IT HURTS

An inspired India on 2nd April 2011 regained the coveted world cup after a gap of 28 years to script a glorious new chapter in cricketing history.

The clamourous , jam packed stadium at Wankhede erupted in wild celebration as Dhoni hit the winning runs.

It was only 4 months ago  1)we had won the world cup

                                              2  )we were the number one side in test cricket. 

                                              3) The Board of Control for Cricket in India was (still is) the strongest and the   richest board in the world                                                                                                

                                              4) Our batsmen were the best, bowling better than most and even the captain was considered the coolest and smartest. In short everything was shining and success and glory was everywhere you looked. Be it ODIs, test cricket or even the T20 in which we had 

August 13,2011.our third successive heavy defeat saw us surrender both the four-Test series 0-3 and the No.1 crown: a forced, inescapable surrender, for England tyrannized  India and imposed its will all the time.

YOUNGSTERS AND THE IPL CIRCUS

In the first place one has to admit that  there is an utter lack  of adroitness and quality. IMO every player in this team has given his best performances in the past on the subcontinental dustbowls and yes I am counting the youngsters as well. But the  technique of the best of the of the young crop like  is woefully short on skills to handle real good bowling in unfriendly environments. 

These days we find a lot of T20 stalwarts in the test team like Yuvraj & Raina  (both have weak first class records) .Also folks like Pujara, Kohli,Rahane & Rohit Sharma who  have  better technique and  first class records havent quite received the honours they deserve.

  

 It is very exasperating to see Raina not being able to sort out problems in handling short pitch stuff in spite of being around for 5 years.Same is the case with Yuvraj. 

 The problem is  lots of promising young indian cricketers have been handed a big pot of gold and silver in the form of the IPL, so their development as test cricketers is be hindered.To make matters worse they organise the champions league T20, a rather needless tournament. 

Youngsters are not able learn how to build an innings or bowl sustained long spells. They will not be able to play genuine pace because they will never face any such bowlers. A couple of overs from Lee and Steyn in the IPL don't count! They few times they will play in the longer version of the game will be on dead pitches. How will this scenario develop promising young cricketers? The problem, therefore, is far greater than a few players retiring. Where are the quality players going to come from? As long as the BCCI is guided by circus revenue, we are doomed to produce mediocre players. 

Think about it…….

 If they had not organised the IPL after the world cup

1. a well deserved  8  weeks of rest for players after celebrating WC win 2.the break would have helped them to rejuvenate their body and mind and spend quality time with family. 3. Viru would have completely recovered by the WI series and Gauti would not have injured himself. 4. And if the BCCI had any insight it would have moved the WI series a week or two earlier and so the players would have landed in England earlier and would have played a couple of warm-up games and acclimatised better. Now then, do you think India would have lost?

The players seem to be following this rule “try Play as many IPL matchesas possible. Get all the commercials, make crores of money. Aaaaaand if and ONLY if you are fit enough then play few ODIs and tests for the country.”

Also  many players play all the 3 formats throughout the year 

and it causes mental and physical weariness.This results in dropped catches, lethargic body language ,drooping shoulders and hands in the pocket.

 Its high time the board should contemplate ,have a close look at the schedules,trim the duration  of IPL ,find out methods of making money from domestic leagues.

Tough times for the board ahead.Scapegoating wont work.Some tough calls need to be made.Get more youngsters in the test tea,Pujara,Rohit,Rahane,Kohli.Go for the rotation policy as far as managing the older  folks in the side is concerned.

Indian bowling has raised serious concerns.One cannot  see another leader emerging from the shadows of Zaheer Khan. Ishant has been a bit impressive in his last 6-8 tests but he is still young and learning. Sreesanth though probably one of our better fast bowler and hugely talented but needs someone to handhold him in every innings. Bhajji who used to be a very fine bowler has become pretty useless these days.He is not a world-class bowler anymore. He neither has the guile of a classic off-spinner like Prasanna nor variety like Murali.

Selectors need to find a few genuine quicks .Make sure that they only play test cricket.Varun Aaron took 10 wickets in the Emerging Players Tournament.Needs to de handled with care.

ENGLAND DESERVE TO BE THE NUMBER 1 TEST TEAM

Lets be honest,there is no denying that England now deserve their position at the top of the ICC Test Championship.The team havs talented players in form, good leadership ,good  coaches, a harmonious team dynamic and luck. 

Since May 2009, they have played 9 Test series without defeat...

 Beat West Indies 2-0 (home)

 Beat Australia 2-1 (home) 

 Draw 1-1 with South Africa (away) 

 Beat Bangladesh 2-0 (away) 

 Beat Bangladesh 2-0 (home) 

 Beat Pakistan 3-1 (home) 

 Beat Australia 3-1 (away) 

 Beat Sri Lanka 1-0 (home) 

 Lead India 3-0 (home) 

 The ashes victory last Winter was truly majestic . England is not a side which can“ tear their opponents apart” but there is no doubt they are a very strong unit.

Alex Tudor who played 10 Tests between 1998 and 2002 says  “ It started off with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) putting Duncan Fletcher in charge in 1999. He was a massive advocate for central contracts and it’s been a huge plus as the team director has full autonomy over the team, who to play and who to rest.Selection is so different even to when I played. Good batsmen like Mark Ramprakash, Graeme Hick and John Crawley didn’t have the luxury players do today. After a couple of bad games, they’d be dropped, and a couple of games later they’d be back in. They didn’t know if they were coming or going.Now, once you are in the team, you stay in. It’s hard to get into the side but it’s harder to get out. The guys have the belief that once they are given a chance they will have time to show why they were picked in the first place.”

Tudor  “Cricket’s cool again, it’s fun again. The guys are playing with flair and the kids want to copy that. There’s a really exciting buzz about some of the coaching courses I’ve been involved in this summer – it’s absolutely fantastic and long may it continue.”