Kamlesh Barjati
Banned
- Joined
- 26 May 2011
- Messages
- 1,087
- Reaction score
- 31
The Commonwealth Bank tri-series has provided some gripping cricket and has the raised the profile of the dying art of ODI cricket. Australia have found their mojo while Sri Lanka have turned in a new leaf under a new captain and coach and have perhaps been the best team on display.
The same cannot be said of a team that went Down Under as the World Champions and have returned with eggs on their faces. India have had a tough time abroad and the tour of Australia was no different. While the English debacle was termed 'understandable', the one at Australia left the nation numbed and shocked. The pride of India was reduced to tatters.
There have been calls for the retirement of the seniors, some called for skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's head while the majority switched off their television's in aghast and dismay. The favorite past-time of India was in danger of being knocked off from its pedestal.
The dawn of the ODI series had brought fresh hopes and optimism to the battered Indian team. They were playing in a format which they hoped would not expose their deficiencies as much as it did in the Test series while the younger legs would provide more agility on the field. India were after all the World Champions nothing much would go wrong in a format that they had mastered.
Eight matches later, India were praying for good omens and luck. Sri Lanka on the other hand had nothing to do with India's prayers and by winning against the Aussies, they effectively ended a long, arduous and heart-breaking tour of Australia for the Indians.
Purely on the basis of performance, this Indian team did not deserve to be in the finals. They fell well short in all departments of the game while Australia looked razor sharp and Sri Lanka forgot their differences as they put super-human efforts in each and every match. By contrast, India looked jaded, their batting made one feel if this was the same line-up that had looked intimidating in the World Cup, the bowling promised much but delivered very little while the fielding never looked like saving the amount of runs that the skipper thought they would. In simple terms, the tour of Australia was an unmitigated disaster and the CB series was just the end of it.
The batting conundrum
So what really went wrong for the Men in Blue? One look at the statistics would perhaps tell the whole story. India's strength in the ODI format is their batting but barring Virat Kohli and to a smaller extent Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir, the famed batting order came a cropper.
Much was expected from the dynamic duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, but the way the two stalwarts applied themselves bordered on the levels of mediocrity.
If the openers were a disaster of unmitigated proportion, the middle order found it hard to deal with the bowling attack especially against the Australia.
The bits-and-pieces all-rounders
India boasted of as many as three all-rounders in almost every match of the CB series. However, the results turned out to be poor. It was a surprise that Dhoni showed immense faith in the all-round skills of Ravindra Jadeja even when returns were minimal. He was a fixture in every team list even as a batsman of the quality of Manoj Tiwary was left to twiddle his thumbs in the dressing room. Irfan Pathan who has been out of team for years came up with a creditable performance and would hope that the selectors would continue to repose faith in him in the upcoming tours as well. Ravichandran Ashwin continued to remain as a fixture in the team despite his average shows and was preferred ahead of the promising Rahul Sharma.
Bowlers without a ring-leader
When Zaheer Khan was declared fit for the CB Series, the fans heaved a sigh of relief. This was one of those rare occasions that Zaheer had emerged from a Test series unscathed. It was not all that rosy in the tri-series as the minor niggles and pains returned to harass the leading strike bowler. In his absence, Vinay Kumar and Umesh Yadav gave a decent show but lost plot during crucial times. They are both young and the hard grind on some tough wickets should keep them motivated and trained for the future.
The rotation rift
The last thing a team needs during a tough tour is a rift in the senior camp. Dhoni's remarks regarding the rotation policy and the value that the youngsters bring to the team fell on deaf ears. Team India became a laughing stock as their off-field activities made more headlines than their heroics on the field. On one hand there were reported rifts between skipper Dhoni and Sehwag and on the other Gautam Gambhir seemed to join the muddle with a veiled statement against the skipper. On the whole, the team seemed keen to leave Australia at the first available opportunity. Never had an Indian team looked as listless as it has been on this tour.
India went in as the World Champions, played the sort of cricket that would befit a minnow and left Australia with their heads bowed. A team that was supposed to hold their nation's prestige ended up looking like a bunch of overpaid and over-pampered stars well past their prime.
Any semblance of thought that the BCCI will address the problems facing team India seems to be mere 'wishful thinking'. The board is caught in its own wrangling and has no time to think about such trivial issues. The IPL is fast dawning and everyone's attention will be on the mega cash rich tournament, the Test and ODI losses in England and Australia might well be forgotten in the midst
India's away performances since the World Cup merited some serious introspection, but the cricketing fraternity seems to have lost their poise. The two whitewashes seem to be seen as something routine with Gambhir and others making suggestions that the team would show their prowess at home. The Indian team has no tours until the end of 2013 and they might indeed go from strength to strength since matches are being held here in India. We might well become the No.1 Test team in the world again, but will it wash away the losses abroad?
© Cricbuzz
The same cannot be said of a team that went Down Under as the World Champions and have returned with eggs on their faces. India have had a tough time abroad and the tour of Australia was no different. While the English debacle was termed 'understandable', the one at Australia left the nation numbed and shocked. The pride of India was reduced to tatters.
There have been calls for the retirement of the seniors, some called for skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's head while the majority switched off their television's in aghast and dismay. The favorite past-time of India was in danger of being knocked off from its pedestal.
The dawn of the ODI series had brought fresh hopes and optimism to the battered Indian team. They were playing in a format which they hoped would not expose their deficiencies as much as it did in the Test series while the younger legs would provide more agility on the field. India were after all the World Champions nothing much would go wrong in a format that they had mastered.
Eight matches later, India were praying for good omens and luck. Sri Lanka on the other hand had nothing to do with India's prayers and by winning against the Aussies, they effectively ended a long, arduous and heart-breaking tour of Australia for the Indians.
Purely on the basis of performance, this Indian team did not deserve to be in the finals. They fell well short in all departments of the game while Australia looked razor sharp and Sri Lanka forgot their differences as they put super-human efforts in each and every match. By contrast, India looked jaded, their batting made one feel if this was the same line-up that had looked intimidating in the World Cup, the bowling promised much but delivered very little while the fielding never looked like saving the amount of runs that the skipper thought they would. In simple terms, the tour of Australia was an unmitigated disaster and the CB series was just the end of it.
The batting conundrum
So what really went wrong for the Men in Blue? One look at the statistics would perhaps tell the whole story. India's strength in the ODI format is their batting but barring Virat Kohli and to a smaller extent Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir, the famed batting order came a cropper.
Much was expected from the dynamic duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, but the way the two stalwarts applied themselves bordered on the levels of mediocrity.
If the openers were a disaster of unmitigated proportion, the middle order found it hard to deal with the bowling attack especially against the Australia.
The bits-and-pieces all-rounders
India boasted of as many as three all-rounders in almost every match of the CB series. However, the results turned out to be poor. It was a surprise that Dhoni showed immense faith in the all-round skills of Ravindra Jadeja even when returns were minimal. He was a fixture in every team list even as a batsman of the quality of Manoj Tiwary was left to twiddle his thumbs in the dressing room. Irfan Pathan who has been out of team for years came up with a creditable performance and would hope that the selectors would continue to repose faith in him in the upcoming tours as well. Ravichandran Ashwin continued to remain as a fixture in the team despite his average shows and was preferred ahead of the promising Rahul Sharma.
Bowlers without a ring-leader
When Zaheer Khan was declared fit for the CB Series, the fans heaved a sigh of relief. This was one of those rare occasions that Zaheer had emerged from a Test series unscathed. It was not all that rosy in the tri-series as the minor niggles and pains returned to harass the leading strike bowler. In his absence, Vinay Kumar and Umesh Yadav gave a decent show but lost plot during crucial times. They are both young and the hard grind on some tough wickets should keep them motivated and trained for the future.
The rotation rift
The last thing a team needs during a tough tour is a rift in the senior camp. Dhoni's remarks regarding the rotation policy and the value that the youngsters bring to the team fell on deaf ears. Team India became a laughing stock as their off-field activities made more headlines than their heroics on the field. On one hand there were reported rifts between skipper Dhoni and Sehwag and on the other Gautam Gambhir seemed to join the muddle with a veiled statement against the skipper. On the whole, the team seemed keen to leave Australia at the first available opportunity. Never had an Indian team looked as listless as it has been on this tour.
India went in as the World Champions, played the sort of cricket that would befit a minnow and left Australia with their heads bowed. A team that was supposed to hold their nation's prestige ended up looking like a bunch of overpaid and over-pampered stars well past their prime.
Any semblance of thought that the BCCI will address the problems facing team India seems to be mere 'wishful thinking'. The board is caught in its own wrangling and has no time to think about such trivial issues. The IPL is fast dawning and everyone's attention will be on the mega cash rich tournament, the Test and ODI losses in England and Australia might well be forgotten in the midst
India's away performances since the World Cup merited some serious introspection, but the cricketing fraternity seems to have lost their poise. The two whitewashes seem to be seen as something routine with Gambhir and others making suggestions that the team would show their prowess at home. The Indian team has no tours until the end of 2013 and they might indeed go from strength to strength since matches are being held here in India. We might well become the No.1 Test team in the world again, but will it wash away the losses abroad?
© Cricbuzz
