that area, for Kohli simply lasers it to his intended target (more or less to the exact seat number) and can also hit the ball bolt straight down the ground. Actually, it is often his footwork that determines where the ball goes, the hitting arc dictated by body alignment.

But all this technical talk is already to take some magic away, to render it matter of fact, scientific, when it is clearly the work of an artist, a genius. Yes, he has those two founding principles of all the great players – balance and picking up length – but what I marvel at in Kohli is his manipulation of the field, the physical (balance) and perceptual (length-judging) feeding into the cognitive act of shot selection, then back into the physical (the motor system). The shot selection hasn’t always been flawless in this tournament, but such is life in the overheated world of Twenty20. However, just watch how he plays the ball on the offside, steering the ball either side of the backward point, gliding it fine of third man, forcing the offside configuration to move clockwise in synch then drilling the ball over extra-cover (or, utterly fearlessly, straight over long off).

To grasp the jack-in-the-box Kohli’s sheer enthusiasm for the game, you only have to observe him sat in the dugout, up and down, touching colleagues, chatting, chirping, living and breathing every single ball. You’ll often find him alongside his coach, Anil Kumble, and a cynic might be tempted to surmise that he was a teacher’s pet. But that hypothesis doesn’t stack up: there is no question of him needing to creep in order to advance up some notional pecking order; alongside Gayle, Dilshan and skipper Vettori, he’s clearly at the top of the RCB food chain, frequently consulted by his skipper on bowling changes. You only need to see how he speaks to such veterans as Mohammad Kaif to realize he exudes seniority, an authority deriving from both charisma and on-field performance. And he takes responsibility, the hallmark of any leader.

In fact, with India having been utterly demolished in England this summer, it would make sense for Duncan Fletcher – if indeed he is able to make such a decision – to install Kohli in the Test team without further ado, and to make him vice-captain to Dhoni. This will not compensate for the lack of bowling penetration, the discovery of which remains India and Fletcher’s greatest immediate challenge, but it will ensure there is no apathy on the field. And after the cricket they played here, at times, that can only be a good thing.

preview - NZ vs SA - 3rd test

In the previous two tests , New Zealand have faced a few dilemmas regarding the composition and balance of their side .Firstly - whether they should keep playing four specialist fast bowlers - a tactic which helped them immensely against Australia . But again , it weakens the batting considerably , the lower middle order

becomes more vulnerable to collapse.

Secondly - if the captain and the coach of the New Zealand team decide to have four genuine quicks in the eleven , they have to prepare a bowling friendly pitch ( a green pitch to be specific) . They will have to think twice before taking the decision since South Africa arguably has the best pace attack in the world at

the moment which can easily outgun the weak New Zealand batting line up .This is certainly how it's turned out so far - New Zealand have dismissed South Africa for 238 and 253, but have been unable to turn that into any sort of dominance in either match because New Zealand's batsmen have been so severely outclassed. Hence the captain has some important decisions to make before the test.  If you think those two are the only problems New Zealand are going to face , you are wrong . They split up the Guptill/McCullum opening pair they now seem to be desperately going round the houses before they put them back together, instead of just doing it and accepting they’ll look a bit silly. Kane Williamson is everything but convincing . The youngster who has been given a fairly long rope hasnt matched the expectations , he batted at three in Australia but now he has been asked to bat at five . Jesse Ryder is still out for disciplinary reasons.

Now New Zealand go into the third Test needing to win, but at the exact time that they require an aggressive approach they have been forced to temper it and pick an extra batsman. Had Dean Brownlie been fit for the first two Tests then they probably would have had him at six from the beginning. Now it all feels a little too late, but Brownlie should add an extra all-round element and comes into the side on the back of a half-century for his domestic team Canterbury. Their other change, which sees Daniel Flynn replace Rob Nicol, also feels like too little, too late and could be a case of a square peg in a round hole. Nicol was hopelessly out of his depth, to the point where even his bizarre dismissal in the second innings at Seddon Park could hardly be termed unlucky.

Flynn comes in with previous success in Test cricket - before he got injured in 2009, he was becoming one of New Zealand's tougher Test batsmen to dismiss - but may now be asked to open the batting. He has only done so once in his 29 Test innings to date (he made a duck in the fourth innings in Galle), but he is made of stern stuff. After all, this is a batsman who lost two teeth to a James Anderson bouncer in just his second Test but has not been cowed by the experience.

Although there has been some debate as to whether Flynn or Brendon McCullum should open, when all is said and done New Zealand should have a stronger and more balanced side, who will be more confident of at least holding their own.There is less to say about South Africa, who will go into the match with the same side that played the first two Tests. Theirs has become a settled XI over the course of this tour, which is providing them with a good base from which they could attain the top ranking.The extra two days off after the Hamilton Test seem to have been used well, with the squad scattering around New Zealand to explore the country. Given the compressed nature of this series, a break from the cricket grind was probably needed.

The bowlers will struggle to top their performance in Hamilton, particularly with the windy conditions in Wellington set to provide them with a tough challenge - something they have spoken about at length. If there is a landmark to keep an eye on during the Test, it's Vernon Philander's bid to reach 50 wickets. He needs five more, and if he does it in this match he will be the fastest to 50 since the 1800s.If there is one area of the game that the Proteas will want to improve though, it is their susceptibility to batting collapses - especially in the first innings. It's something that will cost them Test matches against stronger opponents.

Key Men

New Zealand: Martin Guptill has been out of form, enduring a horrific second half of the season after a prolific first, so whoever bats with him needs to provide more solidity to give the middle order something to work with. That puts added pressure on Daniel Flynn, but he's a gutsy batsman who should be able to handle it.

South Africa: He's been forced to play second fiddle to Vernon Philander for most of the season, but Dale Steyn is bound to grab a big haul at some stage. He bowled with better rhythm in Hamilton and rediscovered his pace, and since he can expect to bowl with the wind at the Basin, his speed could be too much for the New Zealand batsmen here.

Last Five Head-To-Head Results

March 2012, Second Test: South Africa won by nine wickets at Hamilton

March 2012, First Test: Match drawn at Dunedin

November 2007, Second Test: South Africa won by an innings and 59 runs at Centurion

November 2007, First Test: South Africa won by 358 runs at the Wanderers

May 2006, Third Test: South Africa won by four wickets at the Wanderers

Prediction

New Zealand's batting should be strengthened, and it sounds as if we will have another pitch where there isn't a great deal of assistance for the bowlers. Throw in a bit of rain, and all the signs seem to point to a draw.

Probable Teams

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Daniel Flynn, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor (capt), Kane Williamson, Dean Brownlie, Daniel Vettori, Kruger van Wyk (wk), Doug Bracewell, Mark Gillespie, Chris Martin.

South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph, Mark Boucher (wk), Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel.

In response to Dhoni's latest statement

Dhoni lashed out at the selectors yesterday during a presser.


 Speaking to HT before boarding the flight to Sydney, Dhoni lamented how he would give a list of players to the selectors only to find many of them he wanted not named in the squad. “I don't have a say in selection. I ask for certain players, send it in writing to the selectors and when the squad is announced their names are missing,” said Dhoni.

My two points regarding Dhoni's statement -


1 ) Dhoni speaking against the cricket board . It shows that there is a complete communication breakdown between the selectors and the team. The team has no idea about what the selectors are on about . It was clearly highlighted when there was a news regarding Dravid's retirement . When the BCCI was asked whether they had any clue about the retirement , the official replied in the negative .


2) Dhoni's word shouldnt be taken while selecting the team . 
He asked for a half fit Rudra Pratap Singh during the tour of England . The left-arm seamer arrived looked well-rested and plump and even though the selectors tried hard, they just couldn’t hide the fact that he was clearly unfit. How could RP get into the team . I wont answer this question but all i will say is he is managed by the same company that manages Dhoni. (The management company, Rhiti Sports Management run by Arun Pandey ,Dhoni’s childhood friend and  manager). Raina never looked comfortable in tests played overseas . Everyone knows about his weakness against short pitched deliveries . I wont tell ( i dont know , actually ) how he got selected for England .All i can say is -he is also contracted with Rhiti Sports. Another thing about Rhiti sport - the exclusive marketing rights for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are with them . 

If Dhoni picks players like RP for important tours , then i dont think he should be ever allowed to represent his thoughts during selection . 

More importantly these arent the kind of statements one should make during a important tour . It highlights a loss of mind , the state of affairs in the management and the relation between the players and the board .  

Indian Squad for ODIs/tri-series - 1) MS Dhoni

The Indians are scheduled to play two Twenty20 matches on February 1 and 2, followed by the tri-series, also involving Sri Lanka, from February 5. 




M S Dhoni (C), Virender Sehwag (VC), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Unesh Yadav, Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan.

MS Dhoni :- 

Recent scores  - 12 , 2 , 57 , 2 , 6 , 23 , 3 , 5 , 8 , 13.  
* 1 score of 50+ in last 10 innings .

Dhoni isnt in the best of forms . However he is  a different batsman in ODIs and t20s . He has come under severe criticism because of his failure as a captain and player . So he will be trying his best to prove a point to the selectors and his critics . 

His scores in his last 10 ODIs - 75 , 15 , 35 , 87 , 50 , 78 , 69 , 6 , 33 , 91. 

Some reasons why he is being criticised by one and all - 



 Removing forward short leg and silly point when new batsmen are tentatively poking around is a recipe for disaster. Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke were allowed to play themselves back to form in this manner;
* Pushing the field back, thus, allowing easy singles is tailor-made to ease the pressure on batsmen. The three Aussies referred to above as well as Ian Bell, Alistair Cook and Kevin Peterson all benefited hugely from this;
* Resuming the post-lunch session on Day 4 of the Lords Test with part-timer Suresh Raina when Ishant Sharma was on fire and raring to go allowed England to claw its way back in that Test;
* If one opposition batsman has scored a triple century and three others have crossed the 200-mark over the last six away Tests, then something is very, very wrong;
* If lower order opposition batsmen are consistently adding 100 runs-plus in every innings, then there’s something wrong with the way the fielding side is being led.
* Chasing 180-odd runs to win the final Test match against the West Indies at Roseau, India abandoned the chase and settled for a draw with 85 to get from 15 overs @ less than six runs per over.


The ODI series will be a huge test for Dhoni . Further failure might result in him being scrapped from captaincy (test
 matches) .  


Dhoni averages 69 in Australia ( ODIs ) . India will need their captain to fire in what is going to be a battle of epic proportions .  

                                                                                     

Time to introspect

If you are a cricket fan who likes to trace out the ‘culprit ‘ of a match or a tour, or if you are really interested in ‘who are accountable’ for the performance of the team in any specific tour or test match, then this piece isn’t for you. Instead of going for someone’s throat or claiming that ‘this/that player should be axed’, I am going to break down the reasons behind the failure of the Indian cricket team in the first two tests versus Australia (Melbourne and Sydney), into smaller parts to help you understand the situation better.


There is no doubt in the fact that India is one of the best test teams in the world, on paper at least, and at home. If you have these players in your side; Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar, V.V.S Laxman, Virat Kohli, Dhoni; more often than not you are expected to win. But, the team’s performance in the last couple of years, especially on foreign soil, has been very ordinary.


After 24 Jan 2008, Tests played outside the subcontinent (by subcontinent, I mean the combined landmass of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India):


Played 17 Won 3
Lost 8
Draw 6


Last 9 matches away from home:
Won 0
Lost 7
Draw 2


Since Jan 1, 2011. Test matches lost:
India 7
Sri Lanka 2
West Indies 2
Pakistan 1
Australia 1
New Zealand 1
Bangladesh 1


Captaincy:


A good captain should possess nerves of steel, he should be inapprehensive, unflinching, tactically aggressive,  determined and have the will to win. He should be flexible (ability to bring a change in the pre-planned tactics when required), should be a good mind-reader and last but not the least, he should be a good motivator; man of action.


Kumar Sangakara was finagler, one of the finest examples of how a captain manages his resources well. Sri Lanka have limited resources, but he has made the best possible use of it. Misbah-Ul-Haq’s contribution to Pakistani cricket, as a captain ,I believe will be acknowledged once his tenure runs out. He is a team man, never panics, has the support of the players and in my opinion, the man responsible for the ‘resurgence’ of Pakistan cricket. Andrew Strauss with the support of Andy Flower has changed the fortunes of the English team. Our very own Sourav Ganguly leads the race when it comes to tactical aggression, belligerence and being a genuine leader.


Dhoni succeeded Kumble as the captain of the Test side. In the first few years, he was very successful and had a good win/loss ratio. The Test team was faring well and so was the ODI team. There was no one who had any issues with his captaincy. The team won the World Cup under his captaincy, and he was lauded by one and all. Dhoni’s success, in my opinion shouldn’t have been surprising. When you have so many potential match-winners in the side; people like Dravid, Sachin, Laxman in your test batting line up. Add that too good spinners, you have to be really a hapless captain to lose matches. With so many senior players he didn’t need to be the mentor-guide to the team, he just needed to keep it in good fettle. He never had to display pugnacity to prove his leadership abilities. The team performed well enough without that. Nobody ever blamed him for missing the fighting spirit. The spirit is missing at the moment.


Knives are out for Dhoni after the losses in England and now in Australia. The flaws in his captaincy have been highlighted. It is now believed that he was just not good enough to achieve whatever he has achieved so far. He has been lucky far too long; it’s time for a reality check. Dhoni scores low when it comes to field placements. He was criticized for setting defensive fields after sending 4/5 opposition batsmen to the pavilion conceding a few runs. He isn’t a great motivator, since, till now he never felt the need to do so. In Test matches, unlike other captains, you rarely see him walking to the bowler and giving him some advice.


There have been plenty of instances when the quick’s, like Zaheer and Ishant, have provided the break-through, but India have failed to capitalize on it. What Dhoni has done is, his gone for defensive fields, men in the deep protecting the boundaries. Even in the series in England he was found guilty of setting defensive fields, taking off the third slip fielder very early. Dhoni, asking a man to field at short point, forward-short-leg against quicks, is indeed a uncommon sight. One could see that Clarke had a man at forward-short-leg against India.


India in South Africa Test Series – Jan 2, 2011


South Africa were reduced to 2-34 and then 4-164, but they fought back and scored 362. In the second innings, they found themselves at 5-89, but again they managed to score 364.


India tour of England, 2011


1st Test: In their 2nd innings England were 5-62 at one stage, but they ended up scoring 6-269 (declared).


2nd Test: England were at 8-124 at one stage, but they ended up the final score of 221. In the 2nd innings England were 6-339 and managed a mammoth score of 544 runs in that innings.


India tour of Australia, 2011/12


1st Test: In the 1st innings, Australia after being 6-214 scored 333 . They were 4-27 at one stage in their 2nd innings but in spite of that they posted a total of 240.


These are only a few examples, there have been many such occasions when teams have taken advantage of his defensive field-placements.


Batting


People seem to have taken it for granted that India has the best batting line up. Is this true?
In the last 13 months India has played 11 test matches;
Scores above 500 – none
above 400 – once
above 300- thrice


Opening has been a major issue. The injury prone, Sehwag and Gambhir have disappointed in Tests. Their replacements (Murali Vijay and Mukund) don’t seem to have the class to deliver the goods at the highest level. Also they have never been given enough chances to prove their mettle. Openers haven’t been able to leave the ball well. Gambhir, in most matches edges to the wk/slip cordon, Sehwag chases for deliveries outside off and invites trouble. Gambhir had it in him to play knocks of substance, but these days he looks very tentative with his foot movement against deliveries on the off stump.


Only Sachin and Dravid, look somewhat assured against fast bowling. Both of them are good leavers of the ball and know where their off-stump is. Especially Sachin leaves the ball on the 3rd /4th stump better than anyone. This has been the weakness of Sehwag, Laxman and Dhoni; all 3 of them have unique techniques. Laxman has a tendency to play away from his body, especially the cover drives, his back foot doesn’t move much . He has been able to survive with his technique all these years, but that doesn’t seem to be working these days. Sehwag hardly moves his feet but his ability to pick the line of the ball quickly and time the ball well even without much feet movement helps him. Dhoni’s technique is difficult to describe, his walking-cover-drive has resulted in his downfall too many times. These three have an exceptional hand-eye coordination which has been of immense help to them in their careers.


Against the short ball, Dravid and Laxman seem somewhat assured; Sachin doesn’t play the pull shot these days. Sehwag and Gambhir have never been good pullers. Same is the case with rest of the batting line up. How can you win Tests abroad ( ]especially in England, S Africa and Australia) if 9 out of 11 of your batsmen are poor on their backfoot ?. When a player is unsure about his backfoot play, the bowler bangs a few short, and then he bowls a fuller one. The batsman, expects another short ball and stays on his back foot, he edges it and perishes. This is where England score high, their top 5 batsmen, Cook, Strauss, Trott, KP and Bell have very good techniques and more importantly they are good players on the off-stump; equally good on the front-foot and backfoot.


India doesn’t have a settled batsman at number 6. Raina’s weakness against short-pitched stuff compelled the management to throw him out. Yuvraj Singh never looked comfortable at 6 and Virat Kohli averages 15 odd in overseas Tests. He is a talented player, majestic on the front foot. His back-foot play needs to improve. Rohit Sharma who is known for his technique against fast-bowling has been never given the opportunity to prove himself. The selectors continue to neglect Badrinath, experienced and a prolific scorer in Ranji.
                              
                                      Opening partnerships (2011) 

                                 
                                               Runs scored (2011)

  








So basically , this is what has happened in most of the matches


1) Openers fall early
2) Hopes pinned on Dravid and Sachin
3) Most of the times the duo come to the rescue . at around 80 , team loses the third wicket
4) The remaining 6 make another 140/150 and the team gets all out within 250

BCCI still in the cocoon of denial


1) Utter lack of preparation, planning and practice. The English team reached Australia well before the Ashes, but the Indians played against West Indies in a rather needless 5 match ODI series at home, on dustbowls. The time that could have been utilized to prepare for the major series was wasted.


2) Playing IPL has had an adverse impact on the technique of the batsmen. In Test cricket you need to be good at two things, leaving the ball and knowing where the off-stump is. The Indian batsmen have forgotten how to leave the balls on the off stump. In T20s you are advised not to waste deliveries, put bat to ball and rotate strike. There are people like Kohli and Gambhir who don’t seem to like leaving the ball even if the ball is pitched on the 5th or 6th stump outside off. Majority of the batsmen these days, in Ranji Trophy and International cricket try to reach out and hit every ball. So the bowlers keep them fishing outside off. Knowing they are going to nick one and get caught behind the stumps. I can assure you every aspiring young cricketer in the country would prefer seeing his name in the scoreboard of an IPL match. The honour’s board at Lord’s means nothing to them.


3) Playing excessive T20s affects the bowlers more than anyone else. When a bowler constantly bowls short bursts at batsman who are out to hammer him, his bowling action is put under severe stress, its gives him bad habbits, the bowler fears to pitch the ball on the good length and on the fourth stump because that will allow the batsman to get under the delivery. Even while playing ODIs on the flat Indian pitches, you either bowl full or pitch it on the short of good length, with the ball directed towards the batsman’s body. Ishant Sharma has been a degraded bowler ever since he started playing IPL.


4) The BCCI was supposed to conduct a detailed review of the England tour. That never happened, instead, they met a few times to discuss the future of the IPL Kochi franchise. The day on which India lost the 2nd Test match at Sydney, the BCCI members met, to finalise the schedule of the 5th edition of IPL. When asked to comment on the horror run in England, Rajiv Shukla said “ We are absolutely happy because we want cricket to grow in England “.


5) Subramaniam Badrinath, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane have the best batting averages in domestic cricket. None of them is in the playing XI.


6) Only a mentally illlusioned cricket board will expect indoor nets and 10-15 day batting camps to produce cricketers of Sachin or Dravid’s calibre.


7) The MRF pace foundation is a private initiative. The board could have made use of it. Instead they have this useless specialist academies.


8) There has never been a sincere effort to build a proper ‘A’ team and send them to play emerging nations tournaments . No one has bothered to select players for the A tours who can compete for places in Australia, those who don’t slog and can think beyond 20s and 30s. Sending players to Australia for emerging players tournaments on the basis of performances in IPL, is like making a serious joke of the entire domestic cricket structure.


9) No one has the guts to nudge any senior player. How poor his form maybe, he still plays and the guys scoring tons of runs in domestic cricket are never rewarded.


10) The richest cricket board still doesn’t have a decent injury management system and database. The board members say it is ‘expensive'.




India aren’t playing tests abroad till December 2013. This is the time to blood youngsters. I believe it would have been a lot better had the team lost with Rohit and Rahane in the side rather than the seniors in England and Australia. The seniors, Dravid, Sachin and Laxman have hardly 3 years of cricket left in them. Selectors have their job cut out, find good enough replacements. One good option can be to replace one senior every year with a newbie. That will make the transition smoother. The batting line up which used to look like this; Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Sachin, Laxman, Ganguly and  Dhoni will be somewhat like this after a couple of years; Gambhir, Rahane/Sehwag, Pujara, Rohit, Kohli, Dhoni and Raina. I won’t be surprised if India drops further down in the Test rankings in the years to come. The selectors haven’t really bothered to induce fresh blood into the side. India won’t be able to enjoy the services of the golden trio for long. It’s going to be a testing time for the selectors, asking people who has served the country for almost two decades won’t be easy.


I believe, frequent batting collapses, failure of the top order to score runs and ordinary bowling, aren’t destroying Indian cricket; neglect and the  lack of vision are . And the former are the symptoms of the latter.