Indian cricket
Time for stocktaking
By Abhijit Chatterjee

OMETHING must be terribly wrong with Indian cricket these days. At home we notch up win after win, no matter how strong the opposition, series after series while abroad we are led like lambs for slaughter in match after match as has

In fact, it will be of no use if somebody or the other is blamed for India’s debacle Down Under. There will be no use if the powers that be in the BCCI go on a witch-hunt, trying to pin the responsibility for the defeat on say the cricket manager, Kapil Dev, or even the skipper, Sachin Tendulkar, who would probably like to forget the tour of Australia like a bad dream. But then Kapil, as also Sachin, must have to necessarily share part of the blame for India’s miserable showing in Australia. And given the state of the relation between Lele and Kapil Dev, it should surprise no one if Kapil is unable to complete his two-year term as cricket manager.

Soon after Kapil Dev was appointed cricket manager by the general body of the BCCI, differences surfaced between the BCCI Secretary and him on minor issues and they are threatening to rip apart India’s cricketing fabric. The board Secretary had reportedly said that India would lose the Test series 3-0 (he later denied having said so) and had also gone on record to say that Kapil was exceeding his brief when he invited Ajit Agarkar to attend nets when India were playing New Zealand at home a couple of months ago. For a Board flush with funds how does it matter if a couple of thousands are spent on providing DA/TA to a player? Kapil, on his part, has communicated with the BCCI President instead of the Secretary on every issue.

In any case Kapil Dev has a larger than life image in the annals of Indian cricket. But it is apparent that he is yet to learn the wheels within wheels in the Indian cricket set-up. Even the one-time greatest allrounder of the world will obviously not be given a free hand in running the Indian team, what to speak of Indian cricket, as he had once suggested. What the board should do is to allow the cricket manager a free hand during his tenure and not interfere in matters concerning cricket. And if he cannot deliver in the given time schedule, he should be sacked. But during his tenure he should not be disturbed. But that is easier said than done, given the fact that the Board officials have very little technical knowledge of the game they administer.

A lot of people are already saying that captaincy is not Sachin’s cup of tea. "A good batsman is not necessarily a good captain. The West Indies team with the likes of Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Brian Lara could not escape ignominy," they point out. Four years ago when Sachin was given the job for the first time after India’s poor showing in the Wills World Cup, one felt he was too young to handle the pressure, especially when the team toured abroad. But now when he is 26 everybody felt that he was cut out for the job, given the fact that the cricketing world rates his talent only next to the legendary Don Bradman in batting skills. But batting skills alone are not enough to make a captain. He must be able to guide and nurture the squad and in that department Sachin has shown a number of shortcomings. Also, Sachin can only deliver if all the 11 members of the squad play like a team, which by all reckoning they have not done in Australia. It is now for the BCCI to find out why this happened ?

And that will still take a lot of doing given the fact that the players are still divided along regional lines. So much so that the players often speak in a number of languages while on the ground. (Compare this with any other team who all speak in a common language. Even the West Indies squad which has players from different countries speak a common language — English). Not only that, captaincy has also affected Sachin’s batting and his string of low scores (at least by his very high standards) in Australia speaks of the mental pressure he is under. But then it will be extremely foolhardy of the captain to expect every member of the team to bat like him. Sachin is a complete cricketer and has immense belief in himself (remember the last over bowled by him against South Africa in the Hero Cup semi-final at the Eden Garden). How this aspect is to be tackled has to be looked into by the people who run the game in the country provided they can bury their own likes and dislikes. But is it possible, given the fact that every year the BCCI elections sees so much of politicking ?

There were too many glaring discrepancies in Sachin’s leadership in Australia, and now that he is no longer a rookie captain he is getting a lot of flak for it. For example, in a crucial tie against Pakistan India were fined two overs for slow over rate; wicketkeeper Sameer Dighe, playing his first one-day international, was sent in to bat at No 3 when Srinath was in the squad and he consumed 25 balls for three runs; and one must remember that Srinath has in the past has come off very good as pinch-hitter; spinner Nikhil Chopra replaced injured Ajit Agarkar on a pacer’s wicket and did not get a single over. On the other hand, Debashish Mohanty was played in a spinner-friendly wicket and got a pasting. A player like Sunil Joshi got a single match (and that too due to injury to Anil Kumble) and somebody whom even Kapil rated so highly —Tamil Nadu’s T. Kumaran— was not fielded in the tri-series and was sent back home.

For the first time the captain and the cricket manager got the team they wanted with the selection committee (whose five members together have played fewer Tests and one-dayers than Kapil Dev or Sachin Tendulkar) bowing to their diktats. Therefore, senior players like Nayan Mongia and Mohammad Azharuddin were shown the door while players like Sameer Dighe and Hrishikesh Kanitkar (the Mumbai connection!) were included in the squad with no thought being given to the conditions that the team would face in Australia. While in India the fastest of bowlers can send the ball marginally above the knees, in Australia even an ordinary medium pacer can make the ball fly past the shoulders on the hard strips. It made the task of the Indian team all the more difficult.

It is apparent that Sachin got a weak team for the tour but then he asked for it. It is of no use saying now that the Indian team was the most inexperienced in recent times, by Sachin’s own admission. The captain and the cricket manager had sought the team. It is really a pity that the selectors did not put their foot down and insisted that the best possible players be sent to Australia. By agreeing to the exclusion of players like Ajay Jadeja (who always insisted that he was fit and was ready to prove his fitness) and Azhar, the Indians indeed had to pay a very heavy price. While nobody is arguing that youth should not get a chance to play for the country (Sachin himself made his Test debut at 16), youngsters should find a place in the team on merit alone and not on the age factor ! It will take quite some explaining how Robin Singh, 36 plus, qualifies to play for the country but not the former India captain.

Where does Indian cricket go from here ? Obviously, the whole set-up in the country needs an overhaul. To start with, every state must have one grassy wicket and all first class matches must be played on it. By doing so, the Indian players will get used to play on bouncy tracks which every team has to face touring abroad. But to do this money will be required but for a cash-rich association like the BCCI it should pose no problem.

The current domestic calendar needs a change as certain former players are demanding. Instead of the current format of the Ranji Trophy where three teams from each zone go to the super league stage, the preliminary league matches should be done away with and the national cricket championship must be played on division basis with the top 15 teams constituting Division I, while the remaining teams should be placed in Division II. And at the end of each season, the two top teams should be promoted to Division I while the last two teams from the top division should be relegated to the lower division. This will not only bring in a spirit of keenness to the competition but also help the players access their real potential. This format had once been advocated by Kapil Dev himself and at that time he had offered to get a sponsor. In any case, roping in sponsors for cricket is never a problem. The problem with the current format is that it does not reflect the true competence of the players. For example, in the North Zone it is Delhi, Punjab and Haryana who are qualifying for the super league year after year. And in the zonal league players from these teams in particular hit up century after century given the state of affairs of teams like Services, Himachal Pradesh as also Jammu and Kashmir, the other team in the zone. It is only when Delhi, Punjab or Haryana is playing teams from the other zones that the competence is really tested.

All players hoping to play international cricket (including the current stars) must compulsorily play a minimum number of matches for their respective states. By doing so two purposes will be served — one will get to know the standard of the game and, secondly, players hoping to make it to the national team will get to know where they stand while facing the best in the country.

The BCCI should immediately appoint a paid cricket director to look into India’s international schedule to see that players do not play too much cricket as has been the case in the recent past. Cricket, besides being a sport, is probably India’s biggest entertainment industry and, therefore, all efforts should be made to run it on professional lines. The paid cricket director, who should necessarily be a former Test player, can not only understand the problems faced by cricketers but will be in a position to work out solutions.

What the BCCI should really do is to follow the age-old adage of "catch them young". It is at that stage where the basics of the game can be taught as also the newer techniques various countries are adopting. It is no use teaching a player selected to play for the country how to take a sharp single or how to cover the wickets when fielding.