Indian cricket team is never known for consistent good performances outside the subcontinent. The tigers at home, were no where close to it when they travel across multiple oceans. Winning a series was a dream, is a dream and may well remain a dream.
During year 2000-2008 India looked the best by their own low standards when they traveled Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies. They won several test matches during this period and one or two series. They came close to winning few, but most importantly they were fighting. Large part of this should go to batting trio of Dravid-Sachin-Laxman, bowlers like Zaheer, Kumble, an Agarkar or an RP Singh in between. But most importantly the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly.
However after 2011, India's performances have gone from bad to worse, from heroes to zeroes, from 1-0 to 1-3, from 180 all out to 93 all out. As an ardent follower of Test Cricket for the last 30 years, I am writing this article on what is missing in the current Indian Team and it's administration.
During year 2000-2008 India looked the best by their own low standards when they traveled Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies. They won several test matches during this period and one or two series. They came close to winning few, but most importantly they were fighting. Large part of this should go to batting trio of Dravid-Sachin-Laxman, bowlers like Zaheer, Kumble, an Agarkar or an RP Singh in between. But most importantly the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly.
However after 2011, India's performances have gone from bad to worse, from heroes to zeroes, from 1-0 to 1-3, from 180 all out to 93 all out. As an ardent follower of Test Cricket for the last 30 years, I am writing this article on what is missing in the current Indian Team and it's administration.
Spotting Talent
This is a gift only few Cricketers / administrators have. Imran Khan had it. Sourav Ganguly had it. Arjuna Ranatunga had it. Please note that all these men also happen to be the greatest captains so far for their respective countries. Unless the raw talents at club, district and state level is identified and nurtured you will not get a winning team with few champions in it. To win a test match, it needs cricketing talent. Its a specialists game. To be a successful team you need at least 3 champion batsmen and 3 quality bowlers. All rounders are a bonus. Bits and pieces players are No-No !
The current Indian administration has fallen short on this area. This is the reason we still don't have players filling in the boots of Dravid-Sachin-Ganguly-Laxman-Kumble-Zaheer. And the occasional Veeru and Bajji too !
Picking The Team
When you are on tour outside the subcontinent playing a long test series, you need to pick the right team. Test match is a specialists game. You need 3 or 4 match winning performances to win a test match, unlike an ODI or a T20. Therefore you need to pick batsmen who can score 100 in 200 balls. Not someone who can score a run a ball 50. Both run and time are important. Many a times you have to bat out for time. You need batsmen who can block the first 2 hours of a morning session with a new ball flying and seaming at 140 kmph. You need bowlers who can take 20 wickets amongst them. 20-0-100-4 is a better bowling figure in tests than 20-8-38-1.
The current Indian team has way too many players who do not fit the test match regime. If you are in a test squad you need to be threatening either with the bat or ball. Binny, Jadeja, Pankaj and few others are clearly misfits.
The Playing XI
Almost identical to the above point. Except that you have the advantage of knowing the pitch condition. Pick the team based on the condition. Horses for the courses. On a batting pitch go with an extra bowler and vise-verse. If a bowler has not taken a wicket but scored a match saving 70 in the previous match, then it's very good. But he does not need to be selected for doing a good job in a wrong skill set. Batsmen job is to score runs, bowlers to take wickets. If the reverse happens then it's a problem. Choose the best XI for the current match.
4 Bowlers
India traditionally is a batting team. You score runs, put the pressure on opposition and take wickets. Moreover there are no limit on the number of overs. Always go with the 4 best bowlers for the conditions. This generally means 3 seamers and a spinner. 4 seamers is also perfect if the condition suits. You don't need a 5th bowler. No need of an argument on the workload on bowlers. If the 4 bowlers are good they should get you 10 wickets in less than 4 sessions. Occasional 5th bowler can be a batsman who can roll his arms decently for a brief 4-5 overs spell. Most of the successful team go with 4 bowlers
Slip Catching
Very important outside the subcontinent. This is a specialist position. You need to have dedicated fielders for slips. They should be diving to catch the ball. Saving runs can be second priority. The positioning of the slip also matters. Indian bowlers are not tear away fast bowlers. The slip cordon is always found standing 5 feet back. Many catches did not carry. It does not take 4 years and 19 test matches to still wonder how far back or forward to stand. For the quality of Indian bowling catches to slips are rarity, so when they come catch it like your life defends on it. To be successful you need to catch 85% if not 100%. The current 50% catching ratio is like a bucket whose hole is bigger than the tap that is filling it.
Nominate players for this job. It can't be someone now, someone else later and another one for the next match.
New Batsmen, New Day, New Session
No matter how great a batsman is or how many runs he has scored in the last session, the best chances of getting him out is in the first 20-25 balls. During this period always attack. Put an extra slip, a gully or catching positions close to the bat. Make the batsman play the ball. If you bowl the first 20 balls outside the stumps you are not exploiting the initial uncertainty of bounce and swing of the ball. Always create situations to force the batsman to do something different. If you wait for the batsmen to make mistakes and get him out, then good luck. Good batsmen hardly make mistakes.
Batting Order
It is not carved in stone. If a batsman is low on confidence, out of form and struggling have him bat lower. Promote the in-form batsmen. Your No.1, 2 & 3 batsmen have to be blockers. There may be an occasional Sehwag, but mostly it has to be basics. Give the first session to bowlers. Tire them out and expose your best batsmen to an old ball with tired bowlers. If your No.4 is playing 5th over of the innings consistently your batting has failed.
The tail is also important. All 10 wickets have to come with a price tag. No. 8, 9 & 10 should not just think they have to swing the bat.
More county, less T20 / IPL
There should be a pool of players whose primary focus has to be test cricket. They should play county seasons, Ranji trophy. They should avoid T20 and IPL. Play ODIs on a need to basis. BCCI should compensate these players for the misses they incur by not playing limited overs cricket. The test series should be scheduled in such a way that it will not clash with any of the domestic seasons. Make sure that team is playing at least 10 test matches in a year on consistent basis. A hectic 5 month test series followed by a 18 months of no tests does not help.
Conclusion
The current team of Dhoni & Fletcher does not seem to be following any of these. They just seem to be going through the motion of playing test cricket in between tightly packed limited overs series like IPLs, Champion Trophies and Asia Cups. The focus and priority is definitely not test cricket. India test cricket needs serious and urgent focus, otherwise this beautiful format of the game will soon be confined to the pages of history. SAVE TEST CRICKET.
