If India don't hurt, they won't rise

[King]

Rubbish.... Some you win some you lose, just a game of cricket and better team won. None died right?

[rkt.india]

India paid price for too much bravado: Nasser Hussain

India paid the price of thinking that preparing turning tracks would be enough to beat England in the just-concluded Test series as the visitors had better tweakers to exploit the dustbowls, feels former England captain Nasser Hussain. India lost 1-2 against England in the four-match series that concluded with a draw on Monday in Nagpur, which was dominated by the Alastair Cook's men. "India are not the side they were. If I was putting together a composite side from the two teams, I would start by picking the whole England attack. England, for once, had better spinners than India in Indian conditions," Hussain wrote in his column for 'The Daily Mail'. "The tourists were fitter, both physically and mentally, and hungrier for Test cricket. India would not have been able to take four wickets late in a day, after two sessions without a wicket, as England did on Saturday. "India went one up and just thought they could prepare a turning pitch and England would crumble. They showed too much bravado. And England made them pay very heavily indeed for that," he added. Looking back at the series, Hussain said England showed tremendous resolve to bounce back from the crushing nine-wicket loss in Ahmedabad. "...but the second innings there proved a turning point both in this series and in the future of this team. Without it things could look very different now." "...when Alastair Cook scored a big hundred in a losing cause in Ahmedabad in that second innings, things changed. It was the moment the captain said to his team: 'Hang on, there are no demons here. The ball is not spinning both ways. If we show some character, application and belief we can do this.' And since then the transformation has been astonishing," Hussain said. "Everything England have done since then has been right. And their business has been conducted in a quite ruthless manner. There has been no dilly-dallying, no worrying about reputations. This has been anything but a closed shop," he added. He praised spinner Monty Panesar and attacking batsman Kevin Pietersen -- both of whom turned it around for England in the second Test in Mumbai. "Tim Bresnan has been a very good cricketer for England but as soon as Cook and Andy Flower realised they had made a mistake in not picking Monty Panesar for the first Test, the Yorkshireman was gone. "England basically had to nail everything to win this series after going one down and they did it. Look at Kevin Pietersen. He was a frenetic wreck in the first Test and only had a couple of days to come up with a defensive technique against his old nemesis, left-arm spin. What happened? He went out and smashed 186 in Mumbai," he explained.

http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/53786/india-paid-price-for-too-much-bravado:-nasser-hussain/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=news&utm_campaign=gadget

[Chalks]

this is the new normal :dontknow: im so happpy today exam went well :yay:

Congrats, kid. :two_thumbs_up:

[King]

Change of attitude and culture needed to move forward It seems like everyone in the Indian team is fighting job security barring a couple. Courage and confidence was evident in the way England played their game. England made mistakes but they knew it could be corrected over 4 test match series. India played it safe and lacked confidence in their own judgement. While England accepted their mistakes and developed a sound decision making with regards to selections India lacked conviction through out the test series in their selection and pitches. At a macro level, it was just the determination to win I'd say. England as the series unfolded looked more determined than India to win the series. They had great incentive I'd have to say. With each test match, the expectations grew for England and with it they found more confidence meanwhile India started to feel as if it was a struggle and entire world was against them (curators in particular). If India has to move on from this and make a claim to the top they will need to create a good winning environment. They will need to learn and grow through this adversity. The only true comfort really lies in being uncomfortable, be it having to face seamers repeatedly or having to bowl on flat tracks to highly skilled batsmen. Both the batsmen and the bowlers will find a way if they are repeatedly challenged. Trying to control the pitches every game is not the best way to go around. This creates a comfort level for the team and they will ease into mediocrity. They will feel as if they are victims and blame other people for their loses. Failures are not always pleasant but is necessary to bring about a change in culture. Rather than focus on how not to fail India should focus on how to win against any team in any condition. This will create potential solutions and problem solving abilities for winning around the world rather than failure prevention that we saw so much of in the 90s.

[Debutant]

This guy is trying to fill the great void left by the legend of ICF Sir John :peter:

[Needforspeed]

Stop crying inside..If you cry from the outside you will start feeling better. And accept the fact that this Indian team is total crap and will get worse. Once it hits bottom, then the only way to go will be up..:two_thumbs_up:

[CG]

Really only a huge overhaul will bring about any change in attitude and determination.A Team is as good as its captain,But a Team is also a reflection of the captain .Dhoni laidback approach both in training and on field has just breed casualness.Its sad to see people laughing around after dropping catches.There seems a lack of accountability which has made guys careless.Its hard road for india but with a change in team management we might just make the road easier to cross.

[rkt.india]

Really only a huge overhaul will bring about any change in attitude and determination.A Team is as good as its captain' date='[b']But a Team is also a reflection of the captain .Dhoni laidback approach both in training and on field has just breed casualness. Its sad to see people laughing around after dropping catches.There seems a lack of accountability which has made guys careless.Its hard road for india but with a change in team management we might just make the road easier to cross.

:two_thumbs_up:

[rkt.india]

If India don't hurt, they won't rise

The time for fudging is over. In dealing India the kind of defeat that no one, including the most optimistic England fans, would have seen coming, England have bestowed on India a favour: all possible escape clauses have been removed. Indian cricket has no choice now but to look deep within and confront the magnitude of this failure. Defeat, it is said with good reason, is a far better teacher than victory. It is impossible to say if the outcome of this series would have been any different if India had absorbed the lessons from their serial disasters overseas last season; but perhaps they might have approached the series with a keener sense of reality. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a remarkable man in many ways. His ability to isolate himself, and by extension his younger team-mates, from the cacophony that surrounds Indian cricket, has helped him, for the most part, keep his balance and stay as the pivot of Indian cricket. Even at the worst times he has retained his composure around the team. He could be faulted on tactics, but to lead the Indian cricket team, you need a thick hide and nerves of steel. Dhoni was the leader India needed. But there is a thin line between insouciance and being blasé. Somewhere in the torrent of defeats, and in the scramble to make sense of them, this line has been obscured, and reason and perspective have been lost. It's impossible to know what Dhoni really thinks of the defeats that have piled up under his watch in recent times, but if you went by his public posture, you'd think he believes them to have been outside his control. So the 8-0 wasn't because India lacked energy and fitness, or skills were waning with advancing age, or the players didn't give themselves the best chance to prepare, or the fast bowlers had regressed and the spinners couldn't spin the ball anymore. It was because their opponents laid out pitches that discriminated against India. After India had been bowled out inside 63 overs on the first day at Edgbaston, the Indian camp, which contained a coach with intimate knowledge of English conditions, let it be known that rarely had there been a pitch that afforded so much seam movement. At the end of the first day, England had careened to 84 without loss, and they ended that innings at 710 for 7. In their second go, India slumped to 89 for 6 before Dhoni and Praveen Kumar took them past 200. A similar vein ran through the tour of Australia: the pitches had been spiced up, they had more pace and carry, and even the Sydney Cricket Ground had no spin. And when the time came for India to return empty-handed from the World Twenty20, Dhoni reflected on the cruelty of the format. What, in the final analysis, had cost India a place in the semi-finals was a heavy defeat to Australia, which Dhoni, staggeringly, blamed on the wet ball. Batting first, India scored only 140, and Australia knocked off the runs in 15 overs, losing just one wicket, when they were on the doorstep of victory. Yes, it did rain at the break, but India still opened the bowling with a spinner, and Irfan Pathan, who had opened the batting ahead of six specialist batsmen (and consumed 30 balls in scoring 31), came on fourth change with the ball. The external pressures make captaining India the toughest job in world cricket, and perhaps owning up to mistakes and shortcomings is much harder in an environment inflamed with passion, and one in which people are prone to exaggeration. But a feeling has grown that so cloistered has this Indian team become that it has started believing its own excuses. Through its miserable run outside its own shores, a sense of indignation had been building up within the team: let them come to our backyard, we'll show them. Series wins against West Indies and New Zealand at home kept this belief alive, but even in these contests, India failed to see the signs. West Indies stretched them in Delhi, and might have beaten them in Mumbai. Twice India conceded big first-innings leads, and their spinners looked out of depth for large stretches. Despite the 2-0 scoreline, even New Zealand ran India close: in the second Test, they were a wicket away from causing panic on the final day. The decline of the Indian Test team has perhaps been unstoppable, but the process has been exacerbated by denial England have left India with no place to hide. The last time before this that India lost a series at home, it was to one of the greatest teams of all time. Back then, India competed better. They got themselves into a position to win the Test in Chennai before the rain came, and in Nagpur, Australia were gifted a pitch that played to their strengths. England are a good team but not yet a great one. They are a resilient, spirited and committed group with some skilful bowlers, a couple of resolute top-order players, and one great batsman. They were hopeless against spin in three out of their last four Tests in the subcontinent before this series, and were outplayed at home by South Africa. But they ended up beating India, thoroughly and decisively, at their own game. Their spinners outbowled the Indian ones by a ridiculous margin, their fast bowlers produced better reverse swing, their batsmen showed greater application and flair, and they had the superior wicketkeeper-batsman. After losing by ten wickets in Mumbai on a pitch made to order to doom England, India were driven to despondency over how to find a way back into the series. In reality, it was their starkest moment of truth. Externally, they had everything under control. England had been denied practice against spin in the lead-up to the series; at Mumbai, India's captain had demanded, and been provided with, the pitch he wanted; they had picked three spinners; and even the coin had rolled their way. Yet they had been outspun and outbatted. Kolkata was an inevitability; the force had already been drained out of Indian cricket. The decline of the Indian Test team has perhaps been unstoppable, but the process has been exacerbated by denial. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were never going to be easily replaced, and the time has come for India to look beyond Sachin Tendulkar too, but the frightening thing is that they haven't produced a world-class spinner since Harbhajan Singh. Every crisis can be an opportunity. Indian cricket can start by recognising the current one as such. Dhoni, as has become customary with him, sought to scale down the magnitude of this defeat by terming the 2007 World Cup a bigger disaster. In the absence of a better alternative, Dhoni could still be the man to lead India in the near future, but India can't start rising until they accept how low they have sunk. Indian cricket has the financial might to bend the rest of the world game to its will. But the real wealth lies in the quality of cricket its players produce on the field. In business terms, the Indian national team is the biggest asset of Indian cricket, and the cricket it plays is its most valuable product. With its wealth, passion and pool of players, there can be no excuses for India not producing a world-class team in every form of cricket. For Indian cricket to renew itself, this defeat must hurt. It should rankle. And the way forward can only be forged with honesty, foresight, the humility to accept inadequacies, and the courage to address them. The team to play the next Test for India needs to be picked not merely with the next series in mind but the next season. The Tendulkar question will hang heavy, but it will be, as has been suggested widely, unfair to leave the answer to him. Indian cricket owes him gratitude, but not the burden of a perpetual debt. India's fall has been swift and dramatic. But the regeneration could be slow and painful. It would require commitment, perseverance and patience. Even to the most gifted, success has never come easy.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/597649.html

[Sooda]

One thing that annoys me about Mr Bal is that there are very few actual solutions offered. He is great at telling us whats wrong- but that bit is obvious to everyone. Itd be nice if, as 'Editor', he could suggest what exactly needs to be done to sort it out. In his view anyway. On that count Akash Chhopra is much better ... well, perhaps because he is a former pro...

[King Khan]

Does OP know that match fixing, spot fixing, buying out umpires.. etc these are reality in cricket as well, no need to put your soft emotions spoil into these entertainment shows. Its just a sport played by few performers who are paid for it. Feeling too much depressed?, Lit up a joint and enjoy :winky:

[rkt.india]

One thing that annoys me about Mr Bal is that there are very few actual solutions offered. He is great at telling us whats wrong- but that bit is obvious to everyone. Itd be nice if' date= as 'Editor', he could suggest what exactly needs to be done to sort it out. In his view anyway. On that count Akash Chhopra is much better ... well, perhaps because he is a former pro...

Every expert and most former cricketers do the same. To give solutions, they need to watch domestic cricket because that is the only laboratory which gives solutions.

[rkt.india]

Who wants to follow a losing team?

They say that if you fail to prepare, you must prepare to fail. This couldnÃÕ be truer for sports, for thereÃÔ always a time to think and prepare and then act and execute. Cricket also functions on the same premise. This preparation, which is both physical and mental, must happen in the pre-match stretch, while the implementation is left for when the contest begins. The most important pre-requisite of good preparation is honesty, for a less than 100 per cent truthful appraisal is akin to not preparing at all. ItÃÔ imperative to identify your strengths, weaknesseses and have a plan B ready in case of an unlikely event. If youÃ×e done your homework, nothing should come as a surprise. Unfortunately, preparation has never been IndiaÃÔ forte. Instead, Indian players and officials alike have developed a unique ability to constantly live in denial. Even before one starts to probe the slip-ups, itÃÔ important to remember all the changes, however cosmetic, that were made months and years ago. Things that were beyond oneÃÔ control, like the pitch, the opposition, the umpiring etc, all as possible explanations for that particular failure, must also be remembered. If you refuse to accept that thereÃÔ a need to change, the results are unlikely to change either. When India got hammered in Australia and England, ÃÕhe people who mattered used the theory of ÃÇast pitches leading to our downfall as a cover-up for the debacle. They never conceded that these failures reflected a collective decline of the team. They were still bullish about their enviable home record. They even vowed to ÃÕeach these teams a lesson in playing on dusty pitches the next time they toured India. Well, England learnt their lessons after their drubbing against Pakistan and came well prepared. On the contrary, India continued with a woefully out-of-form batting line-up hoping that theyÃÅ come good against England. And just to make matters worse, IndiaÃÔ captain Dhoni started demanding a rank-turner everywhere he went. Lack of preparation and planning has thus illustrated, barring the first Test match at Motera (which feels like light years ago), that England have comprehensively beaten us in all departments. Their batsmen displayed better application and temperament, their spinners performed with a better technique and proved that legacy counts for precious little if it isnÃÕ protected and passed on to the next generation. Their fast bowlers also exploited and squeezed out every little drop of life from the ÃÃifeless Indian pitches. Their relentless aggression with the ball made our batting look really ordinary. Alastair Cook led the team by example and showed his batting unit how the job is supposed to be done in India. While England surprised all and sundry with their determination and skill to conquer the final frontier, IndiaÃÔ cup of woes has been overflowing for a long time, and hence another failure shouldnÃÕ come as a surprise. It confirms that perhaps we werenÃÕ honest with ourselves while preparing for this home season. The time for action is over, now is the time to put the thinking cap on. Indian cricket has reached its nadir and making a few radical changes with regards to the personnel wonÃÕ change the fortunes (not suggesting that we stick to the same lot), but itÃÔ time to do an in-depth analysis to identify the problems and address them. After the England and Australia debacle, the average Indian fan was disappointed, but now he or she is turning angry and soon will become indifferent. If we turn a blind eye to this predicament again, it will alienate Indian fans completely. Who wants to follow a team that loses all the time?

http://gulfnews.com/sport/cricket/who-wants-to-follow-a-losing-team-1.1120187

[Sandeep99]

Even dogs roar when they win.. lols! On a serious note, India deserves all the criticism that comes their way.. have a lot to play for in the future series'!

[superstar]

Now these people will say the same thing for another 2 years.....crush them in the ODI and give them the finger in IPL...boob KP out of IPL.

[Number]

Now these people will say the same thing for another 2 years.....crush them in the ODI and give them the finger in IPL...boob KP out of IPL.

I am sure they give a feck about Indian pajama league.

[vvvslaxman]

Now these people will say the same thing for another 2 years.....crush them in the ODI and give them the finger in IPL...boob KP out of IPL.

:hmmmm2:

[amiret]

Now these people will say the same thing for another 2 years.....crush them in the ODI and give them the finger in IPL...boob KP out of IPL.

Rajiv Shukla or Srinivasan's boob ?:haha:

[amiret]

India paid price for too much bravado: Nasser Hussain http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/53786/india-paid-price-for-too-much-bravado:-nasser-hussain/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=news&utm_campaign=gadget

I agree .We displayed a repugnant level of hubris and arrogance after the success of the IPL and the WC win. The selectors refused to acknowledge our failings and make drastic changes even after the 8-0 thrashing in Eng & Aus. Now we have been well and truly Humbled by England at home.

[its me]

For Indian cricket to renew itself, this defeat must hurt. It should rankle. And the way forward can only be forged with honesty, foresight, the humility to accept inadequacies, and the courage to address them.:two_thumbs_up: