All set for the
TIDES OF MARCH

After the heady victory against Pakistan, India is bracing to take on England in a Test and one-day series. The overpowering force of the playing-to-win streak has renewed confidence in Team India. Abhijit Chatterjee looks at this turnabout in India’s fortunes. Ivninderpal Singh describes the bowlers in attack mode and Ramandeep Singh profiles master blasters Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.

Suddenly Indian cricket has turned around on its head. After some lacklustre one-day performances in 2005 with a victory against out-of-form Sri Lanka and a tied series against South Africa, Indian cricket is seeing a resurgence with the team performing so cohesively in Pakistan where the team bounced back to win the one-day series after losing the Test series. They next come up against England in a Test and one-day series at home. The first Test starts on March 1.

Who is responsible for India’s transformation? Is it the team core which still remains more or less the same as last year. Or is it the new mantra of coach Greg Chappell which is working this turnaround?

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, S. Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina — the list could go on and on with quite a few talented players still waiting in the wings. These are the new faces of Indian cricket. Unencumbered by the burden of history and willing to look into the future with a sense of confidence. That all these players played a stellar role in the just concluded one-day series win against Pakistan in Pakistan is a fair enough warning to the England team (already in India) that the Indian team is not only brimming with confidence but also has the talent to take on the best in the world.

To help these players reach their full potential there are the guiding stars like Sachin Tendulkar, skipper Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh, who missed out the entire series in Pakistan due to a freak finger injury but who performed so well in the series against Sri Lanka last year and who knows his day will come sooner than later in the series against England, who too have the talent to stretch India at home. And then who can forget Mohammad Kaif whose electrifying presence in the field has helped Indian fielding climb up quite a few notches and who has come good with the bat more often than not.

To add to the list of these class players is Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble who do not fit in the scheme of things of the current one-day format but could still find themselves in the reckoning when it comes to the 2007 World Cup. At least this is the indication one gets from the statements of the powers that be.

In fact, many felt that Ganguly’s spat with coach Greg Chappell is the principal reason why the Bengal southpaw is out in the cold although he still has something to contribute to Indian cricket (as he did in the Test series which preceded the one-day matches). Otherwise, why was he not inducted into the team when a stalwart like Sehwag flew back home after a shoulder injury and the team opted to continue with a batsman short? As far as Anil Kumble is concerned quite a few experts question his exclusion from the one-day team since he still remains the best exponent of his art but age could well be the factor.

This sense of confidence augurs well for Indian team as it prepares for the World Cup barely a year away. In fact, this was the challenge thrown to new cricket coach Greg Chappell when he took over the reins from John Wright when the team’s performance was going through a rollercoaster ride with sensational wins one day and slumping to the most disgraceful defeats the very next day. Not only that. The team had lost a string of finals after performing so well in the initial stages of tournaments that the team had acquired the tag of chokers. But now the team is willing to chase with confidence as it did in Pakistan time and again.

How has this transformation in the Indian team come about? Have the players changed, or has the method of coaching undergone a metamorphosis? Or does the new crop have more talent than the players they replaced? One believes it’s a combination of all these, and a little more which has brought about the transformation in such a short time.

There is a new spring in the steps of the Indian players. Everyone has been assigned a role in the team by the coach, and whenever the player delivers what he has been asked to do on a given day, the team triumphs. More important, the players now know they will be given a full opportunity to exhibit their talent before judgment is passed. One only has to look at the metamorphosis of Yuvraj Singh to understand the new theory driving Indian cricket. In the third one-day match at Lahore, Yuvraj Singh exhibited how he has evolved as a player.

While there is no denying the fact that he is mentally tough the way he built the innings is a tribute not only to Greg Chappell but also to sports scientist Ian Fraser who have changed Yuvraj's approach and outlook. When Yuvraj was batting with Sachin it was he who went for the Pakistanis bowling but when Dhoni joined him he changed gear and allowed the belligerent Dhoni to go for the strokes while he was more than willing to play a secondary role.

But if one were to pick up one cricketer who has brought about a total change in the way Team India plays it is Mahendra Singh Dhoni. True, Sehwag was already there in the team but the way Dhoni bats can put any opposition in disarray. Dhoni is a true marauder and the reputation of any bowler has no meaning to him as he goes about making his own rules. Some of the shots he executes may not figure in any coaching manual but they are surely effective. The wicketkeeper-batsman has grown in stature in this tour to Pakistan. When Shoaib Akhtar sent him a bouncer in the Faisalabad Test he responded with a six. And the way he scored his maiden Test century is an exhibition of rare audacity. He provides the team with a lot of options. Someone like Dhoni makes it very difficult for the opposing captain to decide when to opt for the power play, especially if he comes up the order. In fact, the Dhoni phenomenon has helped Chappell to write a whole new chapter on his vision for Team India.

The one player who has helped Indian batting really click is Irfan Pathan who is emerging as more than a pinch-hitter. While it would be too early to describe him as an all-rounder, Chappell’s experiment has brought forth Pathan as one more batting option. Pathan is not only performing rather well as a batsman but is making the task of the batsmen who follow him all the more easier in the run chase where the foundation of the innings has already been laid.

As India brace themselves for yet another nail-biting series against England one must give a thought to the players. The non-stop grind of cricket is already having its affect on the players and the injury suffered by Sehwag in the course of the series against Pakistan could only be the beginning of more given the amount of cricket the team is playing. One way to avoid this risk is to rotate the players. This will serve a dual purpose.

For one, it will enable Chappell to build a pool of 30-odd players, a theory he has been advocating right from the day he joined as team coach, who will form the core from where the team for the World Cup can be picked. Secondly, this would enable players like Sachin to take some well deserved rest even in the course of the series. After all, Sachin has to be nursed if he has to serve Indian cricket for some more time.

With the World Cup only 13 months away, India are scheduled to play 40 one-day internationals and 10 Tests in between. For the players it will be a tough grind as they try to maintain the good work done in Pakistan. — A.C.

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