Age old Indian problems: Injured pacers, opening woes - Javagal Srinath

[DesiChap]

As the Indian team prepares for one of the most arduous battles in world cricket, an ardent follower would definitely look into the run- up to this all important series. In the last one year, Indian cricket has seen some astonishing turn of events. It all started from the departure of the seemingly imperious coach Greg Chappel after the disastrous World-cup. Greg's exit from Indian cricket left serious doubts in the minds of both, the players and the management on the rationale of hiring a foreign coach. A Test series victory in England followed by a stunning T20 world cup triumph was just the beginning of few good things to follow. The doubters of Indian cricket witnessed a resiliently fought Australian home series and a convincing double win against arch rivals Pakistan recently. Taking away the reins from a tired Rahul Dravid, two new captains in young Dhoni and the veteran Anil Kumble have proved equal to the task. All the good things have happened in the absence of a so called coach. All collected data points to the meaningful involvement of the seniors which has paved way for the Indian success. But will the backdrop of having played some good cricket in the recent past propel the Indian team to do something unusual in winning an ever formidable test series down under? Before I do a brief SWOT analysis of our team, let me congratulate Anil on his initial success as a captain. It would have been travesty of all sorts had Anil not captained the Indian side in his illustrious 15 years of cricket. The age old problems of Indian cricket, the wanting of a solid opener and the form and fitness of the fast bowlers continues to haunt endlessly. Although Sehwag, more than Dinesh Karthik can claim stake along side renewed Jaffer, the Indian think tank seems to be more inclined to go with Rahul Dravid as the opener. With Yuvraj coming good in tests, some changes would be imminent at the top order. Here again the previous captain and the Coach could be blamed for poor thinking in making all and sundry open and also mindless shuffling lead to the chaotic batting order. Stop gap opener like Dinesh Karthik, who could have been a good resource at number six or seven as a wicket keeper batsman, was pushed to do the specialist job of an opener. Inadequacies in his technique have made the Indian team management to fall back on Rahul Dravid to do the job. Rahul might have reluctantly agreed to open the innings. But at the bottom of his heart he knows that the situation in which he finds himself, is his own making. The second worrying part is the ever growing injury list of fast bowlers. Intermittent international cricket is no good for any cricketer. Injury to a cricketer not only puts his own career in jeopardy but also throws the team's long term plan out of gear. A strong message needs to be communicated to the new set of fast bowlers that injured players will be treated on par with players who are out-of-form. At times the sympathy that comes with the injury gives enough room for complacency. One good show followed by a string of injuries has been the trend of many recent fast bowlers. Now at the beginning of such an important series, Anil Kumble can't even count 3 fit fast bowlers on his fingers. Never the less lets hope that the Rookies will do a miracle. http://www.cricketnext.com/news/age-old-indian-problems-injured-pacers-opening-woes/28504-13.html