Suggestions for India's Redemption

[rkt.india]

If India have intent, success will follow. After two months I am getting ready to say goodbye to England, a country I have started growing quite fond of. Admittedly I see it in the summer, through the eyes of a visitor. I don't have a mortgage; I have room service and housekeeping instead. But the parks have been as pristine as ever, the motorways reliable, the hotels better than before, and the good old Ploughman's sandwich is still a great snack. London has been in good form, with its old buildings standing resplendent. Why, even telephone calls back home are cheaper than a local text. "But the cricket was terrible," everyone tells me. From visitors in the lobby of the St James' Court, to students who saved money and braved the weather to follow India, to expatriate Indians who get to support "their" side once every few years. They shake their heads, like only we can, and go on and on about the "terrible cricket". I disagree. The result, if you were an India fan, was terrible, but the cricket wasn't. England played better cricket than I have seen them play in all the years I have been following this game. England didn't just outplay India, they out-planned them. And there is a lesson there. In our part of the world, instinct rules, whether we are driving, getting into a train, or flicking late, backward of square. It is an instinct honed by working in systems that are not perfect. Without an instinct for survival, we will be crushed under. There is an argument that if all systems are perfect it kills initiative, that people become dependent and sluggish. But like with all arguments, the perfect place is somewhere in between. In pockets of stability, under Wright and Ganguly and under Kirsten and Dhoni, India experienced a successful system, but because whatever was right wasn't institutionalised, or because maybe it was only an accidental coming together of this group of people (blasphemy!), India were always going to be inconsistent. Over the last 18 months England have found that spot. They took time getting there, for the seed was sown under Fletcher and Hussain, but by creating legislation to put the England cricket team first and all else second, and by having strong, successful people in charge, England have embarked on a path likely to serve them well for a while. Many challenges remain - playing on the subcontinent, for example - but the intent is there, and I have often said that when intent is genuine, everything else follows. This is not an England who can sweep all before them with extraordinary ability. There is, in this team, no Hayden, no Ponting, no Gilchrist, no Warne and no McGrath. Yes, there is a Cook, a Pietersen and a Bell, a Swann and an Anderson, but it isn't yet the same thing. England have won on the back of strong preparation and a strong work ethic, and as India prepare to let a fine generation go, they too must learn to do that. Indeed, India can react to this defeat in different ways. One is to assume that nothing has happened and continue, which would be a bit like the approach to food rotting in our warehouses: just let it be. It's not an unpopular approach. A second way would be to prepare turners in October and hope all is forgotten. It might win India the one-day series against England, but it will only make the players better at what they are already good at, and no better at what they aren't particularly good at. India would learn nothing from that approach. Instead, India could start an aggressive exercise aimed at improving a very promising lot of batsmen and finding some bowlers. But who will be the teachers and who will be the scouts? Whose job will it be to revive Irfan Pathan and take RP Singh and Sreesanth to the next level? It can't be the bowling coach because he will be with the national team. Who will teach Virat Kohli how to score runs at the next level? Who will work with Ajinkya Rahane and Abhinav Mukund? I do not fear for talent in Indian cricket, I fear for the teachers who have to mould that talent. Have you seen any? Is there the intent? But while we debate that - and we must - we must also congratulate England. True, they played at home, but they have begun to show solidity and a love for detail. At last they have begun to do with cricket what they did with roads, railways and buildings. Now, will it last as long as those have? http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/532458.html

[Cricket Tragic]

Bhogle has been writing the same crap since the 3rd test.

[rkt.india]

Bhogle has been writing the same crap since the 3rd test.

This is not crap. This is the thing BCCI needs to do and analyze.

[TheYuvi02]

This is not crap. This is the thing BCCI needs to do and analyze.

I doubt the BCCI folks know how to read English forget about analyze :giggle:

[Sidhoni]

^:cantstop:

[mishra]

Harsha is just confused. Shukla ji will prefer "mawa" then those aged sparkiling wine.

[MCcricket]

In a year or two maybe we will not have our fab 4 including Zaheer , we cannot just rely on our pedestrian bowling attack , now is the time to find good bowlers,have a vision and plan for the future,or else we will fall back big time in test cricket.Gauti , Yuvraj are the only automatic selections in the batting linup beyond seniors, no one else have put their hand up or have been given a serious examination.We dont have a spearhead both in spin , pace dept, capt cannot play on fast wickets,Raina a serious question mark in test nor is Murali , Mukund, yuvraj or kohli convincing. Rahane , Pujara , Yuvraj , Rohit , Parthiv , who can step up ?Unfortunately we might have the same core of selectors also hopefully Duncan Fletcher is given more freedom and power then Dhoni to build this side, as Dhoni doesn't have that capabilty or urgency.

[amiret]

England played better cricket than I have seen them play in all the years I have been following this game. http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/532458.html

He has not seen much. England have played much better cricket in 1998 (vs SA ) & 2005(vs Aus) against much better bowling attacks. They played good cricket in English conditions & they have fantastic players, But India managed to put up some of the WORST bowling performances of the last decade (cricinfo stats) which resulted in the 4-0 thrashing. Our batsmen were expected to bail out the bowlers but even they failed. All his talk about scouting for new players..etc , we have been hearing for the last 20 years.In his article he did not mention BCCI once.

[keyboardist]

We have to change the damn format of the game. This format is too taxing on our bowlers. First of all, we can't compete the foreigners for pace and secondly, bowling is so uncool. :winky: We will only do granstand batting from now on. http://www.thecricketist.com/2011/09/idea-india-finds-way-to-win.html

[keyboardist]

On a much serious note, the whole way we formulate our bowling strategy needs to be revamped. Harping on the lack of fastness of our fast bowlers :hysterical: isn't going to solve the issue. We need to find a serious spinner... A more detailed analysis here... http://www.thecricketist.com/2011/08/time-to-reflect.html Opinions are welcome :bow:

[The Outsider]

It's over - Indian cricket has seen it's peak for a while to come. They'll come nowhere close to challenging the top spot again in the foreseeable future, so the best suggestion that can be given is get used to watching the spectacle of mediocrity unfold. Not that the average Indian fan will mind it one bit - mediocrity has it's own place in the world and to support it, India has already created and embraced it's haven in IPL and CL. The old brass might yet carry the team to the odd victory till they are around, but expect nothing from the likes of Raina and Vijay - they are the future of Indian test cricket. Hopefully, Australia will throw up some pitches with a little extra in them and show the public the future of Indian cricket. Even the supposed great captain's facade has finally come down emphasizing the fact that it's the team which makes a captain great. But how even respected analysts are hoodwinked by his mediocrity! Everyone was commenting on Dhoni's "return to form" during the ODI leg of the English tour. "Return to form"? More like return to a format where mediocrity is not exposed as much. The single most valuable player for India over the past few years has been Zaheer and he is pretty much finished. Maybe, he has enough left to cross the 300 test wicket mark, but that's about it. He has been the de facto bowling captain of the side. India had a great opportunity to revamp the system while the going was good over the last 10 years or so, when despite the system some extraordinary talents had kept India as a top force in test cricket. Instead, we chose to promote cow lashing in all it's glory - well you got what you wanted.

[rkt.india]

It's over - Indian cricket has seen it's peak for a while to come. They'll come nowhere close to challenging the top spot again in the foreseeable future, so the best suggestion that can be given is get used to watching the spectacle of mediocrity unfold. Not that the average Indian fan will mind it one bit - mediocrity has it's own place in the world and to support it, India has already created and embraced it's haven in IPL and CL. .

Mediocrity was always there, even in that WC winning team and number one test team. It was just that mediocrity was hidden behind a few exceptional players who performed to their best in this period of 3 years.

[MCcricket]

Things can go worse from here , everyone is thinking short term , in 2 years , Tendulkar , Dravid, Laxman , Zaheer, will be past 40 and 35 respectively, only players we will have which will form the core is Gambhir, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Ishant, Dhoni I am not sure he is good enough in test's away from home on faster tracks as his batting is only meant for flat slow tracks where his non existing technique is not found out. We have a huge void to fill, BCCI doesn't have any plans or vision , slections are obnoxious and Srikant is a dodo with his panel, Dhoni lacks the brain and vision to build a team, also the players are chosen for reasons other then talent and the selections don't seem fair. We do not have any backup pacers at all, Sreesanth, RP, V Kumar are proven failures for different reasons,India should start rebuilding the team, Only two seniors selected in batting on a rotation or series basis to give Roohit , Virat, Pujara , Dhawan , Mukund, Murali the experience.Zaheer should be kept for test's and important tourney.Let Umesh , Aaron , Tyagi, Gony, Shukla, Shami, VRV, Dinda, Suyal be given chances.VRV , Gony, Dinda , TYagi , be one pacer along with Ishant or Zaheer, as they have more experience behind them and they can get acclimatized more easily. Let us focus players outside our core players based on the format they can be successfull in , t20 , one dayers , test's that way we will have a bigger pool and some good players can maybe build from t20 , one dayers to test, like Marsh , Warner,Kohli. Let us keeep an eye on bigger pool of players who might be raw but have potential , bowlers like Anwar Ahmed, Dudhat, Faiyaz,Rayudu, Valthaty , who might not have that much exposure but have the talent, these raw players should be monitored very closely for fitness and strength building and avoiding injuries. Let BCCI insure domestic tracks are sporting , focus more on DOMESTIC cricket , build a stronger more entertaining environment, exposure , live telecast , take a bit from IPL and build on the domestic game to make it more competetive and fun to watch , let the regional teams get rewards based on talent promotion and efforts. Let there be a wing which will cordinate , identify talent, nurse , groom , so these players build on the potential and also avoid injuries and know they are being looked after and grow as cricketers , I think that's where Englan has gained alot from .Selectors and Dhoni is poor interms of long term planning and thinking, More , Vengsarkar, Ganguly, Kirsten would have been ideal to take India forward from this stage.We all know Unadkat, V Kumar, P Kumar, Mithun , Sreesanth, is not the future if we want to go back to the top or atleast try to, as SA, aUSTRALIA, eNGLAND ARE ALL MAKING POSITIVE CHANGES AND iNDIA IS GOING THRU SLUMP DUE TO INJURIES AND BAD DECISIONS. SA is also guilty of their selections based on quota they have lost on soo much talent , they could easily be the number one side.Our domestic structure breeds mediocricity , prime examples, Badrinath , VKumar, Rohit Sharma, Gony, Dinda, Nechim, even Jaffer, are any day way better then these two but the mediocre guys seem to thrive in these environment. In Indian cricket positive changes happen thru luck , accidents, we were at the top not because of the Structure, BCCI , long term planning, because of 4 players who are all time greats, Laxman , Tendulkar, Dravid, Zaheer, also Sehwag who will be a g8 BY THE TIME HE RETIRES.dHONI OR sRIKANT DON'T DESERVE THAT MUCH CREDIT AT ALL, IT WAS PEOPLE BEFORE THEM WHO STARTED THIS , gANGULY, kIRSTEN , cHAPPEL TO SOME EXTENT, jOHN wRIGHT, mORE, vENGSARKAR. The only light at the end of the tunnel might be Fletcher, Ganguly maybe moving in the right direction, Selectors close to the end of their terms.Indians fans need to know there are no words or praise high enough for these seniors taking India to the top , not the BCCI or Dhoni,they all average around 75 plus last 3 to 4 years. Zaheer probably one of the best bowlers in last 3 to 4 years,this was all achieved despite ob BCCI AND DHONI,NOT BECAUSE OF THEM , yes Dhoni has a calm head and held the team together and is non controversial, but he lacks vision , taking risks, his selctions for playing 11 are doubtful , also he is not willing to change,Ganguly was a level above Dhoni, this is clearly from a cricket perspective not Dhoni bashing, how many players have we found with Dhoni , Srikant at the top?a captain who makes fun of his own bowlers, India need to look for new captain atleast in one dayers and then Dhoni cannot complain about being tired and play all Tamasha CRICKET.kAPIL dEV , gANGULY SEEM TO KNOW WHAT IS WRONG BUT THEY ALSO HAVE TO BE DEPLOMATIC,Kemble Iam not sure regarding a role in team coaching or admin because of TENVIC, I believe we need , Ganguly , Akram , Pont , a bowler to nurse and identify potential players , and take India forward. Domestic games are held in dust bowls, flat tracks, very bad umpiring , no LBW'S given bowlers loose out and the batsmen play acroos the line and get faulty techniques, bowlers need more help as it a surprise people try to bowl fast here, also with the scheduling of these games and no gap in between fast bowlers loose pace as they dont get rest and get into bad habits.

[Tiger80]

http://indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=272919 BCCI should install all these gadgets immediately for international as well national level players.Its surprising that BCCI is the richest body yet English and Aussie's make the best use of technology

[speed_demon]

On BCCI table today: fast, green tracks to tackle the rising ball Learning lessons from the defeat to England over the summer, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is considering issuing a fiat to curators to prepare green tracks for under-14 and under-16 tournaments. At a meeting called by BCCI joint secretary Sanjay Jagdale in Indore last Saturday, curators from three zones Venkat Sundaram (North), Sudhir Naik (West) and PR Vishwanathan (South) were summoned to discuss this plan for forthcoming junior tournaments. ŵhe BCCI henceforth wants all its junior matches to be played on grassy and bouncy tracks. The idea was proposed by Jagdale after seeing the way we struggled in England. For now the idea is to implement it only in junior cricket, a top BCCI official said. Jagdale, a former first class cricketer, believes that attempting to change the style of U-19 and first class players wonÃÕ be feasible immediately. He was scheduled to consult Sourav Ganguly, technical committee chief, and the matter will be put up at the working committee meeting in Kolkata tomorrow. Several curators believe that laying pacy tracks may not be easy at venues where the soil is not right. There is also the possibility of state associations interfering, since home teams often prepare pitches based on their strength, which could be spin. Ŷ-14 and U-16 matches mainly happen in state associations alternative grounds, where pitches tend to be either batsmen-friendly or rank turners. We discussed these issues, but it is a good development for the future of Indian cricket, said one curator who attended the meeting. The BCCI will ensure that zone curators monitor the laying of the wicket for junior tournaments along with local curators. űroblems with facing the short ball wonÃÕ disappear overnight. We have to go back to the basics and if the next generation gets into the habit of playing short balls early, then some years down the line we will have fewer problems, said the board official.

[panther]

is it possible?

[ganeshran]

Atleast the BCCI is trying to do something. I doubt if grassy tracks can be prepared given our soil and weather.

[MCcricket]

Given the technology and know how that is now available, also the soil could be brought in from certain locations which will make a good sporting wicket.

[gakgupta]

good thought .... lets see how far it will be implemented

[BeautifulGame]

Duleep trohy too should be played in these type of pitches IMO.With the money and technology available to BCCI today it isnt hard to produce these sort of wickets in idia.