Let's all be honest, no serious cricket follower would expect Laxman to fit in the ODI format. Therefore, I would like to look at the decision by the Indian cricket selectors to drop Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid for the Commonwealth Bank series down under.
Consider Dravid: he was in the squad for a few matches in the Ind-Pak ODI series, yet he wasn't selected for a few games. Its obvious that he is no longer an automatic selection in the playing ODI Indian eleven. Therefore his axing should not come as a total surprise. A senior pro should not be in the national squad if he is not an automatic selection especially when he is a specialist (batsman or bowler). Dravid was a 2 dimensional cricketer in ODI's a few years ago. He was in top form and very handy with the gloves. Now, he is not able to sustain the intensity that his contemporaries like Ponting are quite comfortable with. This is a hard fact that every Dravid fan must accept. He was never an explosive ODI batsman but he did make up by building from slow starts. Now he has lost his zip on the field. He is still an automatic choice in the test team especially with his slip fielding. My guess is that he will be able to play at test intensity levels for 3 more years. Lets see how it goes.
Sourav Ganguly would have been a trickier decision for the selectors and by trickier, I do not mean 'for cricketing reasons alone'. He has always had passionate support from Bengal and whenever he is not selected, the river of passion overflows to inundate inappropriate areas! Personally, I had predicted that he would fail at Perth. Well, he did. Yet, I must admit, he is in good (not great) batting form therefore an automatic choice in the test team as a specialist.
In ODI's however, he is a liability on the field. Now, his die-hard fans would jump up and say that athleticism in fielding and especially Ganguly's lack of it are often over-exaggerated. This is absolute rubbish. Let me elaborate: an un-athletic presence on the field not only results in shoddy, unproductive dives but they bring down the entire team's intensity on the field. You get the typical cross-eyed glares from your team-mates and you end up putting extra pressure on yourself to perform in your area of expertise which is Ganguly's case is his batting. This is where we come to the crux of the matter. In Australia, Ganguly's part-time out swingers are not going to be of any use. Therefore, he has one and only one department to prove his worth: his batting. Given that he holds on to the opening spot for dear life, he is under extreme pressure to get the team off to a good start every time he steps out into the centre. Again, his poor athleticism means he never is a candidate for quick singles (Even Monty Panesar ran him out, remember!!). If you notice his recent dip in form in ODIs you will notice a pattern: He could never get off strike quickly enough and was always looking for the boundary. His partner Sachin on the other hand is still fit enough and athletic enough to play in ODI mode. Ganguly not only puts pressure on himself to score but affects his partner too. If Sachin gets out or is not playing, the standby opener Gautam Gambhir or the younger Robin Uthappa coming one-drop is either shut out from the strike or entrusted with the complete responsibility of blazing away.
Inevitably, Sachin's dismissal or unavailability has meant a poor batting display. Without Ganguly, the younger brigade along with Sehwag, Yuvraj and the rest will not be under so much pressure to keep finding the boundary. This is the nature of the new Indian team. We now have fitter and younger players who do look for singles to rotate strike in addition to being good boundary hitters. Simply put, the younger brigade has set a higher fitness and athletic standard and only those senior pros able to match up to it or at least not be over exposed by it can find a place in the playing eleven. Sachin passes these basic standards and in addition, is in good batting form.
Look, for players like SG, RD, VVS and SRT, form is something temporary. Batting form is so fuzzy a concept that if other things are going well, their batting will take care of itself; they are simply awesome batsmen, all of them. Therefore, it is the selectors' and captain's job to make sure they fit the bill in all other accessory requirements. If not, they must not be included as excess baggage within the squad. That will only create more problems in the dressing room. Right now, Sachin alone passes these addition requirements of ODI fitness and ODI athleticism therefore, he is rightfully still in the ODI squad and will be in the ODI playing eleven.
I do not think Sachin will last long in ODIs. His body simply does not allow him to play the long innings. That is one reason he gets out in the 90s so often nowadays or he usually gets cramps around the 90s. I do not think he will allow himself to be dropped by the selectors; I desperately hope he will retire from ODIs of his own accord within this year or the next.
If the younger brigade along with Sachin, Sehwag and the rest do well in Australia, all else will be forgotten. The selectors will be hailed as people building for the future; if India do not manage to make it to the finals, the knives will be sharpened again. All in all, I would like to see this move by the selectors to drop VVS, SG and RD as a positive, brave and hopeful move. In fact, I am so surprised the selectors were brave enough to drop SG that I am sure, they will recall him into the squad in a few days saying it was a communication error!!
Consider Dravid: he was in the squad for a few matches in the Ind-Pak ODI series, yet he wasn't selected for a few games. Its obvious that he is no longer an automatic selection in the playing ODI Indian eleven. Therefore his axing should not come as a total surprise. A senior pro should not be in the national squad if he is not an automatic selection especially when he is a specialist (batsman or bowler). Dravid was a 2 dimensional cricketer in ODI's a few years ago. He was in top form and very handy with the gloves. Now, he is not able to sustain the intensity that his contemporaries like Ponting are quite comfortable with. This is a hard fact that every Dravid fan must accept. He was never an explosive ODI batsman but he did make up by building from slow starts. Now he has lost his zip on the field. He is still an automatic choice in the test team especially with his slip fielding. My guess is that he will be able to play at test intensity levels for 3 more years. Lets see how it goes.
Sourav Ganguly would have been a trickier decision for the selectors and by trickier, I do not mean 'for cricketing reasons alone'. He has always had passionate support from Bengal and whenever he is not selected, the river of passion overflows to inundate inappropriate areas! Personally, I had predicted that he would fail at Perth. Well, he did. Yet, I must admit, he is in good (not great) batting form therefore an automatic choice in the test team as a specialist.
In ODI's however, he is a liability on the field. Now, his die-hard fans would jump up and say that athleticism in fielding and especially Ganguly's lack of it are often over-exaggerated. This is absolute rubbish. Let me elaborate: an un-athletic presence on the field not only results in shoddy, unproductive dives but they bring down the entire team's intensity on the field. You get the typical cross-eyed glares from your team-mates and you end up putting extra pressure on yourself to perform in your area of expertise which is Ganguly's case is his batting. This is where we come to the crux of the matter. In Australia, Ganguly's part-time out swingers are not going to be of any use. Therefore, he has one and only one department to prove his worth: his batting. Given that he holds on to the opening spot for dear life, he is under extreme pressure to get the team off to a good start every time he steps out into the centre. Again, his poor athleticism means he never is a candidate for quick singles (Even Monty Panesar ran him out, remember!!). If you notice his recent dip in form in ODIs you will notice a pattern: He could never get off strike quickly enough and was always looking for the boundary. His partner Sachin on the other hand is still fit enough and athletic enough to play in ODI mode. Ganguly not only puts pressure on himself to score but affects his partner too. If Sachin gets out or is not playing, the standby opener Gautam Gambhir or the younger Robin Uthappa coming one-drop is either shut out from the strike or entrusted with the complete responsibility of blazing away.
Inevitably, Sachin's dismissal or unavailability has meant a poor batting display. Without Ganguly, the younger brigade along with Sehwag, Yuvraj and the rest will not be under so much pressure to keep finding the boundary. This is the nature of the new Indian team. We now have fitter and younger players who do look for singles to rotate strike in addition to being good boundary hitters. Simply put, the younger brigade has set a higher fitness and athletic standard and only those senior pros able to match up to it or at least not be over exposed by it can find a place in the playing eleven. Sachin passes these basic standards and in addition, is in good batting form.
Look, for players like SG, RD, VVS and SRT, form is something temporary. Batting form is so fuzzy a concept that if other things are going well, their batting will take care of itself; they are simply awesome batsmen, all of them. Therefore, it is the selectors' and captain's job to make sure they fit the bill in all other accessory requirements. If not, they must not be included as excess baggage within the squad. That will only create more problems in the dressing room. Right now, Sachin alone passes these addition requirements of ODI fitness and ODI athleticism therefore, he is rightfully still in the ODI squad and will be in the ODI playing eleven.
I do not think Sachin will last long in ODIs. His body simply does not allow him to play the long innings. That is one reason he gets out in the 90s so often nowadays or he usually gets cramps around the 90s. I do not think he will allow himself to be dropped by the selectors; I desperately hope he will retire from ODIs of his own accord within this year or the next.
If the younger brigade along with Sachin, Sehwag and the rest do well in Australia, all else will be forgotten. The selectors will be hailed as people building for the future; if India do not manage to make it to the finals, the knives will be sharpened again. All in all, I would like to see this move by the selectors to drop VVS, SG and RD as a positive, brave and hopeful move. In fact, I am so surprised the selectors were brave enough to drop SG that I am sure, they will recall him into the squad in a few days saying it was a communication error!!
However, I will be extremely unhappy if SG or VVS or RD complains of not being treated with respect in relation to this axing. I desperately hope the selectors or the administration had the courtesy to internally explain their decision to these senior pros. Knowing the BCCI, I know this is wishful thinking. I feel we have too many bloated egos within the BCCI that makes it impossible for senior players to leave the game ceremoniously. If the BCCI is trying to make sure Indian cricket catches up with Australian cricket, they must first ensure their own handling of the players matches up to the standards of the ACB.
Again, I know this is wishful thinking. The BCCI has too many non-cricketers to make sure they are never part of an outfit that has cricket's best interests at heart. Usually the BCCI has its annual turnover closest to its heart and a lot of skeletons locked up in undisclosed closets!!
Again, I know this is wishful thinking. The BCCI has too many non-cricketers to make sure they are never part of an outfit that has cricket's best interests at heart. Usually the BCCI has its annual turnover closest to its heart and a lot of skeletons locked up in undisclosed closets!!
4 comments:
Overall, good analysis Bharat! A comment and a couple of questions, though...
If the BCCI/Selectors had informed Saurav and Dravid a priori about their impending decision, it may not have seemed so bad.
And now the questions....
1. Is Sehwag really that much better a fielder than SG or RD? And what about his consistency as a batsman? A 50% chance of demolishing the opposition may not be very attractive odds.....
2. The youth brigade will not have much time to get used to playing in Australian conditions. Can enthusiasm make up for experience?
I quite agree with Bharat. I think that omission of SG and RD has to do more with "looking into future" philosophy of Indian selectors while the seniors are still around.
Surely, enthusiasm alone cannot make up for experience but some day you have to select these young guys, why not now? People would say that it is not a good idea to play with these young guys' careers by putting them in such a pressure situation but remember you are talking of finding replacements for ST, RD and SG. Only tough tours like this can tell if these people are upto the mark. Remember the fantastic starts to careers of Gavaskar, Tendulkar. Both started against tough oppositions and see what they have achieve by now. On the other hand, there is my personal favorite - Vinod Kambli. He got great starts against weak oppositions like England and Zimbavbe. He got carried away by the short term success.
I welcome selection of Suresh Rainna. Though I am disappointed on omission of Manoj Tiwary who I rate above Rohit Sharma and even Suresh Rainna.
bang on sandeep, I am dissappointed by the omission of Manoj Tewary too. Although I think he is being looked at as a test performer to begin with. I feel he has a lot of class to be a test regular. Watch out for Rohit Sharma though. He has a simple, straighforward technique and good hand eye coordination. I would put my money on him being the next champion from Mumbai after SRT
answering your questions on this topic:
1. Yes, Sehwag is definitely a better fielder and athlete than SG and he is currently as good a fielder and athlete as Dravid was when he was 30. Dravid has slowed down a bit. it is evident in his running between the wickets and ground fielding. Sehwag has worked on his fitness. he is leaner and fitter and quicker and it showed in his fielding during the tests; especially when he was chasing the ball to the boundary with his slides and dives.
Comparing batting skills in ODIs, well, Sehwag is more dependable than SG in ODIs on the evidence of the last two series and sehwag’s part time off spin is more than useful in ODIs as the fifth bowler. As far as ODI batting is concerned, Dravid does lose out to Sehwag and Ganguly. as i have written on my blog, dravid’s exclusion is not really that surprising; he should have been expecting it because he wasnt picked in the playing eleven in spite of being in the squad a few games ago.
2. Well, this is the real question: will the newbies adjust to australian conditions. let me entertain you a bit: was talking to my parents on new years’ day and amma was just checking some astrological article on rediff or something. she was telling me that Mr. Bejan Daruwala or someone has predicted a good year for Dhoni. If this is to be believed, it seems, this punt with the newbies will work!!
But from a cricketing perspective, I think its a big ask. I dont think the new look ODI team will have time to adjust to the extra bounce. I think players like Gambhir and Raina will struggle. I think Uthappa will have lesser problems with the extra bounce. Still, I feel this team which did well in SA with the extra bounce will adjust eventually. Will it be good enough to get us to the finals? Thats a tricky question. But given the 3rd team is SriLanka and they too will be short on match practice in Australian conditions, I would bet on a Ind vs Aus final.
Hope these answers make you happy :D
Post a Comment