So what if all my previous posts have been philosophical or psychological kinda posts? I am here to write what I feel about, and what I am strongly feeling about right now is Cricket which has always been my passion. So here is a shift from the normal 'psychic' things (!) to Indian Cricket (and the doldrums it finds itself in, currently on their Australian Tour)
Indian Test Cricket is definitely on the cusp of a major transformation. And no, I am not talking just about the ageing warriors of our ex-Test No. 1 Team. No doubt, Sachin, Dravid and Laxman are ageing and are at the fag ends of their illustrious careers, but it is not just about them . What about the other players who are supposed to be the future load-bearers of the team? What about Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir who are not performning on the current tour? What about MSD's extended loss of form in Test-Cricket. If this picture isnt gory enough, think of the day when the 3 stalwarts decide to hang up their boots? Do we have young guns ready to take on their mantle? We cant think about a certain someone, can we? And that paints an even scarier picture!
It is high time that young guns-in-waiting, namely Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Cheteshwar Pujara etc. are groomed to take on the mantle of the big 3. And this wouldn't be possible just like that in the current scheme of things. A systematic plan needs to be drawn to ensure the same. Another series whitewash is already looming ahead of the team in Australia, and even if fortunately, it doesn't happen and the team manages to salvage some pride at least, the damage has already been done by the first two losses to warrant a deep introspection and planning for the bleak looking future. Even if BCCI looks at it from the point of view of filling its coffers, then a consecutive series whitewash will tarnish the image of Indian Cricket, the audience interest - which has already fizzled out in recent times thanks to excessive cricket - will dwindle further and most importantly for BCCI, the sponsorships would start tumbling too! Forget the current Australian tour for now, but post that lies the time which is invariably the best for laying out a slow and steady transition phase for the Test Team. Looking at the schedule of Indian Cricket in 2012, here is a plan for ensuring a smooth transition of the Indian Test Team.
The Indian Test Team has 3 Test-Series in 2012 post the current Australian Series. They have an away tour in Sri Lanka followed by home tours of New Zealand and England. The fact that India do not have a major tour such as an away tour of South Africa presents it an opportunity to let have its future players some test Cricket under their belt in home and slightly alien (read SL) conditions. In the Sri Lanka tour, India must make it a point to rest one out of Sachin, Dravid and Laxman in each test and have both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli bat in each test. Although Sri Lanka in home conditions is definitely a challenge, what better opportunity but to try out the future gen in alien yet not-so-alien conditions? Sri Lanka Tour presents the perfect opportunity to try out these 2 players who currently seem to be the best bet to lead the Indian batting in the days to come. Even in the case that the team loses the first match of the tour, the ploy needs to be stuck to firmly if any measure of the abilities of these 2 players is to be drawn. Success of either or both of these players will surely solve at least a part of the batting puzzle (only a part though)
In the Home tour of New Zealand post the away tour of Srilanka, the same ploy of having 2 of the 3 pros and 2 of the young protegees needs to be stuck with. Herein however, 2 more youngsters may be roped in along with the previous two. In one of the test matches in this series, even 2 instead of 1 senior may be rested to try out the rest. But in any case, all the 4 young turks need to be given at least one game to test their mantle.
Of course, other than Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the selection of youngsters to be tried out in Test Cricket will be a major decision to be carefully thought out from domestic performances in the ongoing Ranji Trophy and other tournaments coming up. The retirement of the stalwarts also needs to be phased. However that might be a personal call of the players but surely the players should themselves see to it that they do not retire one after the other in quick succession. The selectors need to talk to the concerned players regarding this.
Post the New Zealand home tour comes the England tour, again at home, and it would not be a bad idea to rest all 3 of the pros in maybe one of the games and give a free hand to the youngsters groomed over the previous 2 series.
Such a succession plan will mean that India will have fairly experienced youngsters the next time they have a gruelling away tour in 2013. That tour could could well might be the last time we will see either Sachin, Dravid or Laxman in action, but it will also be the testing point for the youngsters (groomed at home) to perform away from home under the tutelage of the 3 masters.They may not be immediately successful too, but then they arent currently with so many seniors players as well, so that may not hurt as much. Plus, we will at least have some considerably proven players who would definitively learn from the away tour and be ready to tour on their own in the future.
Indian Test Cricket is definitely on the cusp of a major transformation. And no, I am not talking just about the ageing warriors of our ex-Test No. 1 Team. No doubt, Sachin, Dravid and Laxman are ageing and are at the fag ends of their illustrious careers, but it is not just about them . What about the other players who are supposed to be the future load-bearers of the team? What about Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir who are not performning on the current tour? What about MSD's extended loss of form in Test-Cricket. If this picture isnt gory enough, think of the day when the 3 stalwarts decide to hang up their boots? Do we have young guns ready to take on their mantle? We cant think about a certain someone, can we? And that paints an even scarier picture!
It is high time that young guns-in-waiting, namely Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Cheteshwar Pujara etc. are groomed to take on the mantle of the big 3. And this wouldn't be possible just like that in the current scheme of things. A systematic plan needs to be drawn to ensure the same. Another series whitewash is already looming ahead of the team in Australia, and even if fortunately, it doesn't happen and the team manages to salvage some pride at least, the damage has already been done by the first two losses to warrant a deep introspection and planning for the bleak looking future. Even if BCCI looks at it from the point of view of filling its coffers, then a consecutive series whitewash will tarnish the image of Indian Cricket, the audience interest - which has already fizzled out in recent times thanks to excessive cricket - will dwindle further and most importantly for BCCI, the sponsorships would start tumbling too! Forget the current Australian tour for now, but post that lies the time which is invariably the best for laying out a slow and steady transition phase for the Test Team. Looking at the schedule of Indian Cricket in 2012, here is a plan for ensuring a smooth transition of the Indian Test Team.
The Indian Test Team has 3 Test-Series in 2012 post the current Australian Series. They have an away tour in Sri Lanka followed by home tours of New Zealand and England. The fact that India do not have a major tour such as an away tour of South Africa presents it an opportunity to let have its future players some test Cricket under their belt in home and slightly alien (read SL) conditions. In the Sri Lanka tour, India must make it a point to rest one out of Sachin, Dravid and Laxman in each test and have both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli bat in each test. Although Sri Lanka in home conditions is definitely a challenge, what better opportunity but to try out the future gen in alien yet not-so-alien conditions? Sri Lanka Tour presents the perfect opportunity to try out these 2 players who currently seem to be the best bet to lead the Indian batting in the days to come. Even in the case that the team loses the first match of the tour, the ploy needs to be stuck to firmly if any measure of the abilities of these 2 players is to be drawn. Success of either or both of these players will surely solve at least a part of the batting puzzle (only a part though)
In the Home tour of New Zealand post the away tour of Srilanka, the same ploy of having 2 of the 3 pros and 2 of the young protegees needs to be stuck with. Herein however, 2 more youngsters may be roped in along with the previous two. In one of the test matches in this series, even 2 instead of 1 senior may be rested to try out the rest. But in any case, all the 4 young turks need to be given at least one game to test their mantle.
Of course, other than Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the selection of youngsters to be tried out in Test Cricket will be a major decision to be carefully thought out from domestic performances in the ongoing Ranji Trophy and other tournaments coming up. The retirement of the stalwarts also needs to be phased. However that might be a personal call of the players but surely the players should themselves see to it that they do not retire one after the other in quick succession. The selectors need to talk to the concerned players regarding this.
Post the New Zealand home tour comes the England tour, again at home, and it would not be a bad idea to rest all 3 of the pros in maybe one of the games and give a free hand to the youngsters groomed over the previous 2 series.
Such a succession plan will mean that India will have fairly experienced youngsters the next time they have a gruelling away tour in 2013. That tour could could well might be the last time we will see either Sachin, Dravid or Laxman in action, but it will also be the testing point for the youngsters (groomed at home) to perform away from home under the tutelage of the 3 masters.They may not be immediately successful too, but then they arent currently with so many seniors players as well, so that may not hurt as much. Plus, we will at least have some considerably proven players who would definitively learn from the away tour and be ready to tour on their own in the future.
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