SIR Vivian Richards has offered his services to young Indian cricketers in tackling the short ball. He wants to come in as a consultant to deal with our apathy for short pitched bowling. Locker rooms around the cricketing world have abounded with the whisper that Indian batters in the overs limit format aren’t too keen to take on chin music.
Two T 20 World Cups over one year have shown our incompetence against genuinely quick bowling targeted at the rib cage and head. Imagine an Indian team with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman being bounced out in an international game. The reality is that all three will pull or hook you in front of square if you make an attempt to destabilise them using the perfume ball consistently. But the troika are getting long in the tooth. Laxman was dropped from the abbreviated version sometime ago, ditto with Dravid who was rehabilitated after the debacle in England last year. Which leaves Tendulkar who needs to be preserved for as long as we can. So, in order to use him sparingly, we have to extend his sell by date till the 2011 World Cup. The rigours of playing IPL also have to be factored in for Tendulkar and to a great extent even Dravid. Tendulkar recently celebrated his 37th birthday and though he is enjoying the game, he will surely have to take a call after the next World Cup.
That leaves the fearless Virender Sehwag who has the technique and the stomach for fast bowling. He will attack in all situations on all types of wickets and against all types of bowling. That is his DNA. But for the rest of the Indian batsmen who are nothing more than flat wicket or ‘patta’ bullies, it is time to wake up and smell the coffee. I am shocked that Gautam Gambhir displayed feet of clay against sustained short pitched bowling, his technical imperfectitude exposed.
The shortcomings of Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan and the enigmatic Yuvraj Singh have been laid bare. Raina and Rohit Sharma could be persisted with for at least they have shown some form of gumption and derring do, though they too fell showing the same inadequacies. Yuvraj has been given too many chances, his fitness has been suspect for too long, Yusuf Pathan is nothing but a destoyer of sub standard bowling, as is Vijay. They have to be consigned to the rubbish heap of history, just as so many have been in the past. Players who are adept at horizontal bat shots – Virat Kohli, Robin Uthappa and even Ambatti Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary need to be given more opportunities.
If the modus operandi behind the dismissals in the Windies was different from what we saw in England last year, then I wouldn’t be so agitated. But it was the spitting image of what happened last year. There was a strong sense of deja vu and it was distasteful. Taking their eyes off the ball, attempting to play horizontal bat shots too quickly without getting into position, not using the depth of the crease were some of the fallacies displayed. And they were the exact same failings shown in England. And this was most worrisome.
The board might paper over these problems, but let us remember that we tour South Africa later this year. How long can we expect Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman to save us the blushes? Virat Kohli has shown that he is a big match player, Maneesh Pandey has shown talent and temperament, as has R Ashwin with the ball. Uthappa is a power hitter who can be used in the shorter versions. If the IPL is giving us an enlarged gene pool, then it is time to give these youth more opportunities. Remember that the big three are running the last laps of great careers. You will have to blood these youth to see whether they stand up to the heat of top class international cricket. Kohli undoubtedly remains the best prospect.
The next generation of Indian batting will have to revolve around Viru and Gambhir. There will be three to four slots vacant very soon. We cannot afford to give Yusuf Pathan and Dinesh Karthik any more opportunities. We have to have a chat with Yuvraj and find out from him whether he is serious about his cricket. If Australia can drop Andrew Symonds without so much as a by your leave, then India can do the same with Yuvraj if he doesn’t mend his ways. You cannot play from memory. The Srinivasan-Srikkanth combine which is ruling Indian cricket selections needs to be dissolved post haste. We are sticking to the same set of cricketers. We have to look beyond the apparent. The Umesh Jadhavs, R Ashwins, Manoj Tiwarys, Kohlis, Siddharth Trivedis, Saurabh Tiwarys et al have to be given their rightful place in the sun. In many ways what the board has done for Zimbabwe is a very smart thing. The same now needs to be done for the Asia Cup. India’s record in multilateral ICC tourneys is abysmal – 2007 World Cup, 2009 and 2010 T 20 World Cups, 2009 Champions Trophy. All we have to show in terms of silverware is the T 20 World Cup in 2007 under Dhoni.
The time for introspection is over, we have all seen our neophyte batters being demolished by pace, the time for action is here. Sack the under performers, teach them a lesson, give the youth coming out of the system an opportunity. If they fail too, then we have a serious malfunction.
The catechism against the short ball has shaken the very foundations of Indian batting. IPL parties can be partly blamed for the losses, but how does one explain the lack of application and technique against the short rising ball. Blame the selectors, yes, but learn to cope with the bouncing ball as well. Otherwise, maladroit Indians will be facing a barrage of short pitched bowling at every cricketing pit stop around the world.
