Suggestions for India's Redemption

[Rahul Dravid]

I think they need to get rid of the coach, bowling coach and whoever was responsible for playing an injured/unfit viru, zak and rp. Whether this is the team management or anyone else, this was an amateur error. After this they need to start grooming some new bowlers and give them a long run. Ashwin/Ojha as the spinnner and giving some other fast bowlers a shot. I would rest Laxman for the WI series and play Kohli as number 5 and drop Raina and play Sharma/Pujara at 6.

or wherever we hav problems really.. if openers arent firing we always can ask rahul to open..

[ch1234]

Dropping Laxman?.. Roubeck should be joking..He has had one below par tour and has been great for the last 2-3 years.. I will retain him for 5-6 more tests of without a good knock.

[Feed]

'Urgent need for Players' Association' There is an urgent need for Players' Association to make the most of the experience of retired and set to retire Indian cricketers, writes ESPNSTAR.com columnist Suresh Menon. More... 'Urgent need for Players' Association' There is an urgent need for Players' Association to make the most of the experience of retired and set to retire Indian cricketers, writes ESPNSTAR.com columnist Suresh Menon. By Suresh Menon The solutions to Indian cricketÃÔ problems seem to lie outside the parameters of dreary, time-worn thinking. The gap between those who manage the game and those who play it is growing. There is an urgent need for a Players Association which can throw a bridge across the influence-peddling approach of the cricket board and the needs of the sportsmen who represent it. In recent years, Indian cricket has been blessed by the presence of a bunch of proud, upright players who are men of the world and in step with contemporary trends. They have played the major role in taking India to the No 1 spot in Test cricket. Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Javagal Srinath are men of substance who would have added lustre to any profession they chose to follow. Some are retired, others will follow soon. Is Indian cricket ready to lose a whole generation of top class players around the same time, and with no immediate prospect of their influence on the team continuing beyond the odd commentary stint? Can they afford to let the experience of such men go to waste? Kumble and Srinath have made the leap from the playing field to the board room of their cricket association, and will certainly have a bigger role to play in Indian cricket. If ñlayers Association is anathema to the Board (which sees such a body as a trade union bent on reducing the employers right to make money without distributing it fairly), then a change in nomenclature and a constitutionally-accepted division of labour might do the trick. Call it the Association of Indian Cricketers if it helps. A body of the players, by the players, for the players. With sharply defined duties and rights. Increasingly as corporates call the shots, the player is getting squeezed out, his choices dictated by the men in suits. He claims a hefty price for his silence and acquiescence, of course, but when you lose as miserably as you did in England, that price might not be worth it. Should Virender Sehwag have risked his future playing the IPL with an injured shoulder? Why does everybody look so tired and listless? Given a choice between skipping the IPL or the West Indies tour for some well deserved rest, why does Sachin Tendulkar choose to skip a tour, and underperform in England? How long will Zaheer Khan or Harbhajan Singh or Mahendra Singh Dhoni last with their enormous workloads? This is where a players body can make a difference. It can in the absence of the BoardÃÔ or the cricket coachÃÔ reluctance to lay down the rules decide how a player should plan his season. Part of the reason for EnglandÃÔ current success is the manner in which the coach has been given the right to monitor the players, allowing them to play T20 or not as the case might be. Last year a ÃÕhink tank of the team (never clearly identified) wrote to the Board complaining of too much cricket. This is another area the players body can look into. Why do players have no say in fixing their schedules? True, the golden goose is not known for having a say in how and where it must lay the eggs, but surely higher up the food chain we need to have a different set of rules? When he was captain, Kumble had a blueprint for Indian cricket which is doubtless gathering dust in some Board store room. It was on his insistence that the Board agreed to a second match for acclimatisation on the Australian tour in December. Kumble and his colleagues have major roles to play in lifting the game from the depths it has sunk to. They need to be given the chance.

[bulbul]

the only way a Players asociation can created in India if Sachin made its President for Life..or else i dont think BCCI allow it to function properly.. guys like Dravid and Kumble can take on BCCI ..but i guess they dont want to get in this kind of stuff

[vvvslaxman]

International players must play in domestic cricket if possible. Trust me it helps domestic players. I am talking about first class games not list A or T20.

[Crookbond]

Can India make Test cricket their No. 1 priority? http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/530194.html

India's Test series in England gave us a peek into the depth of Indian cricket, and that for me is more worrying than the 4-0 result. Very often you get talent without having to look for it, but that does not mean it's not important to have the right systems in place. At the cost of being labelled naý×e, here is my five-point programme of change for Indian cricket. Declare a goal It has never been India's style to set goals and make plans to pursue them, but if the BCCI announces its goal and its priorities, there will automatically be pressure on everyone connected with Indian cricket, right from the grassroots level, to do what it takes to achieve that goal. That goal must be to be the No. 1 Test team, which means you place Test cricket at the top of your priorities. Test cricket has been a real surprise package in recent times. With the rise in popularity of Twenty20 cricket, many of us thought Test cricket would just fade away, but instead, Test performances and match results have made the greatest impact on the sport. Take the last Ashes in Australia, where England won the Test series and retained the Ashes. That's what people remember today. Nobody recalls that England were thrashed 6-1 in the one-day series that followed. Cricket Australia, through the Argus report, has already placed Test cricket as its No. 1 priority. It's time India did the same. Accountability I recently saw Chris Gayle dive and lunge - he usually walks about like he's just had a heavy dinner - during the IPL. Financial incentive aside, I believe it was also because the owner of his team was at the ground, watching like a hawk. We need Indian players to feel the same when playing for India. Of course, playing for the country and its million die-hard cricket fans should be the ultimate motivation, but when you are playing every day of the year, it ceases to be all that special every time. To get players to take that extra effort, they need to understand there is one person who they must impress to keep their places in the team. Ideally this person should be the coach, but for that he needs to be given more powers than he currently has, starting with a vote in selection. The BCCI has a lot on its plate other than managing the Indian cricket team, so it's time the board gave complete charge to perhaps a three-member team (excluding the captain), which could comprise the national coach, the chairman of selectors, and one person who's in charge, who makes the plans, manages the team and liaises with the BCCI to ensure the team is always on track to achieve its goals. I can't think of a better man than Anil Kumble to be assigned this task. This management team must be paid very well, for it will have a high-profile, high-pressure job - that of taking care of the biggest brand in Indian cricket, the national team. Earmark important series in the calendar and manage players accordingly India underestimated the significance of the England tour. As it turned out, it was a series the whole world was watching (and one that decided the No. 1 ranking). In the future the management body described above could decide internally which series deserve the most importance and draw plans accordingly to make sure the best players are available and well prepared for them. Make fitness a priority If you wish to represent India, skills alone are not going to be enough. You also need have close-to-international standards of fitness. This message must be sent out loud and clear to all those aspiring to play for India. Frequent injuries to a player have to be held against him. And once you have the given the necessary powers to the coach, this should not be difficult to achieve. It was embarrassing to see some players overweight when they came to England. I have noticed that the players who seem to have lost some of the edge in their performances are the ones who are six to seven kilos heavier than they used to be. Make Test cricket the most lucrative form of cricket This is purely an administrative matter for the BCCI to undertake, and if the will is there, it should be simple enough. Test cricket sets the brand value of a country's cricket, so it makes sense for it to be the most lucrative form of the game. Granted, the five-day format doesn't generate that kind of money, but it's always possible to channel the earnings from other formats to Test cricket so that a Rahul Dravid makes more money playing Tests than a Suresh Raina does playing T20. I feel a lot of us hold a permanent grudge against the IPL and have found this a good time to get our own back, as it were, by holding it responsible for the England disaster, saying that if the time between the IPL and the England tour was managed better, things may not have been as disastrous. But I believe India can still be the No. 1 Test team in the world while letting the IPL have its seven weeks a year. It's just a matter of setting the right priorities.

[rabinjackman]

The last point's the key. indian players have no problem skipping international matches but never skip the IPL. Unless this is corrected, IPL will always be a players top priority ofer international cricket. For eg. there are players who dont mind skipping international games citing various reason but play IPL games even if injured.

[Sidhoni]

They never will take Tests as the first priority till the IPL is here.

[King Tendulkar]

Simple solution for redemption and revenge. When england tour produce rank turners from ball 1. They provide green tracks we provide crumbling turners. 3 day test match with even part time spinners causing havoc. We win and back as the best!

[mrinalmech]

The last point's the key. indian players have no problem skipping international matches but never skip the IPL. Unless this is corrected, IPL will always be a players top priority ofer international cricket. For eg. there are players who dont mind skipping international games citing various reason but play IPL games even if injured.

Maybe the BCCI should prevent injured international players from playing in the IPL and provide the necessary monetary compensation (It's not like the BCCI is short of money) for losing out on their franchise fees.

[CG]

No..it is not completely true. Take example of Broad and Bresnan who were just medium fast initially but now can bowl 90 mph.

They were not medium fast ,broad in 2007 also clocked 145 and bresnan is 130-140 not 90mph

[Sachinism]

India know how to set goals, the board and the players need to get their priorities right.We set about looking to win the WC and we did it, the board didn't care as much about this series as England did, as we can see from the preparations. If the players want to play for India, they need to understand fitness should be a must. But if the board doesn't care, neither will the players. A part of their contract needs to state the players must maintain a certain level of fitness all year round (especially off-season).

[mishra]

Simple solution is do nothing for three to four month after the IPL. Give them players a break. Our players need rest post IPL. Everything will get better six month prior to IPL. This time it was world cup and IPL scheduled together. So I am really not reading too much into our performance. Our players have right to earn big bucks. Am not worried even if money has to come from IPL. I have no complaints as long as they keep winning the trophies.

[grand]

bcz of lazy bowler speed of 120/130=)) india lose matches :( y not aron playing he is fast bowler

[Tiger80]

135k is not a bad pace for 17-19 year old bowlers. They must ensure they improve from then on in terms of their speeds and do not stagnate.

Most of these 17-19 years are already going to be between 19-23 and in the article it is mentioned they are touching 135 not bowling regularly so it is sad state for India that these bowlers can't even bowl 140kph deliveries in the net

[keyboardist]

Wake Up, BCCI Looking at this Indian team, their sad plight and the apathetic statements issued by BCCI from time to time one cannot help but wonder has the game been taken for granted in the haze of all the profits made. It is not like unless the Indian National Team gives top notch performance the sponsors are going to take the BCCI by the scruff of its collar anymore. IPL has pretty much taken care of all such woes. When the whole cricketing community is unequivocal about the stress exacted on the players by the punishing schedules and the negative effects thereof, why is it that the BCCI feels it to be a non-issue. Not like you have to be a rocket scientist to know that wear and tear in the game is pretty high and the kind of injuries to Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh (if the injury is real), Munaf Patel (perpetually injured) and now Sachin Tendulkar are certainly the results of such high density action. Sehwag and Gambhir also feature prominently in the list. Dhoni, god forbid it, is a ticking bomb himself. Can the BCCI honestly say that all these injuries are freak accidents that have got nothing to do with the volume of action these players were involved in. Months ago I had written an article on the mismanagement of the English cricket team by ECB. http://www.thecricketist.com/2011/03/english-ailment.html Seems like time it is time to write one such BCCI.

[express bowling]

Ghavri is stating that the bowlers have faulty run-up and action. Some are still touching 135k. Isn't that an opportunity then to rectify their action and run-up and increase their speed ? After all, below 20 is the best time to modify a pacers' action and not 20 yrs + ( some 20 + bowlers' actions have been changed by the MRF pace camp with disastrous effects and it should be avoided then and done at an earlier age before they have matured )

[TheYuvi02]

I remember some guy on cricinfo i think it was harsha bhogle who said that no team can remain number 1 team without a really good bowling attack.. he was right. Let's look at india's attack, zaheer- fine bowler, excellent since last couple of years. harbhajan- way past his prime, renamed to darthbhajan. sreesanth- his test bowling average is similar to raina who is a part timer. ishant- was really good against weak WI batting but hasn't lived upto promise even after almost 40 tests averages close to 35. ashwin- decent in odi but hasnt played tests, doesnt look effective overseas mishra- aka no ball mishra, average of 43. praveen kumar- was good in england tests with average of 29 but not effective without much swing and pace is 75 mph. munaf- used to be a fast bowler and now a trundler. vinay kumar, rp singh and rest are all total crap.

[CG]

I remember some guy on cricinfo i think it was harsha bhogle who said that no team can remain number 1 team without a really good bowling attack.. he was right. Let's look at india's attack, zaheer- fine bowler, excellent since last couple of years. harbhajan- way past his prime, renamed to darthbhajan. sreesanth- his test bowling average is similar to raina who is a part timer. ishant- was really good against weak WI batting but hasn't lived upto promise even after almost 40 tests averages close to 35. ashwin- decent in odi but hasnt played tests, doesnt look effective overseas mishra- aka no ball mishra, average of 43. praveen kumar- was good in england tests with average of 29 but not effective without much swing and pace is 75 mph. munaf- used to be a fast bowler and now a trundler. vinay kumar, rp singh and rest are all total crap.

we were no 1 for two years and reached due to our bowling attack ishant ,zak were great in india and sree,zak great in sa.we lost the series in england but its not all gloom.

[MCcricket]

Indian team has done really well in the last few years , winning in India and abroad, the senior cricketers have given us fans alot of happy memories.I think although Dhoni is good he is not great, he is bearing the fruits of Kirsten being the coach also the test team which was essentially created by Dada, Kiran More,Borde before him as selector when he was the captain , the senior players stepped up along with Zaheer maturing to be one of the best left arm bowler around.Dhoni has lost his agressive batting and also found wanting in terms of being able to bat on fast and seaming tracks as his batting is not suited , plus he is no Sehwag.He is making the spinners bowl defensively also not being insightful enough to identify and blood new bowlers, even in CSK CLT20 team, you will not see Indian fast bowlers as he does'nt seem to have faith in them .The more time he has spent at the helm the more stubborn he has become, I believe we need a new capt , atleast in one dayers and t20.We have to worry about the talent that will be going to waste under him , Irfan Pathan, Sudeep Tyagi , Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron , this is where Dada was miles ahead of him, nor can he nurture young spinners so he keeps going back to players he knows although they might fail again and again or maybe his personal choice.Dhoni's legacy , not a single player he was able to identify, nurture, Dada needs to be in our selection panel I am sure we will see results, if this happens.