India Rising

And the promised drama has begun.

After days of quotes and anonymous reports played around in the media, Tendulkar reacts to one such ‘anonymous’ report, and then Chappell resigns.

This is a sad day for Indian Cricket. For India overall. I say this not because Tendulkar, a fellow Indian, has been made to defend his commitment, but because an Australian has resigned. In the past 5 years, Wright and Chappell were the only persons who knew what was wrong with Indian cricket, and was passionate about changing it. They took it as their job and they went about doing it passionately, as every other professional does it. Not only that, they were the only ones who talked about the fans and their passion. The cricket team, on the other hand, never gave the fans their due respect. Agreed, that the fans over react when a team looses, but they never play with pride or for pride. And when they do play for pride, it is when they have lost the series. Come on, we need more.

Before reading further, check the stats of our great cricketers over the last year or so.

There are a lot of senior players that can be mentioned, like Sachin, Sourav and Kumble. Kumble is one of the worst fielders in the side, and if he gets selected in the team, that is a disgrace. Likewise for Sourav. The way Sourav played during both the matches India lost, was pathetic. His strike rate against Bangladesh was 50-60, and the same against Sri Lanka. What was he thinking? Bum!!!

Now Mr Sachin. A month before, I wouldn’t have dreamt of talking like this against him, but it took an Australian to show me where my priorities are. Sachin has been considered the best, not only by the billion indians, but the whole cricketing fraternity, past and present. What he could achieve single handedly, he showed in a lot of instances. One that comes to mind immediately is the epic battles against Australia in Sharjah. Sachin has delivered a lot. No questions about that. But over the last 3 years or so, he is not what he is. I am not talking his slam bang capabilities, but his dominance over bowlers. He has become a mortal. Bowlers don’t fear him anymore, and it is Sachin who has become circumspect. We know what Sachin is capable of, Chappell knows what Sachin is capable of but Sachin seems to have forgotten himself. I am sure that is what he has been trying to achieve since he came to India. Unfortunately, of all people, Sachin failed to see through it, and took it as criticism, rather than constructive criticism.

If this is going to be Sachin’s reaction, then I guess his time is up. His attitude has to be questioned, and even though he doesn’t realize it, looks like he thinks he is bigger than the game of cricket.

Bottom line is, the lagaan team and the nike ad boys showed more mojo than this indian team.

It was so disappointing to see India loose so badly. They seem to have lost their mental balance as far as planning goes. They dont plan. Thats the impression that they give. I remember writing post the Aussies series and there seems to be no lessons learnt from that. Ganguly needs to discover his batting before he can even think of leading the side. Dravid is quite capable and is passionate and has the mental reserves to bounce back. I think its time for Ganguly to leave or rather take time off to re-discover his batting form and then fight for a place like the others.

As for the changes, this is how the team composition should be, 5 batters, 1 keeper, 5 bowlers. The first 6 batting positions should be Sehwag (vc), Dhoni, Dravid, Kaif, Yuvraj and Tendulkar. Its best for Sachin to come in late as that would not give the opposition any room for relaxation till the 6th wicket is fallen.

3 medium pacers and 2 spinners should be the composition for the bowling department. Agarkar should be included in the side and his role is to bowl during the 30-50 over mark. With the old ball, when it reverse swings, he would be difficult to get away. He should specialize only in blockhole deliveries and swinging deliveries. His other job is to be a useful hitter down the order.

The reserve bench should contain 2 pacers, 1 spinner and a keeper batsman.

With such a lineup, India can never loose. With Tendulkar coming in down the order, the batsmen coming above can play freely and tendulkar just needs to go bang bang lower down the order. That would be a treat to watch. Most importantly, he has the experience and guile to guide the tail to bat with him. Hope someone is listening.