Tuesday, January 31, 2012

India’s summer struggles

Summer only comes around once a year, but the Indian cricket team had a taste of two within six months and both proved to be unhappy ones.

After four Test defeats in England between July and August last year, they then lost another four in Australia just recently. On both occasions two were by an innings and none of them were really very close contests. It has been a painful experience for the fans to see what was the number one Test team fall and questions, demands and pleas have all been doing the rounds. Should MS Dhoni be stripped of the captaincy? Or booted out of the Test team altogether? What about Virender Sehwag? The famed trio of VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar have also come in for some stick. And do not forget Gautam Gambhir or Ishant Sharma.

Who should stay or go is not within our remit, but what we can do is have a look at the performances of the players during these two big tours that India went on.

Whatever criticisms have been levelled against Dravid during the Australia tour - scoring less than 200 runs, averaging less than 25, having a poor strike rate and being bowled six out of eight times - one cannot forget his single-handed attempt at putting much-needed runs on the board in England. He hit three centuries there, the only Indian to reach triple figures, and was by far and away the best Indian batsman on the Castrol Index.

Tendulkar, too, did not have the worst of times on either tour; he hit two half-centuries each in England and Australia, but could never push on despite getting within sniffing distance of a century. Was it the pressure of that looming 100th international century? It could well have been, and it will be a big concern for India if it persists.

What might really worry India is the lack of form demonstrated by Gambhir and Laxman. The former managed just 102 runs in three Tests in England (an average of 17.00) and did little better in Australia, although he did notch up a fine half-century in Sydney. At least he made it to the top five against the Aussies; in England he was outperformed by both Amit Mishra and Praveen Kumar.

However, what is more of a surprise is the depth of the slump Laxman is in. When he scored just 182 runs in England, his fans could waive that off knowing that he would surely perform Down Under, his favourite place to bat in (he struck four centuries in 11 Tests there prior to this tour, his best ratio in any country). He had hit a century in each of his three previous tours, but could only manage one half-century on this one, garnering a series average of less than 20.

The bowling did not bring any joy for India, either. Zaheer Khan emerged as a tireless bowler and he had a pretty good series. His absence in England, due to injury, was a big blow, and who knows what problems Kumar could have posed the Aussies if he had been fit enough for the recent series. He was excellent in England, the only bowler to have an average of under 30.

Ishant Sharma bowled in both tours and did not get much reward. He could be considered unlucky, beating the edge on many occasions, but that might be the difference between good and great bowlers; the great ones get the edges.

Another disappointment for the Indians was how ineffectual Ravichandran Ashwin was versus Australia. He had a dream Test debut in India against the West Indies, firming up his claim to be India’s top spinner, but he made little headway against the Aussies. He was even outdone by Australia’s Nathan Lyon, a fellow off-spinner, who had a better average, economy rate and strike rate.

Still, he is a young man, just making his way into Test cricket. So is Umesh Yadav and Virat Kohli, and positives were to be found in all three. That is something, perhaps, for Indian fans to take away as they look to the future.

New beginning for Australia’s T20

They have held the Test champions crown, leading Test rankings for a record 74 months from 2003 to 2009, and they have held the ODI World Cup four times (another record!), but the only trophy that has eluded this champion side is the World Twenty20.

When George Bailey was named the captain of the Australian Twenty20 side for the two T20Is against India recently, there was a sense of shock and astonishment in the cricketing fraternity. How in the world can an Aussie side appoint a player, who hasn’t played a single international match in any format of the game, as the captain of the T20I side? This has never happened in the history of Australian cricket apart from their first Test match in 1877 in which Dave Gregory led the side!

Well, after the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 finals loss to England in West Indies, Australia have had a dismal record in the shortest format of the game as they have won only two out of the nine games played and lost seven. They lost both the T20Is against Pakistan in England in July 2010, lost the one-off match against Sri Lanka at home, drew the two-match series 1-1 at home against England, suffered heavy defeats in both the T20Is against Sri Lanka away and leveled the two match series 1-1 against South Africa in the Safari.
     
The aftermath was a disappointing fifth position behind England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa in the ICC rankings.

After Michael Clarke’s retirement from the shortest format, Cameron White was named the skipper of the side but he disappointed with the bat as well as his captaincy. He scored just 119 runs from six matches at an average of 19.83 and won just two games as captain. He followed it up with an abject performance in the Big Bash League, Australia’s premier domestic T20 tournament, scoring just 55 runs at an average of 7.85.
The need of the hour was a change and the Australian selectors have responded in a bold fashion by injecting freshness into the T20 side keeping in mind the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September later this year.

Bailey, who will lead the T20 side, is a perspicacious personality, a brilliant fielder and a handy hard-hitting middle order batsman. He is currently the captain of Tasmania in the domestic circuit. The reason for his appointment as a leader is his astute thinking which sets him apart from others. He is real captaincy material which can be confirmed from the fact that he has led Tasmania to a Sheffield Shield and a one-day title in the past two years. He also plays for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL).

David Warner, who is the vice-captain of the side, will add to the attacking instincts at the top order with his destructive hitting. He has a strike rate of 141.68 in T20 Internationals.

David Hussey, currently the highest run scorer in combined domestic as well as international T20s with 4185 runs, will add experience to the batting order while the likes of Aaron Finch and Travis Birt will get to learn a lot from this clever veteran. His effective off-spinners in the bowling department will be an added bonus.

Western Australian Shaun Marsh is an excellent prospect and can form a devastating opening pair with Warner. Daniel Christian will lead the all-rounder’s category with his monstrous hitting and clever medium pacers followed by Mitchell Marsh and James Faulkner, who has been called up to the national side on the back of some excellent performances in the BBL.

Victorian Matthew Wade will keep wickets in place of the ageing and out-of-form Brad Haddin adding agility and alacrity to the team. The fast bowling department will be spearheaded by the fast and the furious Brett Lee, who will add aggression as well as experience. Left-arm wrist spinner Brad Hogg, who makes a sensational comeback to international cricket after nearly four years, will bring the much needed variation in the spin bowling department; he along with Xavier Doherty will form the crux of Australia’s World T20 preparations owing to the spinning conditions in Sri Lanka this year.

So, a new beginning with a balanced side filled with exuberant youngsters and experienced campaigners! And a big job at hand. Yes, to bring home that elusive World T20 trophy which has been missing from their gleaming cabinet.