It’s not for the first time that Team India has been subjected to a complete whitewash on an overseas tour. It happened twice against Australia before the recent series. It was a 3-0 whitewash in 1967-68 and a 4-0 whitwash in 1999-2000. Similarly, against England, it happened thrice before last year's series. 5-0 in 1959, 3-0 in 1967 and 3-0 in 1974.
But the manner in which Team India capitulated this time, first in England and then in Australia, in quick succession with 8 consecutive losses, has left this cricket crazy country shell shocked.
Winning and losing are part of the game, but abject surrender, that too from a team which just a few months ago was World’s number 1 test team, is a bit difficult for any cricket afficianado to digetst.
It’s time for deep introspection which is bound to raise some uncomfortable questions both for our cricket administrators and senior players who have taken their place in the team for granted.
On both these tours, India’s performance can easily be described as ‘pathetic’ in all departments of the game, be it bowling, batting or fielding. But the one department which really sealed India’s fate was Indian’s opening batting partnership.
How can you even think of building an edifice when the foundation is so weak, so brittle?
In 16 innings of 8 test matches that India lost, the famed Indian opening pair scored 63,19,0,6,8,0,8,49,22,17,0,18,4,24,26 and 14.
Not a single three-digit partnership! If the opening pair is so incompetent and plays so irresponsibly then you are definitely setting the stage for a callous rendezvous with the most dreaded word in cricket lexicon ‘whitewash’.
And the worst part of the story is that there is no remorse either. Virender Sehwag , when asked about his poor shot selection in Australia, was unfazed and retorted belligerently –This is how I play.
Can you believe it coming from a person who has pretensions of being a born leader and is aspiring for Test captaincy? Sehwag may be a run-machine on sub-continent pitches but he lacks the technique of tackling genuine fast bowling either on Australia’s hard and bouncy pitches or under England’s seaming conditions.
Same is true for Gautam Gambhir as well. Clearly, it’s time to do some experiments so far as opening pair is concerned.
In fact, the Indian team has always looked helpless against genuine pace bowling on hard and bouncy pitches, with a few exceptions. Unfortunately, the players who were supposed to be exceptions also failed to perform this time, which resulted in this catastrophe.
While Dravid ‘The Wall’ managed to score three centuries on England tour which India lost 0-4, the famed Indian middle order consisting of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman fell like a pack of cards on this tour Down Under.
The monumental failure of opening pair and middle order made Indian batting a laughing stock. The entire batting lineup collapsed like ninepins again and again.
The message is clear – the time is up now for the once revered trinity of Indian batting lineup. It’s time for Indian cricket to move on and blood youngsters who can go on to become ‘new walls’ of Indian cricket.
The only century from Indian side on this tour down under came from a youngster Virat Kohli. Instead of carrying the burden of white elephants who are well past their primes, it’s better to pass on the responsibility to young shoulders.
Losing with these fresh talents will not hurt as much as it hurts when we have ‘gods of cricket’ presiding over such humiliations. We need to change our attitude and stop first creating and then worshipping false gods.
Obviously, the cricket lovers, the media, everybody seemed to be more concerned about the ‘century of the centuries’ than a series win.
This Indian mindset perplexes cricket greats like Ian Chappel who quite aptly remarked that the obsession of Indian people with Sachin Tendulkar is such that the average Indians feel satisfied when Sachin scores a hundred even if team loses. Chappel contrasted this with Australian fans who feel overjoyed if the team wins, even if Ricky Ponting fails.
We Indians need to learn from Australians and change our mindset accordingly. Victory First, every other record comes later.
Coming to bowling department, lack of genuine and quality fast bowlers has always been bane of Indian cricket and we have always missed them badly on overseas tours.
We had ‘one series wonders’ like Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan but they failed to evolve as consistent performers. The old warhorse Zaheer Khan is just a shadow of what he used to be.
India’s combined bowling average in England was 58.45, second worst in any series while it was 51.1 in Australia, fifth worst in any series involving India. Moreover, we had these appalling bowling averages when pitches and conditions were conducive to bowlers.
The most important thing is we need to create a pool of quality fast bowlers who could win us overseas matches but we are not paying any attention to this at all.
Test Cricket is all about taking 20 wickets and the bitter truth is that today we lack a potent bowling attack which could bowl out the opposition twice in a test match.
The question is this –are we really serious about Test cricket? Do we really aspire to become a truly great test side or all we care about is ‘fast cricket’ and ‘fast bucks’?
The answer is not difficult to find. While the team was being slaughtered in Australia our BCCI mandarins were busy finalising the schedule of IPL.
While the team was being mauled mercilessly, the Indian captain was mulling retiring from test cricket. It was a clear case of lack of motivation for test cricket.
Dhoni, even if advertently, sent out a signal which could well be interpreted as if players like Dhoni don’t want to be tested under tough conditions.
They are happy playing in their comfort zones which simply means playing fast cricket(ODI and T 20) on home grounds and earning fast and huge bucks.
When someone like Ravinder Jadeja, who is yet to prove himself on international circuit, can be offered a whopping $ 2 million for playing IPL who cares for success or failure in Test Cricket?
If this is the mindset then we should stop touring overseas altogether. Play only in India, win matches, score centuries and make easy bucks. Why subject the entire nation to unbearable humiliation?
The crux of the matter is that we urgently need to set our priorities right.
Number one, you can’t overlook the fact that test cricket is the real cricket which tests the caliber, technique and temperament of a player.
Second, unless you perform well consistently on overseas tours no one would ever look at you as a great side, these ICC ratings are of no consequence. India went to England as No. 1 test side but was thrashed 0-4. Rankings are just circumstantial and prove nothing. So, what we need to do is to select young talents in India’A’ team and send them on more and more overseas tours so that by the time they are selected in national team they have enough exposure of foreign conditions and pitches.
Third, ask senior players to share their future plans. Let them clarify how long they want to hang on purely on reputation when they have stopped performing. If they are unwilling to read the writing on the wall then tell them politely but firmly – thank you very much for your contribution but its time for you guys to make way for youngsters.
Fourth, undoubtedly IPL is an asset for India and it must continue but do not forget the fact that it will not produce match winning test cricketers. Therefore, pay equal, if not more, attention to other domestic tournaments like Ranji Trophy, which has produced great test cricketers in the past. Those interested in serious cricket should be given equal attention and equal monetary incentives so that they do not feel abandoned and ignored.
Fifth, try and find out why India has failed to produce quality fast bowlers in comparison to our neighbor Pakistan. Pakistan like India has flat pitches on their home grounds but still they have managed to produce world class fast bowlers. It’s also time for India to start preparing hard and bouncy pitches for domestic tournaments so that we could produce players who have the competence of taking on any side of the world under any condition.
And last, but not the least, Indian cricketers should be inculcated to give their 100 percent without caring for win or loss. Lose but lose like braves and not like incompetent cowards.
This is what makes great teams stand out above others. Had Indian cricketers given their 100 percent on the last two overseas tours, we would not have mourned even these ’whitewashes’.
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