Have been watching the Indian Cricket circus from the sidelines over the last few months and thought that I will break my silence with one post.
Going from bad to worse that is my assessment of Indian Cricket.. If BCCI politics, zonal selection biases, lack of professionalism, unfit players, FTBs and internal bickering were not enough, now we have more….. Dilip Vengsarkar. This man would make a Bal Thackarey blush when it comes to his laughable agendas. Surely Dilipji will be walking straight into narrow minded politics after his selector stint, he has all the credentials. The disdain he shows to players who are not on his “list”, the arrogance, the lack of composure and his misguided faith in some “chosen” ones is only possible by someone such as Vengsarkar being the totally unimaginative, narrow minded, intuition-less simpleton that he has shown himself to be. And a couple of star players on Dilipji “list” have been helping him promote his wife’s jewellery business on the side. May be totally innocuous but one can’t help wondering. But then things like conflict of interest are all too subtle and sophisticated for Indian Cricket where effigy burning is treated as a normal response to disagreements and whacking fours and sixes is seen as the measure of batting mastery.
So whilst Indian Cricket is going backwards the usual BCCI power and money plays are only getting stronger. Powar it appears has secured enough votes to fulfil his ICC ambitions. All the major zones that are the power players have been placated by ensuring that their big named players will be on the WC list eg. Pathan. In short the votes have been secured for the next election simple as that. Who loses out? the average dedicated fan and the deserving players from the smaller centres, the stars of the future that is who.
A Captain who is so lacklustre when it comes to inspiration that even his wife must switch on to boring soapies, a great bat, good VC but definitely not skipper material for me. To make it worse if he was not already insecure the selectors have made sure he is now with their sneaky moves thanks to Vengsarkar.
And conveniently BCCI have two lead up series against two teams who could not care less about winning as much as they do about the moolah for showing up. One is a proven minnow team, the other the same for all practical purposes in this tour due to the resting of their star players. And when the mighty Indian team play these teams in so called “selection” matches on those FTs it really is a BCCI dream. They can just about play anybody and they will come good with runs. Not sure if BCCI orchestrated these series to drive their agenda. I don’t think so. To be that devious needs an amount of intellect, intuition and craftiness, not sure BCCI can muster that. Interestingly on the one odd lively wicket they encounter the batsmen fold like a pack of cards.
As a result of all the tamasha end result is that we have now is a team which to me is an old dying but polished Crocodile chosen by these BCCI dinosaurs. A croc that will feel like it is on land when it takes on teams like Aus, SA, Pak, NZ, SL and even the Windies and England. The soft underbelly of this Croc will most likely be ripped right open to pour out the ugly guts which amongst other things will show the misfits & the unfits. Ah the guts will also show the “lack of guts”.
Only hope maybe things will change in future. But then life is all about hope.
Based on the latest news it looks like some of the unfits are already cracking. Would not be surprised if BCCI ingores these warning signs and goes on about its merry ways paving the way for a right royal heartache for the average fan.
I totally agree about your assessment about these FT JAMODIs that have been scheduled not for 'selection' matches but more for moolah, ahead of the WC. Had the matches been given sporting tracks, the WC 'preparations'excuse would have stood. I can just see this team getting their comeuppances in an ugly fashion against teams like Aus, SA, NZ and Pak if the tracks in WC turn out to be a bit sporting and not out and out flat pitches. If these tracks are on the slow side than last time, we will still struggle against sides like WI, Pak, NZ and SL since we hashed up on such slow tracks in WI, Kuala Lumpur and in India in CT 2006.
Frankly speaking this WC will see every team play against every team before the semis and I am not at all expecting this team to be able to beat all the top teams at all. The variation of pace attacks and pitches as the sides will be too much for this one dimensional team of overstuffed aloos. I can only hope and pray that I am wrong.
I am not sure about your views on Vengasarkar about much of the things you wrote, except that the Mumbai bias with him and Pawar is back and wouldn't be surprised if the politics of making SRT captain again is played out, much sooner thatn later. On a personal level, I would rather return the captaincy back to an inform and a mature Ganguly than Sachin again.
However the joke will be on the BCCI. With the seniors now fading into the sunset, once they all retire, the new crop [given the lack of seriously good talent] are goint to take things to an abyss which will consume all this targeted money in no team, leaving BCCI with deals that will not alst their financial terms. The future doesn't look like giving us a team that will justify any of the hype, hoopla or the moolah.
To me the real circus and tamasha ended in SA, where lesser unfancied, players came to the fore with the bats and the more accomplished names gave a pathetic account of themselevs not worthy of their overbuilt reputations.
Originally posted by Vikas B. Forever: To me the real circus and tamasha ended in SA, where lesser unfancied, players came to the fore with the bats and the more accomplished names gave a pathetic account of themselevs not worthy of their overbuilt reputations.
Originally posted by Josh C: The soft underbelly of this Croc will most likely be ripped right open to pour out the ugly guts which amongst other things will show the misfits & the unfits.
lovely.
we missed you josh, especially the refreshing optimism.
Originally posted by Josh C: The soft underbelly of this Croc will most likely be ripped right open to pour out the ugly guts which amongst other things will show the misfits & the unfits.
lovely.
we missed you josh, especially the refreshing optimism.
As expected the numbskulls have picked an ageing, unfit & unimaginative team ingoring all the warning signs. Obviously Greg has been raile roaded. It is all about keeping BCCI in tact, never mind the fans. Wonder if Vengsarkar will turn up for a Press meet after the WC. That should be very interesting. Watching Dilipji would give hope for the likes of Bush.
As an Indian fan, sadly I can only see this team putting up one of the worst Indian performances in recent WC history. They will be run ragged on the field, some of them will tamely limp back home clutching one part of their body or other and also some of the ageing players will be right royally exposed.
Based on that expectation I have absolutely no drive to burn the midnight oil and watch these guys.
On a positive note hopefully things will go up after the Nadir. But I would not bet on it since India have in the past managed to find deeper Nadirs.
Have to say, as an outsider to Indian Cricket it seems to me that the team has been struggling for quite a while and the batting frequently fails to live up to the hype and expectations of its "much vaunted line up." And I can only see it as failing more spectacularly if the pitches do a bit or the ball swings.
The bowling does not seem that penetrative as a whole. Now and then one of the bowlers has a great match but not consistently. And the fielding, a discipline that can have such an effect in limited overs cricket just is not that great.
Not sure that as a team they have the tenacious, never-say-die attitude of the Aussies, the Saffies or even that which England demonstrates sporadically and fitfully.
I will be very surprised if they do much in the WC.
Given that the BCCI has SO much power in world cricket and so much money it is puzzling to an outsider. I imagine that the grubby politics that is so much a part of normal life out there accounts for some if not a lot, but does that account for all of it. Or does much of the money go "elsewhere"?
Wow, I have just seen the ODI rankings and India are only 1 rating point above England( 107 to England's 106), whose ODI performance and abilities have been abject for eons. For a nation that is ODI crazy and a team who plays so many ODIs questions should be being asked as to how this has occurred!
After seeing all the 'optimism' for Indian cricket team for WC on this thread, I've now renewed hopes from Indian team in this WC.
BTW, anyone remembers this time exactly 4 years earlier? We had a harrowing tour of NZ just before we embarked on the trip to SA? In NZ, we lost the 2-test series 0-2 (both tests inside 3 days) and 7-ODI series, 2-5.
Somehow, I feel that Josh is not too off the mark though. We might be good in batting, okay in batting but we're dreadful in fielding, and this might cost us dearly.
After seeing all the 'optimism' for Indian cricket team for WC on this thread, I've now renewed hopes from Indian team in this WC.
BTW, anyone remembers this time exactly 4 years earlier? We had a harrowing tour of NZ just before we embarked on the trip to SA? In NZ, we lost the 2-test series 0-2 (both tests inside 3 days) and 7-ODI series, 2-5.
NZ was the only blip then. Teh team had either won or drawn much in the preceding year. They drew tests and won ODIs in England, beat Zims at home, and drew the CT 2002 in Lanka. Barring the 4-3 WI one day loss at home even as they bagged the tests 2-0. The whole team was in pretty good nick for most part except New Zealand. Record both at home, away and at neutral venues the last whole year is anything but encouraging.
For all it's money BCCI has missed a very vital trick in not employing a sports pscychologist even when needed the most. Working with people like Sandy Gordon and bowling coach Bruce Reid also paid off big last time in WC, Aus and Pak. Things are not that rosy however results wise and performance wise and the fact that we have a struggling, off form and unfit team also does not help. It all boils down now to whether this team has any hunger left to do well or no.
To be fair, after looking forward to the WC for a year amidst all the cynical and dissapointing times, I don't feel excited enough about it as well, now that it is here. This is the first time it has happened since I first saw a WC in 1992. Something clarly seems to be amiss here. Don't know what exactly and why.
How long have India been poor at fielding and why has this not been addessed properly? Is there still the attitude in India that batting and bowling talent alone will get you through without hard work? It's no coincidence that Australia are also the most hard working side as well as the best.
-------------------------------------------------------- I say it so it must be so.
How long have India been poor at fielding and why has this not been addessed properly?
As far as I know, India has been poor in the field right from their formative years in cricket. They may've had some outstanding fielders in their ranks here and there, like Solkar, Sunny Gavaskar, Azhar, Dravid etc, but overall, they've been dire in the field as far as their reflexes in the field are concerned. This IMO is due to 2 factors,
1) Indian grounds are very hard to dive on, which is one area where Indians trail right from their begininning in cricket.
2) Sports culture is hardly present in India, despite all the brouhaha coming from all directions. Kids in India are hardly ever encouraged to take sports as their profession, instead they still are taken to task for not doing well in academics. Physically, most Indian cricketers aren't agile enough to show quick reflexes while fielding like their Australian, SA, Kiwi or English coounterparts do.
3) We hardly ever (things are changing, though not at good enough pace) encourage our budding cricketers to be good fielders. More often that not, its batting and bowling on which budding crucketers concentrate on, resulting them in having poor attitude for their fileding.
4) Fitness is another area, which gets ignored more often than not in Indian cricket. And you just can't be a good fielder if you're not fit enough.
Given the absolutely inconsistant way we have played the last 2 years where we either totally thrash a team or get totally thrashed, has anyone wondered what if Indic choked in 2 stratight games against both Lanka and Bangals or Zimboks or whoever we will play in the first minnow round]? Given the fact the we have actually lost a game to Bangals and the Kenyans in the not too distant past, what would happen if we choked the two main games of the minnow playoffs?
Wouldn't the ICC get a cardiac arrest?
Why are they making the main teams play so many minnows in a frag 'em all round in the opners?
What if one of the minnows upsets one team and the team loses to the test team in the group? The last 2 WCs have proven that anything is possible where the minnows are concerned?
3) We hardly ever (things are changing, though not at good enough pace) encourage our budding cricketers to be good fielders. More often that not, its batting and bowling on which budding crucketers concentrate on, resulting them in having poor attitude for their fileding.
4) Fitness is another area, which gets ignored more often than not in Indian cricket. And you just can't be a good fielder if you're not fit enough.
I think these are two points that can be addressed, there really is no excuse for those not to be taken into account. Despite the deficiencies you mentioned in 1 and 2, if three and four are correctly addressed it shouldn't matter. Since India has no problems in getting talented youngsters through.
Why then, if we know of the problems surrounding these issues, do India have such huge expectation levels constantly following them around. When there clearly not fully justified.
-------------------------------------------------------- I say it so it must be so.
indian ground fielding between 2002 and 2004 was pretty decent. its only with the recall of the old hands kumble, zaheer, ganguly thats its shoddy again. the new guys - yuvrak, kaif, raina, karthik, uthappa - are all decent fielders. the culture and thinking is definitely changing but like with everything else it will take time.
one thing india dont get credit for , and i hope im not setting up a mega woof here ("sehwag drops ponting as australia get the 2 runs reqd off the final ball to lift the trophy"), is their catching which imo is right up their with the best.
