By Rayan Joel Lobo

Aug 25: "It was very disappointing. Everybody thought it would be a great series but it was an abject surrender." - These post-match comments of Sunil Gavaskar tell us the story of India in the hands of England in the recently concluded test series. Millions of Indian hearts were broken when India totally surrendered to England at Oval to complete the humiliating series.

Cricket is not only a sport in India, it’s a religion for majority of Indians. It is a uniting factor in this country. Cricketers are not less than Gods here. As the world’s No 1 team arrived in England, expectations were sky high. It was termed to be the war for the No 1 spot. At the end, there was no war; it was a total surrender. India never matched England in any of the areas (bBatting, bowling, fielding).

There was a time when India was seen as a team which performs only at home. With Ganguly emerging as the captain, Indians started to rewrite the history. Now to win test matches away from home didn’t look a herculian task. As Dravid continued the good work and Dhoni took over as the captain, India did reach greater heights including becoming the world No 1 test team. And not to forget the constant guidance and support of Gary Kristen.

World No 1 ranking and winning the prestigious ODI World Cup added a feather to the captain special Dhoni's cap. No doubt, Dhoni is one of the best captains in the world cricket today. But can the captain alone decide the result of the game?

"It was a series where all that could go wrong, did," said Dhoni after the heavy loss at Nottingham. Possibly this humiliating defeat is an awakening for the team and the management. It’s time now to address a few issues and plan for the future.

A Few Factors Affecting the Team's Balance

- As the former team physio mentioned, the team is under mental fatigue. Though the chief selector, Srikanth, denied it, I believe it’s too much cricket. Series after series and with the addition of IPL and champions’ league, life has become more difficult for the Indian cricketers.

- We are in a world ruled by consumerism, where cricket is no more than a mere business. With the concept of IPL, cricketers are reduced to a mere commodity, which can be bought and sold. This has possibly doubled the pressure on cricketers. Can’t expect too much from a mind which is under pressure.

- Indian team did not have sufficient match practice before the series. There was very little time after the West Indies series to get used to the England pitches.

- Wrong calls: Players who had not yet recovered from their injuries were drafted into the team. No matter how important the presence of Zaheer and Sehwag, it was wrong move to get them in. Naturally before the series, as a team there were lots of expectations on them and when they quit or didn’t rise to the occasion, the team failed totally under pressure. No doubt, drafting R P Singh who was away from cricket for more than three months, into the playing 11 was a blunder.
 
 
Immediate Concerns

- India has a history of basking in the past glory for a long time. The mood in the dressing room seems to tell us that the Indian team is yet to come out of the World cup winning glory. It’s time to move on and perform.

- I believe that the BCCI doesn’t seem to take the team needs into serious considerations. Several senior players have repeatedly raised their concerns regarding the busy schedule, yet the management seem to give an impression as if, ‘All is Well.’

- The present team is a little too much dependent on the senior players Sachin, Dravid and Laxman. Former captain, Kapil said, "It won’t be easy to replace them". Soon there will be a big void in the Indian batting line up as these seniors are going to hang their boots more sooner than later.

- One of the main problems that I see is the attitude. Possibly except Dravid, there was a plain surrender from the whole team. The surrender was total when it came to the bowling department.

- Emergence of IPL T20 has definitely affected test cricket, badly. Every budding youngster in this country wants to be a T20 player in this country. If this continues to be the case, it would be unfair to expect much from the Indian tea in the traditional format of the game.
 

What Next?

- Time for a serious introspection to know what went wrong and why.

 - Former captain Anil Kumble after the humiliating defeat said, "There is an urgent need for young blood in the test team.." I do agree with Kumble.The younger generation of cricketers need to be encouraged to play more and more test cricket and should be exposed into the International cricket soon. Lest it will be unthinkable, when Sachin, Dravid and Laxman leave.

- It will also be good to play with rotation policy. Players need to be rested sufficiently. It would be interesting to see three different teams playing three different formats, as once England and Australia did.

- BCCI needs to be a little more serious about players availability, fitness and performance.

- Youngsters of the likes of Poojaara, Rahane, Vinay Kumar, Unakdt, Aaron need to be handled well and moreover need to make a proper handling of the available resources.

- Need immediate efforts in building India’s bowling unit. It’s a long time since we have had quality bowlers; may be Zaheer is an exception. As of now, both pace and spin departments look bankrupt.
 

England is over and Australia series is up now. It’s time for the board and the team to work with a new vision. Dhoni, after the loss at Oval said, "Let’s hope for the best." Yes, let’s hope for the best in the days to come and let’s be realistic.