Putting things in perspective

[Ultimate_Game]

Sure we have been pathetic this series and most of the team didn't even bother turning up. I am sure we would have been beaten by a county team this tour. Yup, this series should act as an eye-opener for BCCI and team management and prove to them that we can't take our success over the last few years for granted and that better planning is required in the future along with scheduling and ensuring IPL doesn't have an adverse impact on our intl team's performance. But at the same time let's put things in perspective before chiding players and taking shots at all and sundry. Pls do remember the sucess we have achieved over the last few years. We didn't lose a series in 3 years, have only lost 2 series at home in the last 25 years, have won both the T20 Cup and the World Cup, and were ranked no. 1 in Test for 3 years. Indian team should be criticized for the performance on this tur but at the same time le's not ridicule and undermine their performances over the years like some folks have been doing. There are times and phases in life/career when nothin goes as planned and no matter what you do, it simply doesn't work out. On similar lines this series has been like a perfect storm when nothing worked and so be it. Just like in real life where tings are never actually as good or as bad as they seem, in cricketing terms a team is generally never as good or as bad as fans portray them to be. Sure this has been a pretty poor tour which can rank next to any of the 90s tours we had but at the same time this has been a solitary aberration over the last 10+ years. As I mentioned in one of my posts earlier, if someone had told me after the 2007 WC debacle when things looked pear shaped that we would hardly lose a Test series the next 4 years, will win T20 Cup, will win world cup, will reach a Test ranking of 1 but will be smashed by England when we tour Eng, I would have been over the moon and would have taken this offer lying down. Now is not the right time to pass a judgement on the team as emotions generally tend to get in the way so close to an event. Sure bowling is our Achilles heel but we knew about it and it makes our achievement of being ranked 1 in Tests and winning the world cup all the more amazing and noteworthy. Batting wise it may look bad but we will be ok with the advent of talented players like Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Kohli etc. They may need some time but batting-wise we will be fine. And with IPL and more money thrown into cricket we will attract plenty of talent and it's a matter of time we unearth decent bowlers as well. We may have had a poor series but overall we are in a decent shape - our Emerging Player's recent performance is a proof of the same. Let's wait for the Aus series before panning the team that gave us so much to cheer about over the last few years, including a WC win which I feared I would never get to see :smiley:

[Crookbond]

Now is not the right time to pass a judgement on the team as emotions generally tend to get in the way so close to an event. Good point. PS : This thread will soon trail into unexplored spaces.

[ganeshran]

+1. Great Writeup U_G. The debacle teaches the need for a fresh look at how to cultivate a good bowling lineup and the need for a second string side always ready to replace the first choice side. It also tells us the need for scheduling of series and the fatigue factor. It would be stupid to call for knee jerk reactions, especially for resignations and retirements based on just this one series.

[Trichromatic]

It would be stupid to call for knee jerk reactions, especially for resignations and retirements based on just this one series.

Some knee jerk reactions are always needed in such cases. For ex - selection of players has been an issue in past and it's effect can be seen now. Case I : Munaf Patel who hadn't played many matches for India before WC was suddenly given chance in the team. He was fortunate that domestic season was going on at that time and he was match fit before WC. That's how he was able to contribute to the side. Case II : Piyush Chawla who hadn't played any international match for almost 3 years suddenly found place in WC squad. Now that was a horrible decision, but it didn't affect team much as he played only 3 matches. One against England and two against associate countries. Note that he was most expensive Indian bowler against England. Case III : We saw RP Singh's selection out of nowhere. He hasn't played for long time, but what went even more wrong with him was the fact that he hasn't played FC cricket recently either. Now we see that he can hardly move on the field. In first two cases were covered with India's WC victory. But you can't make wrong decisions and get away with it all the time. Munaf's example was given by Ganguly today.

[Cricket Tragic]

Munaf was India's best bowler and leading wicket taker in the ODIs in SA.

[Trichromatic]

Munaf was India's best bowler and leading wicket taker in the ODIs in SA.

Yeah and I guess that was only series he played in 2010.

[Cricket Tragic]

Yeah and I guess that was only series he played in 2010.

He also the ODIs against NZ at home.

[Karan114]

He also the ODIs against NZ at home.

Also played in the tri-series in Lanka in September (?) 2010