Ever since the New Zealand tour started, I have been gradually forced to believe that we hardly stand a chance in this world cup if our team continues to maintain this consistency (even if they had done well also I wouldn’t fancy them to win this cup). This tour in itself was meant to equip our Heeras/Heroes (Heeras= Gems) to deal with the alien conditions in SA so that they would bring glory to the country and the Billion plus passionate(dum) fans.
====((((((((((((] and () or shud I say ()s
Testiosis Maximus: It sounded like some physical ailment didn’t it?
It is an extreme cricketing condition, which affects only the Indian cricket team Whenever they tour abroad to play some tests. They always make sure that they touch the deepest abyss and ensure that they give good bowling and batting averages to the opposite teams. They also ensure that players who are not in form retain their forms.
Don’t you see how our batsmen are in a state of shock as though they have been sitting on that Electrical chair (they have rented The Green Mile chair!!). There is this trauma that all their skills have been put in a Mixer and have been ground fine and sold in a Juice bar (I like raw examples).Don’t blame them wholly as there are many other things that lead to this state (lead is past tense and not the pencil lead!!)
Let me tell you why our team finds it difficult to succeed in these conditions.
1) Cold Climate and weather: It is a bit difficult to acclimatize from hot conditions to cold conditions which affects your alertness and reflexes on the field to some extent. The climate is not as big a factor as the weather as it can make the ball move before and after hitting the deck, which would make life difficult for the batsmen.
2) Lack of personal responsibility: I just cannot help believing that we play very irresponsibly when it comes to playing outside the sub-continent. Time and again we have witnessed blunders in the shot selections from the senior players making you wonder whether these are the guys who carry the aspirations of countless and hapless supporters. Our poor record outside home soil bears testimony.
3) Lack of Pull shots: Many of our players do not have an effective pull shot, which will always come in handy in these conditions. Many of the Australians have got good pull shots and Both Dravid and Sachin are good in this department (they are successful aren’t they?). Practice hard and develop a good pull shot and it will change your game.
4) Lack of a Team Game: Never will a team succeed if it is banking on a couple of individual exploits to win matches. Cricket is very much a team game and each and everybody should contribute with the fielding, batting and bowling (who are regulars). This can only happen when one realises this fact and work on it.
5) Fielding, running b/w the wickets and catching: Though we are improving on this front, we still are very far from the standards set by the Aussies, SA and the New Zealanders. Running b/w the wickets is still ordinary overall, catching in the slips is not to the mark and we are not that good in saving runs on the field.
6) Lack of exposure to alien conditions on home soil: I remember during the second test against New Zealand which we lost so tamely, the guy who was responsible for preparing the pitch was asked what he had done for the pitch to behave like a snake pit. He had replied promptly that he was instructed to prepare a pitch, which was fast and bouncy. He also said that irrespective of the country, place and conditions, a pitch could be made fast and bouncy with the right treatment. The pitch for the 2nd test overdid because of the downpour, which made things much worse than expected.
What to infer:
a) We abhor fast, bouncy and seaming tracks.
b) Our Board doesn’t find it necessary to have pitches of these sorts at home.
Having played some cricket myself, I can easily point out that if your technique has been honed to suit some conditions (dry and flat) for years together, it is pretty hard to adjust to something the opposite. You look very stupid tackling the situation and let me tell you that if you make up your mind to work on it, there definitely will be some light at the end of the Tunnel (Don’t ask me what if it is night outside when I come out of the tunnel!!)
Some necessary adjustments while playing in the opposite conditions
1) Don’t try extravagant drives for balls, which seem to be pitching between good length and full length. Rahul Dravid rarely drives balls like these. Even Tendulkar sometimes does it but due to his sheer talent comes through on many occasions.
2) Start believing that staying at the centre for quite some time will always improve your chances of getting a good score when the conditions are not tailor made for your tastes. For this, valuing your wicket will always help the cause.
3) Also, don’t think that every pitch is good for 250+ runs and start playing for it. Ensure, if you are batting first that you complete the 50 overs quota or see to it that the Test match goes to last day if it is a test match.
4) Try playing close to the body and try to keep the bat close to your body without poking at deliveries, which start to move away from your body. Also if you are on a defensive mind set think of playing the balls which come on to the wicket. Unless you practice hard and play with this aspect in mind, you will always give a field day to the people standing in the slip region.
A note on Saurav Ganguly’s captaincy: Don’t be under the impression that he is the best captain that happened to Indian cricket and to some extent whatever he has achieved was only because of some young players coming good. Tendulkar was cool and good but sometimes he was too much experimental and his team always let him down. Saurav is a good captain with a thinking brain but with a bad temper (I prefer to see captains who don’t show extreme emotions, which does not suit the game. I rarely see Australian captains show extreme emotions and to some extent, our own Azharuddin’s temperament which I admire).Saurav needs to improve his technique a lot and work on it. I think after the world cup, we can start looking at Dravid as an alternative captain.
India’s Chances for the world cup: As for chances of India making through in this world cup, Our first goal should be to cross the first hurdle of making into the second round. I would be satisfied if our team manages to do so and I don’t think that it is impossible, as we will be playing in a neutral ground with no distinctive advantage to the other team and the simple fact the matches are not TEST matches.
How to support the team if you are with the Indian team: Everybody knows that we lose most of the time and that too miserably. Why not start looking at a match assuming India is going to lose and at the end of the match, if India wins, it will be a bonus and if it loses you got it right and so, no hard feelings. It works well for me. If they are not playing well, just ignore and don’t waste time watching till the end expecting them to pull off miracles, which they manage once in a bluemoon (sibling of honeymoon I suppose!). Even if they manage to do so, there is nothing to worry as you can always get ball by ball telecast of the match which the Media will ensure its re-telecast on your TV screens for ages.
Maybe a dark horse will lift the world cup this time!!
-Muni