A Post-Mortem; Post ‘Long-Anticipated-Least-Expected’ Overseas Victory
You might question the use of two synonymous words in opposite sense in the heading. Every time our Men In Blue (sounds clichéd, but cant help) embark on an overseas tour, we ask ourselves “Can we win at least this time around?” and almost invariably our guys return home empty handed with the Captain remarking – “We batted badly in the first test, our bowlers let us down in the second and we were horrendous in the field in the final test.” What amazes (and often enrages) even the average cricket follower in this country is that our cricketers keep re-re-re-re-discovering the truth in the “catches win matches” adage, the bitter way.
If you thought our quest for an overseas Test series victory over a formidable side (Bangladesh and Zimbabwe definitely don’t make the cut) would go on ad infinitum, you were in for a surprise. At last, at long last, India under ‘my-new-name-is-The-Rock’ Rahul Dravid finally broke the shackles to notch one of those rare series victories on foreign soil. This series win has been long anticipated (considering that the last time India won outside of the sub-continent was against England in 1986-87) but surely least expected – Did we ever think Dravid & Co. would return home all smiles after they were Bravo-bruised in the One-day series??
Now that the Indians have overpowered the West Indians on their home territory, the Indian media will almost definitely go gaga over this Indian side and give us the false impression that Dravid’s team is simply invincible. Over the next few days, many former cricketers, both recent and not-so-recent players, will use this opportunity to praise this bunch of cricketers, conveniently forgetting the fact that they had actually bashed the same set of cricketers not long ago for dismal foreign-soil performances. The truth is in fact a far cry from what the newspapers make out – An internal-squabbles affected West Indian team, under its ever-dependable man-at-arms Brian Lara put up a valiant team effort against an over-rated, unpredictable Indian Team that is definitely very strong in its batting, but depends on a person called ANIL KUMBLE to take 20 wickets in a Test match.
India, having dominated the entire test series, except for some nine sessions, would definitely feel that rain robbed her of a 3-0 score line. But all along, it was Anil Kumble who created winning situations for India. With a series haul of 23 wickets, the old warhorse of the Indian bowling attack, yet again proved why he is an invaluable member of Team India. He is already 35 and isn’t getting any younger with every passing Test match. It is time we found someone to fill in Kumble’s role, once he hangs his king-sized shoes. We have Harbhajan, a truly world-class spinner with an enviable record, but India needs someone who will assist him and on a regular basis, bowl the opposition out on the fourth and fifth days of a test match taking advantage of the cracks that open up on the pitch.
The only cricketer in this Indian team whose retirement is imminent in the near future in that of Anil Kumble and to fill in the void created by him will be no joke. So the selectors, instead of basking in the newfound glory, should start the process of transition in this Indian side. There are some spinners who have been in the Indian Team in the not-so-distant past – Ramesh Powar, Murali Kartik, Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra immediately come to the mind. Amit Mishra seems to have lost the confidence of the selectors; Murali Kartik is languishing with injuries. The selectors seem to have realized their folly of forcing Piyush Chawla into the Test side when he was still very raw and have sensibly selected him for the Top End A-Teams Tournament in Australia. This leaves us with Ramesh Powar; this hard working Mumbaikar has come through the ranks and is the typical off spinner who gives the ball a lot of air and depends on “You Miss I Hit” strategy to flummox the batsmen.
Its an irony that the land of the famous spinning quartet is now facing acute dearth of quality spinners. But hey, we are not alone. There is one another team that depends on a single bowler more than we depend on Kumble. Our southern neighbours of Ceylon will have a bigger headache once Muralitharan retires. Of course Murali isn’t going to leave immediately (unless LTTE’s Eelam Dream comes true and they force Tamils to play for them), but BCCSL will definitely find the going difficult in the post-Murali era.
In spite of all my rumblings, I get a strong feeling that some can never be replaced. Don’t you feel Bradman, Tendulkar, Warne, Murali, Lara, Kumble or Gilchrist belong to an elite group of cricketers who have played the game in a certain way that others can only dream of??
PS: Don’t ever become irreplaceable at work; then you wont get promoted!!!
If you thought our quest for an overseas Test series victory over a formidable side (Bangladesh and Zimbabwe definitely don’t make the cut) would go on ad infinitum, you were in for a surprise. At last, at long last, India under ‘my-new-name-is-The-Rock’ Rahul Dravid finally broke the shackles to notch one of those rare series victories on foreign soil. This series win has been long anticipated (considering that the last time India won outside of the sub-continent was against England in 1986-87) but surely least expected – Did we ever think Dravid & Co. would return home all smiles after they were Bravo-bruised in the One-day series??
Now that the Indians have overpowered the West Indians on their home territory, the Indian media will almost definitely go gaga over this Indian side and give us the false impression that Dravid’s team is simply invincible. Over the next few days, many former cricketers, both recent and not-so-recent players, will use this opportunity to praise this bunch of cricketers, conveniently forgetting the fact that they had actually bashed the same set of cricketers not long ago for dismal foreign-soil performances. The truth is in fact a far cry from what the newspapers make out – An internal-squabbles affected West Indian team, under its ever-dependable man-at-arms Brian Lara put up a valiant team effort against an over-rated, unpredictable Indian Team that is definitely very strong in its batting, but depends on a person called ANIL KUMBLE to take 20 wickets in a Test match.
India, having dominated the entire test series, except for some nine sessions, would definitely feel that rain robbed her of a 3-0 score line. But all along, it was Anil Kumble who created winning situations for India. With a series haul of 23 wickets, the old warhorse of the Indian bowling attack, yet again proved why he is an invaluable member of Team India. He is already 35 and isn’t getting any younger with every passing Test match. It is time we found someone to fill in Kumble’s role, once he hangs his king-sized shoes. We have Harbhajan, a truly world-class spinner with an enviable record, but India needs someone who will assist him and on a regular basis, bowl the opposition out on the fourth and fifth days of a test match taking advantage of the cracks that open up on the pitch.
The only cricketer in this Indian team whose retirement is imminent in the near future in that of Anil Kumble and to fill in the void created by him will be no joke. So the selectors, instead of basking in the newfound glory, should start the process of transition in this Indian side. There are some spinners who have been in the Indian Team in the not-so-distant past – Ramesh Powar, Murali Kartik, Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra immediately come to the mind. Amit Mishra seems to have lost the confidence of the selectors; Murali Kartik is languishing with injuries. The selectors seem to have realized their folly of forcing Piyush Chawla into the Test side when he was still very raw and have sensibly selected him for the Top End A-Teams Tournament in Australia. This leaves us with Ramesh Powar; this hard working Mumbaikar has come through the ranks and is the typical off spinner who gives the ball a lot of air and depends on “You Miss I Hit” strategy to flummox the batsmen.
Its an irony that the land of the famous spinning quartet is now facing acute dearth of quality spinners. But hey, we are not alone. There is one another team that depends on a single bowler more than we depend on Kumble. Our southern neighbours of Ceylon will have a bigger headache once Muralitharan retires. Of course Murali isn’t going to leave immediately (unless LTTE’s Eelam Dream comes true and they force Tamils to play for them), but BCCSL will definitely find the going difficult in the post-Murali era.
In spite of all my rumblings, I get a strong feeling that some can never be replaced. Don’t you feel Bradman, Tendulkar, Warne, Murali, Lara, Kumble or Gilchrist belong to an elite group of cricketers who have played the game in a certain way that others can only dream of??
PS: Don’t ever become irreplaceable at work; then you wont get promoted!!!
posted by VAC | 5:16 AM
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