India primed for a fall after reaching the heights of success

[SachDan]

By Steve James All the while the Indian Premier League rages on, even if its standard looks highly questionable; another feast of matches to digest so soon after the banquet of the World Cup. It is the only cricketing country that could even contemplate such glitzy gluttony. But India are world champions. They are the top-ranked team in Test cricket too, with five players — Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Zaheer Khan — selected for Wisden’s Test XI in its 2011 edition. The same publication named its Leading Cricketer in the World as Tendulkar, and in both 2009 and 2010 it was Sehwag. India does indeed rule, on and off the field. For how long, though? Off the field its political and financial clout looks untouchable. The offices of the International Cricket Council might be in Dubai, but cricket’s real centre is in Mumbai. And on the field the walls of success are hardly likely to come tumbling down in a jot. But that is not to say there should be complacency in that department. It is not as if India are like the Australian team of recent vintage. To attach such greatness would be downright wrong. There are some wonderfully talented youngsters in Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma, but the veterans are not Benjamin Buttons. Careers will end soon. Tendulkar will be 38 a week on Sunday. Rahul Dravid is 38, and Laxman is 36. The seam bowling is carried by Khan, who is 32. And maybe most crucial of all, India do not have a coach at present. Amid all the justifiable paeans to Dhoni’s leadership after the World Cup, there was much less said about Gary Kirsten. But his influence has been hugely significant. And yet he has now returned home to South Africa, where it will be a surprise if he is not named as their new coach. Kirsten simply missed his family too much to continue. And India will miss him. They now enter the coaching marketplace along with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa. Presumably there are some busy cricketing agents at the moment, as well as some excited out-of-work coaches. But I wouldn’t be too excited about the India job if I were them. It is surely the proverbial hiding to nothing. Remarkably with so little previous coaching experience, Kirsten made such a good job of it by working exceptionally hard from the quietest of back seats. “The coach is not the man to sit on the parapets in cricket — it’s not like soccer,†he told me in 2008. But it is still a fiendishly difficult job, as two other foreigners, John Wright and especially Greg Chappell, found before Kirsten. Chappell attempted radical change, in particular the removal of captain Sourav Ganguly, and very quickly discovered the meaning of player power. The players are everything in Indian cricket. They are idolised to an extent that we find difficult to comprehend in this country, and so no coach can ever be bigger than them. It is the trickiest of balances, with the public’s fascination and obsession easily turned to vitriolic condemnation on a whim. For this current crop wealth and immortality are now secured. For a new coach there is only one way for the team to go, and that is downwards. A trip to the West Indies in June soon should not cause too many problems, but the visit over here to England this summer could. I will be surprised if England do not win the four-Test series. Hopefully, as we speak, groundsmen around the country will have their thoughts and energies focused upon producing pitches with pace and bounce. That should give England the edge. Home advantage should be just that. I played at the Oval in 1998 when Muttiah Muralitharan thought he was in Colombo for five days in taking 16 wickets. In 2009 a turning pitch was just right for Australia. It won’t be this year. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/india/8454144/Steve-James-India-primed-for-a-fall-after-reaching-the-heights-of-success.html I'm sure by now most of you would have read this crap written by another jealous pom who just can't digest our prolonged success..moron doesn't even realize the fact that cream of our team will remain there for couple of years at the least!

[Cricket Tragic]

Nothing jealous about it. The same points were made by an Indian chap in a similar article a few days back. If you think that the batting won't be ****ed on overseas tours without the great man, Dravid and VVS, you're in for a shock.

[WC2011INDIA]

Some points are valid. But he comes across as a pissed off jealous pom. :thefinger: to Steve James.

[Ultimate_Game]

These sort of articles makes our win all the more sweeter

[cowboysfan]

I disagree with everything this guy said.I pray that poms prepare pacy and hard tracks.WE have better batsmen than them and will win the battle .

[yoda]

What's a series without a build up? Bring it on. This series will surely be an interesting one. Batting ofc is fine for a few more years. However we need to get some help for Zak.

[Karan114]

Amid all the justifiable paeans to Dhoni’s leadership after the World Cup, there was much less said about Gary Kirsten. But his influence has been hugely significant.

What nonsense - Kirsten was given his due by every major player and also the media. Of course he isn't going to be talked about as much as the captain and players, but his contribution wasn't overlooked in the slightest. And agree with cowboysfans about bouncy pitches. Jamaica, Perth, Wanderers, Durban and we still have to hear this rubbish about Indians being weak on bouncy tracks? Go ahead and give us bounce, after all we saw how the "greatest team in the universe because they beat the worst Australian side in 25 years" got their arses handed to them on the bouncy Perth pitch.

[vipin]

This coming England series shouldn't be too much of a shocker (I expect we will manage to atleast draw it). But the point of taking over the reigns of the batting department of our test team is surely very valid. Probably from now on we need to carry along a gang of 6 prospective future batsmen(Like kohli,pujara, mukund,vijay,rohit,rahane) with our team on all overseas tours (just to get them the experience of those conditions and useful advice from the current greats). Its not like we dont have the batting talent to match up with our current test lineup. But it shall need them atleast 5 -6 years of experience to reach the level where Dravid,SRT and Laxman are.

[Karan114]

The point about the batting in the future is true (though stating the obvious), but the rest is rubbish.

[gsivak]

I am not put off by the authors prediction of England win. That is his call but I think he is being extremely inconsistent with his arguments. 1. He argues that Kirsten will be missed - which I agree, but to contend that we will never get another coach who can perform as well as Kirsten is a bit strange. Kirsten was not a known miracle worker when he joined Team India, he proved himself over the years. Why shouldn't another coach contribute in his own way. 2. He rightly points out that there will be no equal replacements for Sachin, Rahul and Laxman but he ignores the fact that unlike the Aussies we have been regularly blooding new talent through our ODI team. The WC was won with just one senior who might retire in another year or two - Sachin. It was in a way great to see India win the final without contributions from Sachin and Sehwag, which proves that the youngsters have the right attitude if not the same talent. Is it too hard to believe that they would make decent test players when they get the chance. 3. If he believes that our current test ranking is because of the presence of legends then why predict an England win? I am pretty sure Sachin, Rahul, Laxman and Zaheer will play in the test series, so why the prediction?

[jusarrived]

Nothing jealous about it. The same points were made by an Indian chap in a similar article a few days back. If you think that the batting won't be ****ed on overseas tours without the great man, Dravid and VVS, you're in for a shock.

We where poor on our over seas tours in the 90s even with Tendulkar , Dravid & Laxman in the team , the difference now is self belief ..we have enough talent in batting , we might struggle initially but if the transition is handled smartly we should be fine .

[jusarrived]

& lest not forget , Dravid has been in poor form in the past 2-3 years , we have done well inspite of that ..so replacing him wont weaken the side atm .

[Sooda]

Yeah, bit of a mehh article rehashing obvious points. Move along.

[cowboysfan]

There is no doubt that Kirsten was a good coach but to say he is irreplaceable is wrong .He was a great motivator than a tactician .We should be ok as long we as we stay away from Australians.

[vijay810]

Oh boy...Digging your own grave............Make fast bouncy and swinging pitches....Our decent bowling attck will suddenly dish out lethal surprises........Our batters are well eqipped to counter the swing and pace offered by English bowlers.

[NareshK]

The only thing I'm worried about is lack of rest and practice for the Indian team because of bad planning by BCCI, otherwise they should crush anyone in their path. :two_thumbs_up:

[saneindian]

They are already feeling nervous. Someone remind them that they haven't beaten us in a test series since 1996.

[Ramzz]

Muahahaa, Chandu borde was our coach during the last England tour...we don't need strict coaches...we just need a coach who pushes the player to reach his potential. Sour grapes from a pommie.

[rkt.india]

I think to create a pool to perform on foreign tours. BCCI should create a performance squad which should go to every tour Indian team goes and have some matches there.

[Roshanrocks]

As I said Our Hunters will now be hunted.... This is just the begining