Tough times ahead for Indian cricket
Barely a year after winning the ODI Cricket World Cup, the India team find themselves in soup. Two humiliating series of facelifts against England and Australia followed by a disappointing defeat at the hands of minnows Bangladesh in the Asian Cup aren’t exactly the results a World Cup-winning side would want to put on their resume. Even the harshest critics of Team India could not have predicted such a drop. Also, from the way things seem to be going, one gets the impression that not much is being done to change the situation.
What are really the problems facing the Indian team? While certain challenges have been around for quite some time, a few others have emerged in the recent past. Historically, Indian cricketers have been portrayed as lions at home and lambs abroad. This perception changed in the early 2000s, as India recorded both Test and ODI series victories on foreign soil against cricketing heavyweights including Australia, England and South Africa. However, the recent series of whiteout tests is testament to the fact that Indian cricketers have never really mastered the art of playing in foreign conditions.
The main reason for this failure is the one-dimensional nature of the Indian releases. Most Indian pitches, being flat with no bounce, are suitable for the batter. Any pitch that offers assistance to bowlers is usually bowler-friendly. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has done nothing to change the nature of playing surfaces in India. As a result, players nationally suffer from a severe lack of experience batting and bowling on fast, bouncy lanes. This inexperience is clearly reflected when they play internationally. With the exception of Virat Kohli, India’s Gen-Next struggled against a common attack that was a mere shadow of the legendary Australian rhythm attack of the early 2000s. Gone are the days when Indian players used to get valuable exposure. playing county cricket in England. Thanks to the IPL, they no longer have the incentive to play county cricket.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) has brought with it its own share of complexities. A batsman who scores a quick 30 or 40 in one game is hugely rewarded, in T20 cricket, as is a bowler who can restrict run rate to 6 or 7 over. While these strategies can help teams win T-20 internationals, they are not appropriate for ODIs and Test matches. The younger generation of batsmen found it difficult to build innings in England and Australia. It fell to the experienced Rahul Dravid to save some pride for the India team in the Test series against England, while Sachin Tendulkar emerged as the top scorer in the Test series against Australia. With Dravid announcing his retirement and Sachin nearing the end of his career, the team desperately needs new faces that can adapt to all formats of the game. Virat Kohli is the only such player. Others like Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Murali Vijay, despite possessing immense talent, have struggled to find their place in Test cricket.
Another major cause for concern is India’s flimsy and inexperienced pace of attack. The Indian bowlers failed to defend a score of 289 against a second-tier team like Bangladesh in the Asian Cup. With the exception of Zaheer Khan, the new Indian bowlers rarely pose a threat to opposing batsmen. Time and time again, the team has had to rely on the experience and talent of Zaheer Khan to get them out of difficult situations. Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel have shown occasional flashes of brilliance. Players like Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan have not only lost their speed but also their wicket-taking abilities. Youngsters like Varun Aaron and Vinay Kumar have not had enough opportunities to prove themselves at international level. While Zaheer Khan could continue to play for another two or three years at international level, his possible replacements hardly inspire confidence.
Player burnout is an additional cause for concern. Previously, cricketers used to enjoy a break from the game for a month or two every season. That would give them plenty of time to relax, recuperate, and prepare for the upcoming season. With the advent of the IPL, cricket is now played throughout the year and players have almost no time to relax. Also, too many matches are entered, for no apparent reason. For example, it made little sense for India to play an ODI series against England at home, in 2011, on the heels of playing a grueling Test and ODI series in England. Recently, the Indian team traveled to South Africa to play only the international T20. The players returned home after the game only to take part in the IPL in a week’s time. Players virtually live on planes and hotels. Playing cricket 24/7, and regularly traveling long distances, often to countries in different time zones, can naturally take a toll on players’ mental and physical health. The recent wave of injuries at the Indian camp underscores this fact. These injuries not only deprive the team of its best players, but also make match strategies ineffective. Unless players get a breather, this situation is likely to persist.
Therefore, drastic changes are required in the way Indian cricket is run and played. Unless such changes are urgently effected, the challenges facing Indian cricket would only serve to worsen the dilapidated situation the team currently finds itself in.