Team Game

I am writing this blog now not knowing whether India would qualify for the Semi Finals of the ongoing WC T20 at Windies. Irrespective of the result I am actually taking a big risk in writing this NOW. As one of the die-hard follower of Indian cricket it is my right to express my anguish/ opinions on the mother of all sports in India.

Things are definitely not as bad as they appear. But they are sliding down real fast since we won the first T20 world cup. When we won that world cup, Indians were fearless and ruthless lot. They would go all out to ensure a comprehensive victory. If we look at the past all our victories that year were big and confident ones. The international media blamed our success that year on IPL . After all how come a late entrant in T20 format goes on to win first World T20 Cup.

The basic thing that India did right was to infuse young players in the first WC squad. These were the players who were not bothered about the reputations and were ready to give it all playing for India. This plan really worked. We had new kids doing it for India. But just after the success of World Cup, these kids became stars in India. The commercial interest took over the core interest i.e cricket. If we look at the trend not many new faces were thrown into T20 WC squad. It’s indeed disappointing to see the talks of getting Tendulkar and Dravid back. Of course they are class player but that would be contradicting our own stand taken during first T20 world cup.

Lets look at Australia; a team that was disgraced in earlier two edition of this format is looking so strong and potential title contender. Their system allowed that every one contributes towards the success of the team and not one man. Warner may never play a test match and Ponting may never feature in T20 in times to come. But the system ensured that they have a powerful team now and continues the same in future.

Major reason for India not doing so well is not just the short-pitched bowling as gleefully informed by Mr Chris Gayle after last match. It is one of the reason, but few players in this Indian took are damn good hooker and puller. It’s the zeal to excel. The manner in which they are getting out is really disappointing. Yuvraj Singh is now playing with fire when it comes to his career as international cricketer. We all know about his physical fitness. His fielding is now at par with Munaf Patel and battling looks worst then Harbhajan. Gambhir is out of sorts since IPL 3, Yusuf Pathan is highly consistent and can be a match winner one day and a dud next day. Dhoni comes too late to make an impact after the top order collapse. Raina and Rohit are only two trying to make an impact.

Bowling was always a major cause of concern. If your number one bowler is unable to complete his quota of 4 over then its obvious all is not well. Zaheer is going Irfan Pathan’s way by cutting down on his speed. He cannot nurse his shoulder and still be a fast bowler. India need a break away fast bowler and they are as extinct as Tigers. Maybe Dhoni should try one advertisement campaign for them as well.

I would not like to touch upon IPL and its impact on current performance as it’s a never ending topic. But my personal opinion is that too much money does take away patriotism from a person. You cannot have too many Leander Paes in this country fighting for India in Davis cup despite making decent dollars in international tourney.

Comments are most welcome. Again as a die hard fan I would love to eat each word of mine written above when India qualifies for the Semis and then finals. It’s a sacrifice I am ready to make to see my dear team excel on field.