The Real Problem with the Indian Side

[Fontaine]

1. Put aside the unhealthy obsession bordering on a fetish when it comes to batting. India's problems are far more deep rooted than a series failure and some of our batsmen mis-firing. 2. Take a look around. Seriously, take a good look around at where the top sides are. Australia? South Africa? How many batting legends do they have? Believe it, India's problems aren't four endlessely talked about batsmen who'll never make everyone happy. The fact of the matter is that even during the prime of Tendulkar/Dravid/Ganguly/Laxman were India even 2nd best in the world as a test nation? HELL NO. So put aside this never ending, sickly fascination with our batsmen. Be it Yuvraj, Sehwag, Rohit or some guy named Badrinath who's yet to get a test cap who you think will rescue the Indian team. It's FAR more likely that they'll be the next scape goat or target of an burning effigy rather than the proverbial knight in shining armor. Still don't get it? Like I said take a look around. How is it that a side like South Africa can consistently win with a decent (not great) batting order? How have Australia survived as one of the top two test sides in the world with so many of their legends retiring? It's all about the bowling folks. How many spinners does South Africa have? And did Australia fall from grace when Warne retired from ODI cricket and the test matches as well? You can harp on about Tendulkar, Dravid etc etc the pure fact of the matter is even when the big four in there prime, firing on all cylinders India were never a top side team with the bowling they had. However what we DO KNOW is that when India's fast bowlers have shown up on foreign test tours recently to South Africa, England, West Indies, Australia, along with our batting lineup, well they look like world beaters don't they? You want India to be a top test side? Get a real bowling attack instead of relying on the same old tired spinners and treating fast bowling like an after thought as Kumble did in this series. While batsmen may be the heart of the team, fast bowlers have been and always will be the life blood especially in a world where spin bowling tracks are becoming extinct dinosaurs. We already have enough talent and variation in Sree Santh, RP, Pathan, Patel, Sharma, Khan the question is what's being done to develop the young bowlers? Australia, South Africa, and England all have their highly competitive and balanced domestic leagues where their bowlers can thrive and learn how to bowl effectively. I can't think of a damn thing the BCCI are doing for the Indian fast bowler in the next 4/5 years apart from some token NCA that can't even gauge the fitness of a fast bowler correctly. But at the same time they've taken away a world class facility with world class coaching in the MRF and stunted another avenue of growth in the English County Leagues.

[sharma]

this lineup just won u a cup in aus. no one can win every match. how come ppl start hating the players once they lose. OTT reactions IMHO

[Fontaine]

this lineup just won u a cup in aus. no one can win every match. how come ppl start hating the players once they lose. OTT reactions IMHO

You dimwit, it was our bowlers who tore into the Australian team. Did you even read the post? When did I even mention disliking/let alone hating any player. God, you're a moron.

[Bumper]

Good posts Fontaine, but not without some glaring flaws. 1) No great Test team had a weak batting lineup. Aussies have a strong batting lineup & so do the Saffies. If you recall, the last test SA won came on the back of a fighting 2nd inns ton by Smithy. SA is gonna lose the ongoing Test vs Eng because their batting failed. No two ways about it, you dont bat well, you lose. 2) RE: the fast bowlers, India is now blessed with more fast bowlers than she ever was in her history. And EVERY victory this year required a good batting effort. India's best strategy to win games, is to outbat the opponents. We cant outbowl or outfield our opponents most of the time. Our batting effort can then be backed by a good bowling & fielding performance. We cant win games, forget a series, with a batting effort like that!

[King Tendulkar]

1Believe it, India's problems aren't four endlessely talked about batsmen who'll never make everyone happy. The fact of the matter is that even during the prime of Tendulkar/Dravid/Ganguly/Laxman were India even 2nd best in the world as a test nation? HELL NO. .

We were ranked number 2 in the world until just recently. So your post is basically pants!

[jf1gp_1]

Real problem with indian side is fickle fans who spent all their energy over hyping the team after every win and pulling them down after every loss. SL played better cricket, they had a plan for our MO and they executed it well enough. @Fontaine i dont agree with most of your points but then thats your POV

[The_Black_Prince]

Load of tripe. India's batting just failed abysmally, and you are looking at the bowling attack (how much times Lankans pass 400 ??)

[cowboysfan]

it pains me to say it but kumble lost us the series-the guy who we could depend on in the subcontinent was pedestrian.

[Fontaine]

We were ranked number 2 in the world until just recently. So your post is basically pants!

How long were we number 2? A few months over the course of years if not decades means nothing. And how did we reach that lofty ranking in the first place? Could it have been our recent good run in test matches due to good batting AS WELL as very good fast bowling? Like I said take a look around. Rather than trying to tear down my own post why don't you come up with a decent counter argument or unique take, rather than blurting out the first thing that pops into your head.

[Fontaine]

Real problem with indian side is fickle fans who spent all their energy over hyping the team after every win and pulling them down after every loss. SL played better cricket, they had a plan for our MO and they executed it well enough. @Fontaine i dont agree with most of your points but then thats your POV

No problem man.

[fineleg]

Fontaine, To be a top team, you need BOTH - rather you need all three to be good - batting, bowling AND fielding to be good. The focus is currently on the batting failure, because batting has let us down in a dramatic fashion. Our spin bowling has left a lot to be desired, no doubt, but our dramatic MO failure is naturally a talked about topic currently.

[Bumper]

Real problem with indian side is fickle fans who spent all their energy over hyping the team after every win and pulling them down after every loss.

Right, its the fickle fans, who batted, bowled & fielded poorly.:hysterical: Looking fwd to your next insight.

[Fontaine]

Fontaine, To be a top team, you need BOTH - rather you need all three to be good - batting, bowling AND fielding to be good. The focus is currently on the batting failure, because batting has let us down in a dramatic fashion. Our spin bowling has left a lot to be desired, no doubt, but our dramatic MO failure is naturally a talked about topic currently.

Meh, I'm talking about the long term aspirations of this team. If we keep expecting our batting to do all the work then I don't see us ever being a top two team.

[nitinbwj]

Real problem is that they choke under pressure.

[yoda]

Fontaine, seems like you are expecting our bowling to do all the work. A team needs balance and that is what I am sure the selectors are shooting for with new emerging fast bowlers and new batsmen. Contrary to what you have said, it is the lack of fresh world class talent in the spin bowling department which has us sucking the last juice out of Kumble and praying every game for Harbhajan to deliver. We need fresh new bats in the XI and fresh new WC spinners ASAP in this team.

[jf1gp_1]

Right, its the fickle fans, who batted, bowled & fielded poorly.:hysterical: Looking fwd to your next insight.

explain how 2-1 loss in aus was success while 2-1 loss in SL is disaster which needs massive change in test team

[cowboysfan]

massive changes?.that too against the aussies-I am sure that will work.The only one we can(maybe) replace is ganguly but who is going to replace him?.I have no confidence in Rohit Sharma .

[fineleg]

explain how 2-1 loss in aus was success while 2-1 loss in SL is disaster which needs massive change in test team

Did you watch the Aus series jf1gp_1? I think the Aus tour was a success. We would have surely drawn or won the Sydney Test with fair umpiring. And no one thought we could take 20 Aus wickets in a Test. We took it at Perth, and would have had the Aus reeling in Sydney if correct umpiring decisions were made. Overall, India put up a good fight in that Test series. In SL, the result is not a decently fought Test series, there was a 201* from Sehwag that kept us alive, but other than that this is nothing short of a drubbing we got in SL. In general, I AGREE THAT FANS are OVERHYPING our team, esp our Middle order!

[Bumper]

explain how 2-1 loss in aus was success while 2-1 loss in SL is disaster which needs massive change in test team

Am not approving of massive changes in the team. But saying that the fickle fans is the 'be all, end all' of all issues in our cricket, is nonsense. The 2-1 loss vs Australia (given the Sydney horrors and the nature of the opponents) is something to really feel proud of. Esp, test wins simply dont get bigger than the one at Perth. The 2-1 result in Lanka, is utter cave-in. This after our bowling attack regularly reduced Lanka to manageable totals (only once did Lanka escape to 600) & given our reputation as great players of spin. Granted M&M are a freakish duo. But when an inexperienced Gambhir & Veeru can get off to good starts consistently, there is simply no excuse for our more experienced batters to abjectly surrender, six times out of six. You can blame Kumble, Parthiv, KKD, our pacers, our fielding, our fans etc, but India lost because of its middle order. Plain & simple.

[punjabi_khota]

1. Put aside the unhealthy obsession bordering on a fetish when it comes to batting. India's problems are far more deep rooted than a series failure and some of our batsmen mis-firing. 2. Take a look around. Seriously, take a good look around at where the top sides are. Australia? South Africa? How many batting legends do they have? Believe it, India's problems aren't four endlessely talked about batsmen who'll never make everyone happy. The fact of the matter is that even during the prime of Tendulkar/Dravid/Ganguly/Laxman were India even 2nd best in the world as a test nation? HELL NO. So put aside this never ending, sickly fascination with our batsmen. Be it Yuvraj, Sehwag, Rohit or some guy named Badrinath who's yet to get a test cap who you think will rescue the Indian team. It's FAR more likely that they'll be the next scape goat or target of an burning effigy rather than the proverbial knight in shining armor. Still don't get it? Like I said take a look around. How is it that a side like South Africa can consistently win with a decent (not great) batting order? How have Australia survived as one of the top two test sides in the world with so many of their legends retiring? It's all about the bowling folks. How many spinners does South Africa have? And did Australia fall from grace when Warne retired from ODI cricket and the test matches as well? You can harp on about Tendulkar, Dravid etc etc the pure fact of the matter is even when the big four in there prime, firing on all cylinders India were never a top side team with the bowling they had. However what we DO KNOW is that when India's fast bowlers have shown up on foreign test tours recently to South Africa, England, West Indies, Australia, along with our batting lineup, well they look like world beaters don't they? You want India to be a top test side? Get a real bowling attack instead of relying on the same old tired spinners and treating fast bowling like an after thought as Kumble did in this series. While batsmen may be the heart of the team, fast bowlers have been and always will be the life blood especially in a world where spin bowling tracks are becoming extinct dinosaurs. We already have enough talent and variation in Sree Santh, RP, Pathan, Patel, Sharma, Khan the question is what's being done to develop the young bowlers? Australia, South Africa, and England all have their highly competitive and balanced domestic leagues where their bowlers can thrive and learn how to bowl effectively. I can't think of a damn thing the BCCI are doing for the Indian fast bowler in the next 4/5 years apart from some token NCA that can't even gauge the fitness of a fast bowler correctly. But at the same time they've taken away a world class facility with world class coaching in the MRF and stunted another avenue of growth in the English County Leagues.

HELL YES WE WERE #2.