Friday, August 12, 2011

What is Wrong with the Indian Cricket Team?

A little more than 4 months ago, I was ecstatic at what my favourite cricket team had achieved. We had won the world cup and were the number one side in test cricket. The Board of Control for Cricket in India was (still is) the strongest and the richest board in the world. Our batsmen were the best, bowling better than most and even the captain was considered the coolest and smartest. In short everything was shining and success and glory was everywhere you looked. Be it ODIs, test cricket or even the T20 in which we had the most attractive domestic tournaments in the world (the IPL).
So what has changed since then? Why do I need to write a blog post about things that are wrong with this team? In the last 3 weeks this team has been humbled by an English team who have been rising steadily and improving remarkably for some time now. The way the English won the last Ashes spoke a lot about the quality of their test team. It is understandable that India are missing a few crucial performers due to injury and fatigue but that can not be taken as an excuse for a poor showing. So what is wrong with this team?
First and foremost, this Indian team is not improving in skill and quality. In my opinion every player in this team has given their best performances in the past and yes I am counting the youngsters as well. Unless they work on their technique and skill I don't see them giving a better performance in the future. Even SRT, Dravid and Laxman need to give world class performances everytime they step in or else their ageing bodies will take a toll on the team. Secondly, the team is tired at this point of time because of lack of bench strength. So many players play all the three formats throughout the year and it causes mental and physical fatigue. Change of coaching staff may also have an impact and what Duncan Fletcher will do to change that remains to be seen. Mind also goes to the fact that after so much success, have the players forgotten what it was to work hard in times of hardship? I hope not but I fear they have.

Dropped catches in the third session of the day speaks of low confidence and concentration, which you don't really associate with the Wall. Lethargic body language and hands in the pocket were so common in the field. This post should not be considered as a criticism in bad times, because we all have done that a lot. We Indians love to hack the team when they don't do well, but this is something totally different. This performance is so bad I can say for sure, I have never seen such shoddiness in my lifetime. Comments and replies are most welcome.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

your absolutely right. they seem so weak now.