Indian cricket in 2012 : All tunnel, no light

[1983-2011]

What will 2013 bring for Indian Cricket? not what you hoping for but how do you think India will perform and new players that you think will come in. I think we'll win ODI series against Pakistan and England. We will also beat Australia in the test series. I think the next coach will be non-Indian.

[zen]

An astrology thread :P I am more interested if, in 2013, we can develop a good strategy and infrastructure that serve as a spring board to induct quality cricketers Also I would want cricketers to take the initiative to develop and/or improve their games. These guys earn millions but can they not invest some money in hiring a decent personal coach who can help them with their technique against short ball, improve the bowling and fielding

[The Realist]

Cricinfo article: All tunnel, no light All tunnel, no light In 2012, India sank to nadirs long unvisited, and the future doesn't look much better than bleak either Sharda Ugra January 1, 2013 http://www.espncricinfo.com/review2012/content/story/598811.html If 2011 brought the first signs of trouble, 2012 offered proof that hell has officially broken loose in MS Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher's India. Their more serious relationship is with the fact that they had better accept being a middling Test team. They must now accept the ICC's current assessment that they are the No. 5 Test team in the world. A review of India's 2012 in Test cricket sounds much like the 2011 version. Same old same old. Except, in the year ahead, there won't be much of the old to lean back on - either for runs or wickets and/or target practice. Short of sending up a rescue flare, 2012 did all it could to give the Indian Test team and its governors every sign that a leadership change - captain and/ or coach - was required in time for the next series, against Australia. Damning article that covers many brutal truths. Sad thing is little will change under the current regime. There is no light at the end of this tunnel.

[King Tendulkar]

"In addition to the defeat came what can only be called the BCCI's thought-policing. During the India v England series, the TV commentators on the world feed were issued an unwritten diktat from a Propaganda Committee (Prop-Comm): there is to be no talking on air about the DRS and no talking about selection. Raising the question: then why keep score? Scorecards and stats are so damned inconvenient on the screen. Get the numbers out of the way and all the questions will vanish. " WTF

[CG]

Good article.The way ganguly used to have wry smile ,when manjrekar,shastri were talking about dhoni tells it all.

[rkt.india]

Annus horribilis for Indian cricket

A quick review of 2012 will undoubtedly show that this has been year annus horribilis for Indian cricket. After having risen to the top of the Test rankings in 2009 and winning the World Cup in 2011, Indian cricket, sits today like Humpty Dumpty with a crack head. The wall that Humpty was sitting on was brittle. We knew that four stalwarts; Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan were in the twilight of their remarkable careers. We were also aware that our present batsmen - barring Virat Kohli - were uncomfortable while facing the 'perfume ball.' And, lastly, it was an open secret that our bowling cupboard was as bare as that of Old Mother Hubbard. There were many worrying signs during the tour of England and Australia - lack of a good opening partnership, the flagging middle order and the absence of penetrative, strike bowlers, both medium pace and spin. The captain, they always say, is as good as his team. It was sad, throughout the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons, to see Dhoni literally hiding some senior pros in safe boundaryline positions. Apart from the brilliance shown by Kohli, the rest of the fielding unit can, at best, be described as ordinary, almost club level. Having said that, injuries to quick, young bowlers like Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav did put Dhoni on the back foot and his mind-set changed from being an aggressive captain to a defensive one. The Indian team and administration seemed confident that beating New Zealand, England and Australia in India will once again hoodwink fans into believing that the boys-in-blue are back on track. Team England played with a plan, an allround one that countered every move that Indian players would make on the crumbling chess board. The moment Mahendra Singh Dhoni asked hosting associations for turners, the England think-tank must have known he was a worried man. All they needed was a foot in the door to take charge. Responsible batting by captain Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen coupled with superb bowling by spin-twins Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar and controlled reverse swing by James Anderson slowly but surely broke India's back. One finds it surprising that Indian coach Duncan Fletcher didn't see it coming. If he did raise the red flag, before the start of the series, it may be a well-kept secret. Surprising, because it was Fletcher and Flower who hatched the plan for the resurrection of English cricket after they were beaten by a depleted New Zealand side at home in 1999. The two Zimbabweans along with Hugh Morris, a former England cricketer and who was the Managing Director of the ECB, drew a blue print for English cricket that included critical changes in leadership along with innovations in training and preparation that took them to No 1 in Tests. Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indian-cricket-shameful-defeats-ms-dhoni-tendulkar-fletcher/1/240141.html

[rkt.india]

Cricket rot needs stemming

It was waiting to happen. It was just a question of time. Even as the Indian Test team was on its last legs, the men who control cricket in India had no time for taking stock, busy as they were at the bourses. The cash registers were continuously ringing. India, had become the El Dorado for all comers, including stars of yore who had shunned India during their playing days were coming to our land in droves, willing to coach even a small state team, not to mention an IPL team. The new powerhouse of world cricket made the old order ones dance to its tunes. They had taken over as the bullies in world cricket and the ICC was reduced to BCCIÃÔ hand-maiden. Successes of the sophomores, the Under 19 World Cup victory for example, made them vainer and lulled them into feeling that they could do no wrong. There was no time to strategise, to look ahead. There is little doubt that IndiaÃÔ talent pool is humongous considering the popularity of the game in the country. The challenge is to take this success to the next level particularly Test cricket, the real cricket. No doubt we have in BCCI one of the best administered sports bodies, the world over. BCCIÃÔ current hegemony has been aided no end by the masses of our countryÃÔ love for cricket coupled with the declining interest for the game in countries like England and West Indies. However, sadly, the best administered body has not taken time to step back and look at the talent pipeline and convert the precocious talent coming forth into hardened men who can withstand the rigours of a five day Test match. The last 18 months has seen Indian cricket touch its lowest point in more than four decades. And this after attaining the No 1 position in Tests makes it very sad. The drubbing at the hands of England and Australia followed by the recent humiliation at home should shake up BCCI into action. The time has now come- to think long term. Will the administrators and selectors respond? Can Dhoni do a Border? Australia was in a similar situation post Packer and following the exit of the Chappells, Dennis Lillee, Geoff Marsh and the vacuum that came about in the wake of their retirement. Border stitched together a new team, right from scratch so much so that they were billed underdogs against India in the 1985-86 series at home, down under. India is in a similar state now. Border built the new team with talented young legs such as Steve Waugh, David Boon, Craig McDermott, followed by Mark Waugh and Ian Healy who in due course formed the core of the Aussie renaissance, an initiation, which has continued to flourish for close to two decades now. Virat Kohli has the guts and gumption of a Steve Waugh. Gautam Gambhir, if made part of the think tank, can be IndiaÃÔ boon. Cheteshwar Pujara is the kind of cricketer any captain would love to have. In Umesh Yadav, Dhoni has a McDermott. Now is the time for India to send their talented greenhorns to the pack of wolves and see which of them emerge strong. The likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami Ahmed, Harmeet Singh, Unmukt Chand and Muralidharen Gautam have in them talent that could make them world beaters, if developed with care. Even the forgotten prodigious talent of Ambati Rayudu can be a part of this build-up. Dhoni should be given the mandate by the selectors of being aggressive. India could lose a little more in the initial process of the build-up, but that is okay because it is from the hot kitchen that hardened steel will emerge. Spin talents should be carefully nurtured as they tend to fall by the wayside or become defensive tending to bowl flat with the increased T20 games. IPL is good for providing financial stability to a budding cricketer but robs the talent in him. More so, if he is a spinner. This is the care we got to take when we blood talents like Harmeet. Dhoni should be the leader of this pack but should be given a free hand. I stress this because the cry of DhoniÃÔ head has already begun. Selectors should encourage the team to be aggressive not just in terms of pumping up and that sort of body language but making Dhoni and the youngsters pick up the gauntlet whenever there is a chance. Though not in the way Dhoni threw in the towel and settled for a draw, as the reigning No 1 team, against a lowly West Indies team last year requiring 80-odd runs in 15 overs with 5 wickets in hand did. A defeatist mind-set that would have made the best leaders such as Taylor, Ponting or Imran squirm. But how do we expect the senior team to possess killer instinct when the youngsters in domestic cricket do not wish to go through the grind? Aggression and killer instinct should get internalised at a very early stage in a cricketerÃÔ life. The absence of these virtues was brought out in a recent Ranji Trophy game when Mumbai having a lead of 305 runs against Saurashtra in an important game for them did not enforce the follow-on but chose to bat out the possible 50 overs. We need to summarily condemn such approach or attitude. Making Saurashtra bat again, would have given the Mumbai bowlers a real match situation to squeeze out a victory from a draw and for the Saurashtra batsmen to fight for a draw getting the best efforts from all going up to the wire. It is here that the administration should step in decisively to curb these defeatist make up with an iron hand. So many ways BCCI can turn a new page. But are the powers-that-be of Indian cricket listening?

http://postnoon.com/2013/01/01/cricket-rot-needs-stemming/99357

[bharat297]

I agree with most points except that Virat Kohli is our only good fielder. Raina, Jadeja, and R.Sharma are good fielders too. But as a whole, we've never been a good fielding side.

[NareshK]

The current ODI side, other than Ashwin and Sehwag are good fielders.

[The Dark Horse]

You mean indian cricket is hit in the *****?

[Tridibans_16]

At first glance, I though there is an extra 'n' in the first word of the title. On second thought, I wouldn't shy away calling our batsmen that on recent form

[amiret]

Annus horribilis for Indian cricket

Sore Annus for 1.2 billion Indian cricket fans.

[vamos_rafa]

Ye Parinneti chopra ki profile pic wale log kuch badhte nahi ja rahe? :hmmm:

[Tridibans_16]

Ye Parinneti chopra ki profile pic wale log kuch badhte nahi ja rahe? :hmmm:

I was the second person after the fake fan (Sidhoni). :hitler: Everybody copied me

[Tridibans_16]

I agree with most points except that Virat Kohli is our only good fielder. Raina' date=' Jadeja, and R.Sharma are good fielders too. But as a whole, we've never been a good fielding side.[/quote'] In the current side, players like Sharma, Ashwin, Sehwag, Dinda negate the work done by Kohli, Rohit, Raina. Hence it balance out and we are a mediocre fielding unit.

[vamos_rafa]

I was the second person after the fake fan (Sidhoni). :hitler: Everybody copied me

Ok. Nonetheless this pic is far better than the nanha sardar ji you had before :winky:

[Rohit S. Ambani]

Anus Horrible? What weird phrase.