Before the Indian cricket team came to our shores there were many doubts over the state of Australian cricket. With our top order not performing, injuries running through the bowling attack and… well… Brad Haddin, as well as the question marks over the form of Ponting and Hussey, it was only a natural reaction for Australian cricket fans to be worried about facing the historically-tested, most prolific batting order in the world. Not only that, but they’d come here after receiving a 4-0 drubbing in England and looked like they had a point to prove. Throw in Sachin’s 100th century and it had the potential for so very, very much in a rivalry that I’ve always enjoyed.
Fast forward to one month later and oh my, how things have changed.
I don’t think there are many pundits, Australian, Indian or even English who would have predicted that we’d drub this talented team 4-0. When they lost to England many assumed it was a bit of poor form mixed with playing the best test team in the world in their own country. We all saw what they did to us in the Ashes and it made sense, and ours seemed like a match with much more even potential. Now that view has changed a bit.
While people heap praise on the Australian performance, and it certainly wasn’t un-praiseworthy, I think more focus has to be on the consistent ineptitude of the Indian team. When your order consists of Gambhir, Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman you don’t go down without a fight. You don’t manage to get only ONE of the tests to a fifth day, and you don’t consistently fail. You don’t walk away from a four test series with a best first-wicket stand of less than 50. The batting was the failure of the Indian team, except for the young Kohli (who I think will cause Australia problems in the future) and the spinner Ashwin. The bowling attack still has a lot to learn and showed moments of promise, although I’d like some of whatever the hell Ishant Sharma was smoking this tour.
The opening pair of Gambhir and Sehwag, until this latest run of defeats, had been tried and tested. Like a good comedy duo Gambhir played the straight man while Sehwag was the character, scoring centuries with a strike-rate of a one-day player, iconic in his unconventional yet wholly entertaining fashion. When you think about it the parallels with Warner and Cowan in the Australian camp are uncanny, but the Indian pair were tried and tested. Questions must be being asked back in India now though as all of India’s failings came from the loss of early wickets. Gambhir managed a few (too few) honourable knocks but it’s hard for an opener to develop the right mindset without someone supporting him there for a long time.
Rahul Dravid needs to go, or be given a sharp whack around the ears. Yes he is one of the better test-styled batsman in history and I’ve enjoyed watching him play since I was a kid, even if he was a bit boring. He always got results, he even enjoyed being called a ‘wall’, reputed for being incredibly difficult to bowl out. While I don’t have the figures in front of me I know for certain that in at least half his innings against the Australians he was either clean-bowled or played onto his own stumps. It’s obvious the touch is lost.
No one can honestly say too much negative about Sachin Tendulkar. He earns praise the world over and the fact that every Australian audience stood to applaud him in every test speaks volumes of what he has done for the stature of cricket, not just in the subcontinent. The pressure and expectation that followed him around everywhere as we waited for his 100th first-class century got to him, there is little denying that. It would always have been playing at the back of his mind every time it walked out. But this is nothing that he hasn’t had to deal with before, the pressure and expectation of millions who want their hero to succeed. The pressure would have factored in but really, what would have helped exacerbate it is the demise of those batsmen around him. He’s caught between a rock and a hard place – if he tries to settle down and just play through the innings the chances of him getting to a hundred are minimal anyway given the poor batting and constant falling of wickets around him. Then the pressure is on – to get that hundred he wants he has to play more dangerously, out of character, because he is not used to seeing the team card say 6-for and for him to still be in the 20’s. That being said there were also moments that showed the touch is not coming as naturally as it did, yet he was still one of the only Indian batsmen to put in an effort worthy of some acknowledgement.
VVS Laxman was the poorest of a bad bunch. Low scores, poor footwork, dropped catches and an air of anonymity surrounded him. India may as well have played with 10 men at times for all the input that Laxman provided. Kohli, the youngest of the bunch, was the only shining light in the batting order. Had he not received the help of tail-ender Ashwin in some innings the Indian scores would have looked even more worrying.
Something has to be done about this situation. India is the most populous cricket-playing nation in the world, and they are cricket mad. The problem India has now is the problem Austrailan cricket faced a few years back with the retirement of Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist, Hayden, Langer and co. While I still think we have a long way to go its clear for everyone in the cricketing world to see that we are at least back on the right path towards winning consistently.
Where the problem differs is in the culture. While we Australians also believe in providing people the chance to prove themselves (and thank god we did with Ponting and Hussey), we are working towards a contingency plan. Young people are being blooded in the team at the right time, whether it be in the lineup or as 12th man, and we will slowly build up the next generation. India don’t seem to be experimenting in any regard with new players, save for Kohli.
India is cricket mad, with players like Tendulkar and Dravid revered almost to the point of godliness and swamped as they walk down the streets or head out into town. How do you ask someone with that stature to step down? What’s to stop them pointing the finger at you and turning a sports mad nation against you and your crazy suggestion that someone who WAS very good and might be getting a bit old should retire? Not only that, but can you imagine how the first guy is going to feel that has to bat at number four after Tendulkar retires? The pressure would be immense and terrifying, and as well as the pressure of the Indian public and yourself you’ll have bowlers knowing you’re fraught with nerves and going for the jugular.
In a way the Indians are victims of their own passion for the game. Everyone loves the game and the team is truly revered, so much more than to any extent we could comprehend in Australia. Sure Ricky Ponting has lots of endorsements but it pales in comparison to the way these Indians are seen.
So what is the solution? Ultimately Indian cricket needs to take a long hard look at itself, or have someone else take a long hard look at it, like we did. This poor run of results has in a way provided the perfect opportunity for change. What India need now are the selectors and board brave enough to make the change, and the young batsmen out there with enough guts to take a shot at filling in the biggest shoes in world cricket. If not they might leave it too late and end up falling considerably further behind the test cricket world in a frenzy of T20.
I love the Australian-Indian rivalry, I love the Indian team and cricket culture. Many of the guys I played cricket with as a junior were Indian and they really know how to live and breathe it. If this downward fall continues to not be addressed, however, the sport could lose one of its greatest powers. Pride is a killer, and India need to take a long look in the mirror and make the right decision. Find your plan B now before plan A no longer exists.
