Second string snaps at Chepauk

India's victory in the CB Series in Australia last March gave rise to a myth, one that was quickly perpetuated by some whose grasp of the game's fundamentals was a bit sketchy. The future belonged to India's youth, they proclaimed, to the heroes of the T20 win in South Africa last autumn. That India won the tri-series only because of an aging titan whose body was slowly falling apart was swiftly overlooked. Why make a fuss over innings of 117 not out and 91 when the case for youth appears so much more compelling?

A tri-series featuring strong A sides from Australia and New Zealand thus represented the perfect opportunity for India's champions-in-the-making to press their claims for greater exposure. And it was hardly a callow side either. Rohit Sharma played his part in that CB Series win, Suresh Raina was instrumental in the run to the Asia Cup final, and Irfan Pathan has close to 250 wickets in international cricket.

After Shaun Tait's searing pace destroyed them in Hyderabad, India A had regrouped well to top the table and enter the final. But with more than 15,000 making use of the free entry to stream into Chepauk, the boys in blue were thrashed as badly as poor Amir Khan was a couple of weeks ago. The closest the Australians came to grief was when some idiot from the crowd threw a bottle on to the field at the start of the Indian reply.

Only the Indian team management could tell you what made them send Australia in on a beautiful batting track, but they were certainly made to regret it as Luke Ronchi provided a turbo-charged start that was built on by David Hussey and Cameron White. There was a bit of an Indian fightback then, but a fine unbeaten 55 from Adam Voges took the total past 300.

With Tait back after missing the last game, that proved to be more than enough. A wayward first over included a yorker that sent Dinesh Karthik's leg stump in the general direction of Marina beach and Brett Geeves then saw off Abhishek Nayar and Robin Uthappa - another yorker, this time the off stump - before the strapping Mark Cameron came on to have Ravi Teja caught behind.

Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan both fell to the angry Ashley Noffke and when Rohit Sharma's defiance ended with a miscued pull off Geeves, the game was up with just 18 overs bowled. It was embarrassing to watch, especially on a pitch that was still a belter.

The T20 win and the IPL have created a legion of rich-and-famous young men, but few among them appear to have the desire to push on towards greatness. The likes of Rohit and Raina are exciting players, but how often have you seen them go beyond the cameo and play a monumental innings?

By contrast, Australia, allegedly on the decline, seem to have much to look forward to. Hussey will surely be a regular in the one-day side soon, while White and Voges look the part too. Ronchi plays his strokes with uninhibited confidence, and Phil Hughes is clearly one for the future.

It helps that they don't have to deal with the kind of ridiculous hype that's all too common in India. Already, a couple of careers seem to have stalled after that T20 win at the Wanderers and you can only hope that Dav Whatmore gives them the hairdryer treatment before the four-day games against New Zealand A. Knowing some of them though, they might just ask for it to make sure the quiff looks just right. 

Comments

[neilsrini]

anyone who goes to chepauk tomorrow will get to see the best young opener in india bat. Murali Vijay.

kris srikanth will be a disaster as a selector

[Yogesh]

Dileep,

Agree with you. Raina and Sharma are knocking doors on promise and not on performance. A place or two has been vacant in the middle order for long but nobody has made a strong case for it. Yuvaraj made it a couple of times but never grabbed it fully. You want someone barging in like KP did into the english team or Clarke/Hussey into the aussie team.
Since Sehwag forced his way in, not a single player has really pressurized the fab 4 with the weight of his runs.

[Dileep]

As a matter of fact, I am myopic. But the lack of coverage of the RCA game is a simple question of geography. I was in Chennai after covering the A team final. Jaipur is right across the country, and wasn't even initially on the tour schedule. As far as I know, only three Aussie journalists are there. I talked to one of them last night and he said he wasn't too impressed with the start. But that's hardly enough info to write on. The game against the Board President's XI should give you a much better picture.

[churumuri]

Gee dileep how come you've nothing on the ongoing RCA-Aus game? hope it is not a case of myopia.

[Homer]

okie dokie.. You are on :)

Cheers,

[Dileep]

Fine, let's make it an even 100. Laugh. You win, and I'll mail you a cheque. I win, and you hand over $100 for a charity of my choice.

Cheers.

[Homer]

Dileep,

Sehwag proved himself time after time because he was given the opportunity to.. And he was given the opportunity to because he scored a 100 on debut.

Who amongst Badri, Sharma or Kohli has made it to the Indian Test team?

And as far as "None of these guys will even make 15 Test centuries, leave alone from just 59 Tests. " - I am willing to wager on it, so pick a dollar amount!

Cheers,

[Homer]

Pritam,

I strongly believe that there is an inherent hypocrisy on how the media perceives and reports on the new generation players.

On the one hand there is this whole lament about "instant gratification" while on the other, it is the media that is so keen to write off players after any perceived failure.

And for the "grind" being unfashionable, let me throw this argument to you -

Easy money leagues generate competition because they attract greater number of players. And because players are in the "easy money" leagues, they have to be at the top of their performance because they know, and we know, that any slip up and they can say good bye to the "easy money".

I know of enough Ranji players from the late 70's through the early 90's who played the game for the sake of it.. Granted that the remuneration was non existent, but so was the scrutiny.

Contrast that with the situation today!

Cheers,

[Dileep]

Sehwag has proved himself in big matches time after time. He's not the one under scrutiny really. None of these guys will even make 15 Test centuries, leave alone from just 59 Tests.
As for the support staff, they'll be judged on performance. I wouldn't be too harsh on Dav because there's not been any sort of settled team or plan. I have yet to figure out the logic by which the A team, Rest of India and BP XI squads were picked.

[Pritam Sinha]

For me, with all these easy money leagues happening, the 'grind' has become unfashionable and you can see it in any walk of life in this rich young India. Not only the Indian cricket team but the whole nation is going through turbulent 'teenage' times. There is so much to do and public memory is fickle at best. Who cares one or two failures or media criticisms.

[Homer]

Dileep,

My fortune was such that I had to spend many a sleepless nights (literally) refreshing my browser to get any tidbit of information on the matches played.

But that does not diminish the fact that the India A top order has been struggling all though this tournament ( as has been evidenced in the top order batting collapses at both Hyderabad and Chennai).

And it is interesting you bring up Sehwag.. Because just as Kaif, Badri and Kohli have not stepped up to the plate, neither has Sehwag. Returns of 43 and 3 in the two innings of the Irani Trophy indicate what exactly?

And isnt it also fact that more than one India coaches have been driven to the wall with Sehwag's lackadaisical attitude?

And isnt it also true that Sehwag could not cement a spot in the middle order and so had to be converted to an opener?

And as regards professionalism, I would argue that kids these days are far more cricket savvy - because of the exposure they get and because of the money riding on them.

And talking of professionalism, what do you have to say about the entire support staff that stood by despite repeated failures by the top order?

Should we begin by firing Dav Whatmore or is that reaction too knee jerk (but par for course)?

Cheers,

[Dileep]

Were you fortunate enough to watch the match, Homer? I was there. To say they were appalling would be kind. On a pitch where a good team would probably have batted 180 overs, the top seven were back in the pavilion in 18 overs.
As for the youth angle, the situation is way different now. Everyone accepts that the time for change is now, but not one of these games appears ready to step up. I refer you to the Irani Trophy as well, and the performances of Badrinath, Kaif and Kohli. A place in the middle order there for the taking, and not one person can even make a 50 to grasp it.
As for the quiffs, let's just say I watch these guys and know more about them than you probably do. With even an ounce of the professionalism that's made Dravid and Tendulkar so great, they'd be world-class.
India hasn't produced a truly world-class batsman since Sehwag. Fact. I'd be most interested to hear any arguments to the contrary.

[Homer]

If self flagellation was an Olympic sport, India would be assured of a gold every time.

Granted that choosing to field first in a finals against Australia was the wrong way to go,but it is not the first time either.

But the whole "The T20 win and the IPL have created a legion of rich-and-famous young men, but few among them appear to have the desire to push on towards greatness" and the "By contrast, Australia, allegedly on the decline, seem to have much to look forward to" and "Knowing some of them though, they might just ask for it to make sure the quiff looks just right. " - is just plain nonsense.

Because as any follower of the tournament will tell you, the Indian batting order never clicked - for the entire duration of the tournament. For the most part, it was propped up by Yususf Pathan, S.Badrinath played a couple of useful innings while Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina came to their own in the latter stages of the tourney.

Here is the link to the scorecards

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/engine/current/series/365644.html

Fact is - we never got the opening we wanted. Robin Uthappa is completely out of sorts. Asnodkar too. And Karthik was tried as a stop gap opener.

Fact remains that in the 5 matches we played, we have had starts of 6/67,3/34 (that became 4/60),5/66, 3/70 and 6/65.

"the quiff looks just right" or a batting order completely out of form - you make the call.

And wasnt the whole push for youth made under the auspices of our former coach, the man who "made" Yuvraj?

Cheers,