Losing the plot - the Indian way

1. Make over 300 just once in the series, and that too on the back of a truly special double-century [Virender Sehwag's 201].

2. A middle order that manages just three half-centuries [two from VVS Laxman and one from Rahul Dravid] over three Tests after having come into the series with 90 centuries and well over 30,000 runs.

3. Get your priorities wrong. Outside of the World Cup once in four years, Test cricket must be paramount. Those that want to skip a series or two in favour of one-day matches of no importance should be told to consider a permanent vacation.

4. Two wicketkeepers, Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel, who fluffed more than they caught. They looked third-rate in comparison with the exceptional Prasanna Jayawardene. Forget Adam Gilchrist and matchwinning innings, and learn to gather the ball first. Incidentally, Prasanna scored twice as many runs too.

5. Play with your pads. The best thing about the review system, once it's implemented properly, will be the welcome extinction of pad play. No more peekaboo with the bat tucked behind the pad. Use it, or pay the price against spinners as accurate as Mendis and Murali.

6. Miss almost every half-chance. The Sri Lankans were brilliant in the field, with Thilan Samaraweera and Tillakaratne Dilshan really catching the eye. India were downright shoddy. Umpteen chances went to ground or slipped through fingers. Misfields and poor throws didn't help either. Even the youngsters like Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha were culpable.

7. Give away cheap runs. Murali and Mendis bowled a staggering 324 overs while conceding less than three an over. India couldn't build similar pressure. Harbhajan Singh's 16 wickets aside, no bowler distinguished himself. Ishant Sharma had one superb spell at Galle and then broke down at the P Sara. Zaheer Khan toiled hard, without ever looking likely to do a Gough or a Kasprowicz.

8. Overbowl the captain. Anil Kumble bowled himself to a standstill against Pakistan and Australia, and India are now paying the price. In six outings since the victory in Perth, Kumble has taken just 13 wickets, including eight in Sri Lanka. Ricky Ponting and his men will hope that the decline is irreversible.   

Comments

[neilsrini]

HOMER here we go again just like the old days of the BBC 606

"If we havent produced a half decent bat since the 90's and the 80's were the apogee as far as spinning talent in India goes, how do you reconcile the numbers ( and we have 2 years and a bit for this decade to end)?"

because the essence of my point is that all the current great batsmen in india are a product of the 80's and 90's domestic background. remember tendulkar has been playing test cricket since the 80's he is a product of the 80's domestic background. dravid, dada and vvs are products of the 90's domestic background. sewag is a product of the late 90's domestic background. not one player from this decade who was brought up in the domestic background of this decade has made it big. why?
because gavaskar, kapil, sachin, dada, and dravid made it easy for decent cricketers to make a living wage. you don't have to go to air-india or bank of india or railways and beg for a desk job in the off season. you don't go hungary. and now its FAR too easy to hit one six and one four and become the next big thing without learning the basics and learning your art.

I can't see how you can say Kumble has not been winning games for india for the last 15 years single handedly. you win matches by bowling the opposition out twice. look at kumble's wickets (more than any indian ever). most of the games won by us in the last 15+ years are thanks to wickets in some part by anil kumble. FACT.

finally back to your age old useless stats. in the 80's according to your stats (i can't be bothered to check them) we won 13% of cricket games. in this decade we are winning 37%. in the 80's we lost 26% of games this decade 30%.

NOW FOR THE INTERESTING STAT THAT SOLVES YOUR NUMBERS. in the 80's we drew 60% of our games, in this decade we drew 33% of our games. that is almost half. WHY? well because a chap called Stephen Rodger Waugh (brother of one of the most beautiful aussie batsman to ever play) became captain of australia and invented a new brand of test cricket where you played to win and the draw became more and more obsolete. it was all about entertainment and was the saviour of test cricket. teams play to win games now, and even though we are loosing more games this decade than in the 80's, all those times when we had a first innings lead or were on top yet only got a draw in the 80's have been changed because teams try to win or go down trying.

NOW back to that stat you won't answer for me. In November 1999 alone there were 33 scores of 150-plus in 64 Ranji Trophy games that season as bowlers around the country were dominated and manhandled. Here's an article by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan that will educate you on the matter.

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/144537.html

however, Vaidyanathan draws a conclusion that I think is wrong. Forget sachin, we have not produced a batsman of the standard of , kambli, azzhar, dravid, dada, vvs or sewag this decade. why?

1. the talent is not there anymore. the middle class in india can have a great life (jobs in bangalore and silicon valley) without having to encounter the whims of a Lalit Modi, IS Bindra or Jagmohan Dalmiya. there weren't any jobs in the 80's unless you worked for the bank, air-india or the railways (who incidentally had cricket teams with stiff competition)

2. its too easy to hit one six in a 3hr cricket match and become a hero. how can you be hungry for runs when you are a hero without achieving anything? (yuvraj singh for example).

3. Finally Vaidyanathan talks of
"A quiet revolution is blowing through India's first-class game, producing zip, swing, wickets and results.".
What revolution? We haven't exactly made Headingley's all over India. And none of the performers of this decade could cope by batting in Headingley (because they lack the talent). What we have done is create an environment for medium pacers all over to come in and get hammered the world over. We have killed the support for the Indian spinner (hence no spinner of any merit since the 80's). And in a generation of talentless batsmen incapable of any form of adaptation we are still left with guys from another era applying the age old art of Indian batting (getting set, grafting and constructing an innings) ploughing a lone farrow waiting for someone to take up the torch.

Dravid, Sachin, Dada and VVS are akin to Courtney Walsh and Mr Ambrose suffering through old age, out of love for the nation, as they sit and see all the talents of their country sail away to foreign lands. Knowing that when they go things will never quite be how they used to be.

[Homer]

NeilSrini,

Between 1980 and 1989, India played 81 Tests of which it won 11, lost 21 and drew 48.

At home, the number reads - played 42 Tests of which it won 8, lost 9 and drawn 24.

Between 1990 and 1999, India played 69 Tests of which it won 18, lost 20 and drew 31.

At home, the number reads - played 30 Tests of which it won 17, lost 5 and drawn 8.

Between 2000 and today, India has played 91 Tests of which it won 34, lost 27 and drawn 30.

At home, the number reads - played 38 Tests of which it won 16, lost 8 and drawn 14.

If we havent produced a half decent bat since the 90's and the 80's were the apogee as far as spinning talent in India goes, how do you reconcile the numbers ( and we have 2 years and a bit for this decade to end)?

And now Kumble - in the 90's the only time Anil Kumble came close to winning us a test match was at Jo'burg in 1992 when he took 6 Proteas wickets in their second essay.

As memory serves me correctly, Anil Kumble was basically played by the Poms ( in 96) and Australia ( in 99) as a slow inswing bowler.

It was after his shoulder surgery in late 2000 that he re-invented himself by going slower through the air and increasing his repertoire of deliveries.

"Single handedly winning matches for 15+ years is no mean feat." sounds nice, but is far from the truth!

Cheers,

[neilsrini]

HOMER.

1. Kumble is the best Indian bowler of all time. Fact. Single handedly winning matches for 15+ years is no mean feat.

2. "The Ranji Trophy Super League produced a grand total of 3 Double hundreds in 52 games."

Run me that stat for 1999.

3. You can name me any over-hyped left armer and any Manuf Patel in the world. They are over-hyped. When was the last time you really felt an Indian seamer could run through a side on sheer will since Kapil. For all his flaws the man was a real leader. Technically Zaheer, Nerha, Manuf, RP et al. are better bowlers but will they ever achieve what he achieved. I doubt it. I doubt they will even get close to the number of wickets he got.

And don't ever ever ever underestimate Prabarkar. He's still a better performer than Pathan. As for Chetan well in 1986 when he took 16 wickets in two Tests, including the first ten-wicket haul by an Indian bowler in England. Against the West Indies (best test side of all time) in 1987-88, he had his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests at New Delhi. What did Zaheer Kahn ever do.

And if I remember rightly the batsman of the 80's Ranji sides had to contend with the best generation of Indian spinners. Guys with real loop and guile.

Someone recently wrote on here that Harbajhan has an excellent record for someone with no loop and no spin and they were damn right.

We have won more matches abroad because Kumble is the greatest Indian bowler and the fab four are the greatest middle order of all time.

In the subcontinent matches are won by the first innings lead. In all this focus on winning abroad India seem to have forgotten that.

[Homer]

NeilSrini,

1. Is Subhash Gupte in the same league as Anil Kumble? Statistically, Kumble is by far the greatest of all Indian spinners - but is that really true?

2. "The great worry is that we have not produced one decent batsman from our domestic breeding ground since the 90' s " -

I ran the Ranji numbers from season
2006-07

The Ranji Trophy Super League produced a grand total of 3 Double hundreds in 52 games.

In the Plate League, the 33 matches played produced 1 Triple hundred and 0 Double hundreds.

as against

27 of the 52 matches resulted in outright victories - a win percent > 50.

16 of the 33 matches resulted in outright victories - a win percent slightly less than 50.

Season 2007 -08 had similar numbers in win loss percentages ( and scores in excess of 200).

what were the comunserate numbers in the 80s and the 90s?

"when men made double hundreds for fun and knew what batting all day was about" - true, but that was the time that Kapil Dev had Chetan Sharma and Manoj Prabhakar for company. Today we can call upon atleast 3 left arm and 3 right arm pacers.

"That is what has made the well set Indian batsman (i.e. when he gets his eye in) the most feared world wide for the past 40 years"

Today , we have bowling depth; we have won more overseas in the last 8 years than we ever had in the 80s and 90s combined.

Matches are won not by each team scoring 1000 runs each, they are won by scoring 1 run more than the opposition and by taking 20 wickets.. We have that ability , so why fret?

And I agree about Venugopal Rao, although it may not be all lost yet.

Cheers,

[A Bisht]

War of words brought me here, and read the blog for two hours in this exchange. :)

[nelsrini]

Homer in my opinion the spinners you have named in this generation are not even in the same league as the great Venkatapathi Raju and of course Rajesh Chauhan the third member of the trilogy. Those two boys would cake walk into the test side in this generation and they would be a force.

What we are talking about in this generation are 4 spinners who wear gel on their hair, tweak it a bit and try to impress the girls. They are not of the standard required. They should be playing for Air-India wearing gel and having pretty air hostess wives. They are not of the standard required.

The great worry is that we have not produced one decent batsman from our domestic breeding ground since the 90's(sewag is a product of the 90's domestic background, when men made double hundreds for fun and knew what batting all day was about). I feel its too easy to score 50 from 20 balls and become a hero in 20 mins. (cash, hair gel etc etc) without actually developing you art/talent/skill and without actually being good enough. There is so much cash in the game average tryos are becoming superstars, and the art of sweating you guts out and batting all day for that all important first innings lead in the Ranji trophy has been lost. That is what has made the well set Indian batsman (i.e. when he gets his eye in) the most feared world wide for the past 40 years. The last boy that looked even capable of becoming a domestic giant (with big big big hundreds) was the great Venugopal Rao (who incidentally, I thought had a great IPL and was unnoticed) and sadly we failed to pick him when his confidence was sky high and he has been lost forever.

[Bhutti]

I do feel that Amit Mishra is getting a raw deal for playing for Haryana in the plate division. He has matured a lot over the years since his ODI debut in 2003 and is a much improved bowler now - his stock leg break turns appreciably, has good control over his flight and has a good googly. He has the basic ingredients to succeed in international cricket and should not be punished for belonging to a weak domestic team.

[Homer]

Dileep,

First off, apologies for a long post.

Secondly, "The spin impasse is even more demoralising for a country that once prided itself on an endless reservoir of talent." - after implying that the spin reservoir has somehow dried up,the author then goes to name 4 possible candidates to replace our captain. Five, if you consider Ramesh Powar in that list. This is in addition to Harbhajan Singh.

So what we have is - 2 leggies, 2 offies and two left arm orthodox bowlers to fit into the one vacant slot - how then is "The spin impasse is even more demoralising" ?

Thirdly, and I take up your latest argument here - the lack of Test credentials of the above mentioned people.

Conventional wisdom in India has been to pair a leg spinner with an off spinner and not a left arm orthodox because, despite the different angles that they bring to the plate, both spin the ball in the same direction. Which is why we havent played too many left arm orthodox bowlers except when we have pursued the 3 spinner option - and it has been a long time since we did that ( Venkatapathi Raju is the last left arm spinner who comes to mind who had a fairly extended tenure with the Indian team).

In more recent times, India, because of the depth in its pace attack, have gone into Test matches with just the one spinner - Trent Bridge and Perth are the latest examples of that.

In both of the above cases, our default spinning option has been Anil Kumble - because he is a great bowler and because he is our captain. And when we have ventured into the two spinner area, Harbhajan is the de facto choice ( 250 wickets with no loop and no flight and a leg stump line is nothing to be scoffed at).

Given that the spin set up is such a closed shop, how do you expect anyone to break in - isnt that why the spinners named dont have the test credentials to back themselves?

And here is the other thing, they did not come into contention because we picked names from a hat - Amit Mishra has served his apprentice in domestic cricket, Pragyan Ojha has been amongst the wickets, Chawla had been identified as a prospect from his u-19 days and Kartik is well, Kartik.

Also, as we are talking of replacing Anil Kumble, something we may never be able to do ( Like Sunil Gavaskar and the opening conundrum, Anil Kumble will be irreplaceable).

That said, it does not diminish what the other spinners bring to the plate - just because they are not Anil Kumble does not imply "we don't have any other options." nor does it take away what they have to offer.

And finally, coming to the moot point - I had stated the if Dhoni had not played the Kitply Cup, some hack or the other would have questioned his credibility as captain and the value of the ODI captaincy. As a response to this, you stated "I'd seriously question the credentials of any journalist who had criticised a player for skipping Kitply".

Thing is, just as to drive home the point about the immense challenges India faces when Kumble hangs his boots you made certain other observations( dearth of spinners, lack of quality spin, lack of Test match experience) that may or may not have been grounded in reality, why is it so difficult to assume that some other hack would do the same if Dhoni had skipped the Kitply Cup ( captain not interested, IPL success gone to his head, does INdia need a captain in absentia etc etc.. You know the drill :) )

Cheers,

[Dileep]

I don't know where the contradiction is, Homer. Despite their lack of Test credentials, it's Chawla, Mishra and Ojha that are at the front of the queue to replace Kumble. Their one-day form or otherwise isn't even an issue since we don't have any other options.

[neilsrini]

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/365037.html

awesome. the most beautiful domestic trophy in the world begins nov 3rd. i can't wait. come on the mighty nadu.

[Homer]

Dileep,

"Also, I'd seriously question the credentials of any journalist who had criticised a player for skipping Kitply." - Point taken.

So, how would you qualify this journalist who confuses ODI form ( and appearances) for Test form ( and appearances).

He writes, and I quote

"The spin impasse is even more demoralising for a country that once prided itself on an endless reservoir of talent. Since Harbhajan Singh emerged out of Kumble's shadow with his heroics against Australia in 2001, no other slow bowler has managed even 30 Test wickets. Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla have both been tried, as has the luckless Murali Kartik, and it is Hyderabad's Pragyan Ojha who is the flavour of the new season."

Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha have a sum total of 0 Tests between them, Piyush Chawla has 1.

"Get your priorities wrong" - yes. And facts?

Cheers,

[vmminerva]

Spot on with #3. But we can't afford that can we, esp with the shoddy work we've seen from Karthik and Patel?

[saurabh]

Sachin got injured when there was a time to drop him. He just gets the easiest bits :)

Tennis Elbow or not, i think when Sachin plays the team looks jaded. Or that matter when all the oldies play the team looks jaded.

So dump them after England Series.

[Pritam Sinha]

Hi all,

Well bad news is good news for journos and when India have lost to a better team why blame this and that. Such is the pace of life nowadays that just move on. It's considered hip & cool.

Seriously, SL were the better team as indeed the SA against England and both won 2-1. I think this series will circulate a new weakness of Indian batting, quality spin as spun by M&M. Many teams might be honing their skills a bit more given the fraility against such spinning deliveries hitherto unknown slighly.

Aussies & Poms are definitely looking forward to India visit soon and a lot of practice matches will have to be played by Test players to make that a challenging encounter.

Just wondering what rivetting opportunity would have been had it been a 4-5 Test series. BCCI must look beyond its bank account to its main assets and I am not talking of media rights.

[Pav]

The key issue performance wise was the fielding, which was shoddy at best. Despite the poor batting and average bowling, in the first innings sri lanka could have been dismissed for at least 100 runs less had a little more pressure been exerted and chances taken. It seems we have no one who can snaffle the bat pad chances of spinners, making their job doubly difficult.

With regards to the middle order, we shouldn't read too much into what is nothing more than an extremely bad series. It was only 6 months ago that SRT and VVS were scoring 100s in Australia, and against South Africa Ganguly played some useful knocks.

Totally agree with your view about the ridiculous amount of pointless one dayers being scheduled by the geniuses at the BCCI. Instead of these 5 matches against Sri Lanka, why not extend the test series? We could have then seen if the knocks on the final day by Dravid and Laxman were one-offs or they were genuinely getting to grips with M&M.

Unfortunately the scheduling of the England tour means things will not be changing in the near future.

[dinesh]

Kitply is a meaningless tournament and the Asia Cup has been largely devalued having far less significance than World Cup, Champions Trophy, World T20 and IPL. It is also becoming an India-SL Cup - if I'm not mistaken it has been won by SL or India on 8 out of 9 occasions.

An India-SL Test Series is an Asian Test Championship in a manner of speaking as it pits the best two Asian Teams. Dhoni's decision to skip the Test Series in SL but play in Kitply & Asia Cup (8 ODIs?) is an instance of getting priorities wrong. Unless of course he felt unable to spend 5 days in a row on the field.

As for the travails of the Fab Four, there is nothing to suggest a Young Four would do any better and quite likely they would have worse - evidence the dismissals of Yuvraj and Rohit at Asia Cup. Tendulkar played Mendis pretty well until the last inninngs and is no doubt annoyed at being Vaased twice at Galle. There is no doubt that he and Dravid have deteriorated as players. However given the highest standards they set for so long it is natural for the ageing process to have this effect. For great players it is often a question of knowing the right time to quit - while still at a level that most average players can aspire to.

[neilsrini]

I agree with you. This series deserved at least 4 tests it was riveting and really good cricket. Though we are bitter about the loss we have to admit it was a good series. Im a bit disappointed they did not give Rohit a game in the tests.

Two test series should certainly be scrapped. I believe we are playing the mighty England only twice. 7 meaningless ODI's before the series of course!!!. Most of our test side wont be playing those, followed by 2 tests. Don't forget England should have a total of 3 warm up games too so they should be well ready for us and anything but a drawn series will be a surprise to me. The only highlight will be the game at the beautiful Barbourne stadium. How can we play a two test series against England? Again its just politics. Just trying to prove a point that the BCCI have power and again its not about the cricket. We should be playing four tests against big sides like England, Aus, Saffer, Lanka and Pak.

I was being sarcastic about the Kitply Cup. How dare they even call it a cup and try to give it some significance. Its a meaningless tournament aimed at fattening the coffers of those who care little for our game and are even happy to see the careers of the likes of Ambati Rayudu go to waste just to prove a point. Its a non entity in my book. I've heard of the Ashes what is the Kitply Cup!!!!

Perhaps I should get into watching 10m air rifle instead.

[Dileep]

Neil, the Kitply Cup was the tri-nation tournament that India and Pakistan played in Bangladesh right after the IPL. Obviously an event of paramount importance.
Also, I'd seriously question the credentials of any journalist who had criticised a player for skipping Kitply. More and more players should skip them so that such nonsensical events are phased out from the calendar. It's because of such crap that you end up with two-Test series, and three-Test series even between the best sides.

[neilsrini]

spot on dileep spot on.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/slvind/content/current/story/364698.html

what is the Kitply Cup? by the way

[Homer]

If Dhoni had not played the Kitply Cup in lieu of the Sri Lanka series, journos would have questioned his commitment as captain of the One Day team and we would have reams of newsprint about how the new generation does not value the India captaincy..

Cant win,Can he?

[Dileep]

Are you actually saying that the Kitply Cup was more important than a Test series against Sri Lanka?

[turrtle]

Are you saying that Dhoni should rest in ODIs, even when he IS the ODI captain, and not rest when the tests are on ?

Your comment (point no.3) aimed at Dhoni is in bad taste and childish.

[Homer]

so begin the recriminations!!

What about the entire middle order and our spin twins ad our two wicket keepers being out of match practice leading up to the Test series?

And what about the muddled thinking on the part of our captain to replace one struggling keeper with another who had been out of the squad for over 3 years and had everything to prove? Or tinkering with the batting line up in the second essay of the last test? Or not imbibing the confidence in our keepers that, irrespective of performance, they were keeping the seat warm for the incumbent?

And what about “This team has enough experience to handle any threat and spin has never been a problem. However, we are not going to take anyone lightly, let alone Mendis,” ?

Thing is, we were rusty and Mendis' rise and maturity were unanticipated - correct either or both and the result would have been different.

Thing is, we need to imbibe the lessons from this loss and move ahead instead of wallowing in what might have been - and for my money, there is enough quality in this Indian side to overcome this setback and emerge stronger.

Cant wait for the Australians to land on our shores!

Cheers,

[Dilip]

Dileep,

I'm not too sure you can take a hard crack at Dhoni for missing the test series. The blokes been on the road for the best part of a year and half and he has achieved something(s)- T20 WC, and the first time to win the series in Aus.

The one simple reason India was bust in the series was due to the famed fab four. While all and sundry talk of dropping Dravid, Ganguly and Lax, it's bloody muted silence when it comes to SRT! Why???? The bloke might be a genius, but that shouldn't mean he can't be dropped.