A win by a runagainst the South Africans could not help the team snag a spot in thesemi-finals of the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. This tournament was marked byone loss to the Australians, but it was a loss that exposed everything that waswrong with the team and with Indian cricket.
When India won the World Cup in 2011, it seemed like thebirth of a golden age of Indian cricket was at hand. Batsmen scoring runs,bowlers snapping wickets and yes the catches were all sticking. Sadly, it wasnot to be. First Australia walloped the Indian team in the four test matchesexposing the shaky foundation of this team. Sadly the one day series thatfollowed was no better. Despite a fabulous hundred from Virat Kohli against theSri Lankans, the Indians missed out on a spot in the finals due to a poorrun-rate.
The script has been followed diligently ever since. Theyreturned battered and bruised from England. Technical flaws in the batsmen wereexposed. Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and other young players had questions marksover their future. Their performance however has not improved as time hasprogressed. Vivek Kolambkar, coach of the Goa Ranji trophy team said “It is asurprise as to why these two players are being persisted with. They have beengiven way too many chances. Perhaps there are other considerations instead ofform. It is not unusual, it happens everywhere. Rohit has been scoring once inevery ten matches”. Speaking about the technical flaws that were present in thebatsmen he said “In India, there are very few pitches that offer assistance toseam, Mohali and Agartala come to mind. Most of the pitches are flat especiallyin the south. Look there is a lot of talent in the country but there are nopitches that will adequately ask the right questions.”
Former Ranji trophy player Amikar Dayal, a keen observer ofthe game, felt that other countries had recognised the dynamics involved in thethree different formats which was not apparent in the thinking of the Indianboard. Amikar felt that the technicalproblems in the players he felt would be certainly exploited by a smart coach.Avdhoot Zarapkar a former Mumbai Ranji trophy player, now based in Goa, advisedpatience. He said “This format is funny as it depends on the form of the teamon that day. With regards to Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma let me tell you thatthey have class. I am a big fan of Rohit Sharma. He has the technique but he isnot scoring runs. I have played with Gavaskar and even he has gone through suchspells.” He however felt that Rohit would have to rectify this situation fastgiven the long line of talented batsmen coming through. On Indian cricket hesaid that the future was bright given the talent available and there was noneed to worry.
Amikar however felt that the match against South Africa, hesaid was clear example of a lack of planning. He said “There may be elevenplayers on the field but there is a team of planners off the field who helpthem prepare strategies.” The confusion in the thinking can be illustrated byan example. Vivek Kolambkar said “Last year I attended a session organised bythe BCCI where it was suggested that each pitch should have 2 mm of grass. Tilldate nothing has been done, and in-fact, no one knows what is happening”.
Perhaps in that lies the tragedy of Indian cricket, too muchmoney, plenty of talent but an inability to use it to the best possible mannerfor the interest of the country.
