It is a pleasure to be part of the start of the Golden Jubilee celebrations at Wankhede Stadium. I actually invited myself on day one and MCA congratulated the past captains of both the men’s and women’s teams. MCA has invited all Indian team captains from Mumbai to participate in the final day celebrations, which will be a truly memorable event. My reason for spoiling the opening day celebrations was simply that I captained Mumbai before captaining India, so I could take part in the event too. As always, being with the cricketers I played with and some of the cricketers who came later was an experience to cherish. A good lunch can teach Australia’s stadiums what good service looks like and it’s fun to look back at some old stories and laugh at other stories people have heard before.
Surprisingly, while some concerns have been expressed about the direction of the Indian team, very little is being said about what happened in Australia. This is probably what most Indian cricket lovers are worried about as well. With two consecutive Test series defeats, and bad ones at that, the rest of the international season has a dull feel to it. The usual excitement that comes when looking forward to a new series seems to be non-existent, and the listlessness seen on the field seems to be transmitted to the fans.
Indian cricket needs a new challenge and with several new management coming on board, it will be interesting to see how that challenge is dealt with.
The first decision to be made in this situation is whether to focus on the near term or take a long-term view on how to make Indian cricket rise again. The next few months will mainly revolve around limited-overs cricket and the IPL. White-ball performances should not blind us to the shortcomings of Test cricket. These issues also need to be addressed as a new cycle of World Test Championship finals begins with a five-Test series against England from mid-June.
The mistakes Australia made should not be repeated. The team should arrive in England as one group, rather than in four batches like in Australia. For the first two days in Australia, the team was without its captain, vice-captain and coach. What message does this send to the home team? This is a team without a leadership team that could easily collapse on some tough performances. The BCCI will certainly not allow this to happen again. Yes, scattered players recovering from injury can join the team later, but the leader must be the first to arrive and announce that the team is ready to fight.
Since the Indian team is yet to qualify for the World Trade Center finals, the team still has a week to acclimate through some practice matches. English conditions are when the ball swings in the air and seams after being bowled. No matter how many times a person practices in the nets, and even if the batsman hits the ball several times in the nets, he can still continue to hit the ball, which does not lead to good mental preparation. It doesn’t matter if the opponents in practice matches aren’t top level; scoring runs and wickets in a match will go a long way in building confidence.
It’s somewhat understandable that the Australian team has a big squad of around 20 players, as Australia is not an easy place to get to and the body clock does take a few days to adjust to the local time zone. This isn’t a big deal in England, but the change in weather conditions from the hot Indian summer to the cooler winds of England can be tricky at the best of times. Still, carrying more than 16 players would indicate uncertainty on the part of the selectors, which is never a good sign. Just because the BCCI can afford to field big parties doesn’t mean India’s cap should be that way. A common problem overseas is the lack of practice bowlers, so bring a few bowlers anyway and they can get training and clothes, but not Indian caps.
There will be some gaps between test matches and these gaps will need to be used for practice matches. Tours in England are almost always by road and the Indian team will drive to the next Test venue on the last night of the last Test match. Since there will be no travel days involved, it is understandable to take the day off after the exam, but the following days should be used for practice. This recent tradition of selective training should be scrapped, and only coaches and captains should decide who gets days off, not individual players.
There is depth in Indian cricket, or so we are told, and hopefully this will be seen in England where the new India can show they are ready to take on the world.
