Is it time for changes and transitions in the Indian Test Cricket Team?

Have you read the story David meets Goliath??? Probably yes. Is it the same case with the Indian Cricket Team??? Is complacence and over-confidence prevailing over the minds of Indian cricketers since winning the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Finals??? Most of you would think no or even yes. But when I researched the team-work over the past 22 months, it may surprise you.

India have not won any overseas test matches since April 2011. They have only defeated West Indies in November 2011 and New Zealand in August 2012, both lying at the bottom of LG ICC Test Rankings. When the home test series against England started in October 2012, everyone confidently said that this Indian team is very stable and will defeat England 4-0 and India even won the first test in Ahmedabad convincingly to take a 1-0 lead with 3 more tests to go. But, the seeds of doubt were sown in the minds of a few Indian fans in the second innings of the first test itself when England managed to take a lead of 80 runs against India's vicious spin web riding on Alastair Cook's 176 off 374 balls. Opting for a rank turner in Mumbai, India fell in their own pothole when the English spin duo of Monty Panesar and Greame Swann took 19 out of India's 20 wickets against 9 wickets of Indian trio comprising Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin. Coming from a win in Ahmedabad, India were dragged down to earth when they lost in Mimbai by 10 wickets. Their combined total in both innings (469) was less than what they scored in the first innings of Ahmedabad Test (521).

Nothing was to change thereafter as Dhoni was denied a rank turner in Eden Gardens, Kolkata but it was far better than the pitches used earlier in the series at Motera and Wankhede. The Indian miseries did't end as India scored 11 runs less than first innings total at Mumbai and England survived a brief slutter in the second innings but subsequently won by 7 wickets. India were now 2-1 behind in the series and everyone forgot the series win against New Zealand that was registered two months ago.

With a home test series win out of hands for the first time since 2009 and a loss scoundering over heads for the first time since 2004, India went to Nagpur for the final test with pride at stake. The Indian fans were just expecting for a draw in Nagpur (not even a win) from the team that they trusted a few months ago. It was nothing better in Nagpur also apart from the fact that Virat Kohli finally scored a test hundred and Mahendra Singh returned to some form. The sorry state of the pitch made it look as if India were fighting for a first innings lead. The match ended in a dull draw and Ravi Shastri announced: " England have declared, and its a draw. The series win by England 2-1 is confirmed. They have won for the first time since 1984-85. WoW!!"

A home series loss for the first time since 2004 following whitewashes in England and Australia was tragic as well as disappointing. Is it the excess workload on MSD that is taking the toll on his captaincy??? or is it the complacence in the team??? or are the Indian Players concentrating more on television commercials than match practice??? There are a lots of question that is needed to be answered and it has been furthur aggravated by the One Day Series loss to Pakistan (1-2) and a topsy turvy One Day Series win against England (3-2). Should Dhoni be sacked as test captain??? Who will be the next captain (India do not have much options)??? Should Wasim Jaffer be drafted into the test side as a short term respite??? We will get the answers soon when the selectors pick the squads for home tests against Australia. 

You can mail me your views at my email id: sarthak.dodo@gmail.com

Top 5 Innings in ODIs by Sachin Tendulkar

Some call him GOD, while others call him SELFISH, he is the one and only Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the five feet five inch run-machine, who has more than 60 records to his name. His retirement from ODIs has sent the whole nation (even his detractors) in tears. When I took a look on his 24-year old career, there was a special onus on me to choose his top five IDPF (Intensive Display by a Player on the Field) Innings in ODIs. It was not at all an easy task to choose from 463 matches that he played in these years but when I sorted out the list, I was surprised to find that out that in his top 5 IDPF performances, 4 came out of his bat and 1 with the bowl and in those 4 batting performances, he didn’t have a century in 2 (IDPF is not about scoring centuries or taking 5 wickets). 

So let us have a look at his 5 IDPF performances:

1. Sandstorm in Sharjah: The 143 vs the Aussies in Sharjah back in 1998 is the top IDPF prformance by Sachin Tendulkar. If you remember the match, India had to chase 276 in 46 overs and needed 241 to qualify for the finals. Given the scenario in those days, it was difficult for a team to chase anything over 200 in One-Dayers those days. Sachin Tendulkar lead India from the front with 9 hits to the fence and 5 hits out of the park. He scored 143 runs in India’s 250 (57.2 percent of India’s runs). India lost the match but eventually qualified for the finals and won the tournament and Sachin scored 134 runs in the finals.

 

2. Kill me first if you want to win: It was a day before my birthday and India has a very bad record in November. Chasing a mountain of 351 runs to win vs the Aussies in Hyderabad in 2010, India set off the mark with rapid-fire fours by Sachin Tendulkar. If you look at the scorecard, only 4 out of India’s 11 players crossed 10 runs, Sachin scored 175 in India’s 3 runs-loss (50.43 percent of India’s runs) and the second highest being Suresh Raina (59 off 59 balls). So it was easily a Sachin show at Hyderabad. 

3. Its NOW or NEVER: Commonwealth Bank Series, 2nd Final, Brisbane 2008. India had already won the first final by defeating Australia riding on Sachin’s unbeaten 117 and were close to winning a World Championship for the first time since 1986 and it was a now or never for the Indian team. Sachin scored 91 runs (35.27 percent of India’s runs) on a bouncy Brisbane track and batted close to 3 hours as India won by 9 runs. The second top score by an Indian player was Yuvraj Singh’s 38. 

4. I am more dangerous with the bowl: India were playing Pakistan in Kochi on 2nd April 2005. After Sachin failed with the bat, India piled on 281 runs but to their dismay the Pakistani openers had their guns blazing before sluttering from 45-0 to 64-4. But someone had to strike and remove the dangerous middle-order of Pakistan consisting of mighty Inzamam-Ul-Haq and Pakistan almost recovered to 112-4 before Sachin struck with the bowl. He went on to pick up a 5 wicket haul for 50 runs in 10 overs that comprised of a maiden over also. 

5. The nervous 90 at the Oval: India had to chase 317 vs England to stay in the series. Already 3-2 behind and a mountain to climb, the Indian openers that comprised Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly had their guns blazing and scored more than 6 RPO to bring up 150 runs by the 22nd over that set the platform for the middle order to win the match. Sachin hit 16 fours and 1 six in his fast-track innings of 94. India won the match and levelled the series.

-All rights reseverd by the author

Cricket and Kota

Let me introduce myself first. I am Sarthak Mondal, presently preparing for IIT JEE 2013 in Kota. A part time journalist by profession and I juggle constantly between Cricket and my studies. You can follow me on twitter (http://www.twitter.com/sarthak_mondal) or join me up on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/sarthak.mondal)