Indian Cricket Team – A Major Downfall in Performance
Once compulsory viewing, India’s cricket team is increasingly driving its fans back home to hit the off button, as defeat follows defeat on its overseas tours.
A year ago, India was on top of the world rankings for five-day tests; it has now lost seven consecutive on the road. It was swept, 4-0, by England in the middle of 2011. Now Australia has a chance to sweep India, too, having won the first three tests in their series, with the fourth beginning Tuesday in Adelaide.
“I cannot remember any Indian team going through such a dreadful run overseas in for such a long time,” wrote Saurav Ganguly, a former India captain, in The Sydney Morning Herald.
India is historically a poor team on the road, but expectations are higher now that the team has spent time as No. 1 and was also the sole opponent to consistently trouble Australia during its period of domination between the mid-1990s and late 2000s.
None of India’s seven matches have been close. Four, including the last two against Australia, have been by a margin of an innings — with the winners scoring more runs in a single innings than India amassed in two.
India’s passion for cricket is unrivaled, so this miserable run has inspired fevered debate back home, but it is worth noting that India’s opponents did their part, too, in the lopsided results.
England played with a remorseless, ruthless efficiency that raised it to No.1 in the rankings, while Australia — which has a clutch of new bowlers — shows serious signs of a revival under the leadership of Michael Clarke.
“The kind of batting we have done, we’ve let the entire nation down,” said Gambhir, who replied to critics calling for Laxman to be dropped by saying “the top seven should be criticized. We have all failed as a unit.”
Even Dravid, brilliant in England, where he played three innings of 100 or more in four matches, has looked vulnerable in Australia, consistently getting bowled for low scores. Since he turned 39 earlier this month, critics have been asking whether he has crossed the line where “experienced” becomes “old.”
“At least three senior Indian batsmen were simply too tired to move feet and tackle a moving ball after fielding for almost two days,” wrote the former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram after India lost by an innings at Perth, adding that players like Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman “have been legends, but past laurels won’t win you matches.”
Some critics argue that overconcentration on the shorter forms of the game, — like the one-day format used in the World Cup, which India won, and the quickfire Twenty20 popularized in the last few years by the Indian Premier League — has undermined player technique in the longer five-day tests. But David Warner of Australia has developed from a Twenty20 specialist into a serious test batsman. If he can, why not India’s young stars?
Captains of losing teams invariably come under scrutiny. The former Australian skipper Ian Chappell has argued that M.S. Dhoni — a national icon after leading India to victory in the World Cup last year — no longer merits his place on the team as either a player or the captain. Akram said that “players are looking like individuals and not gelling as a unit.”
Even with that rest, India might have struggled. The World Cup triumph was the culmination of years of effort, but what happens to achievers, once they have achieved?
Starting again, as any number of teams who have won memorable victories can confirm, is tough. It was no fluke that Dravid, who did not play in the World Cup, was the exception to a dismal rule in England.
Failure rarely has a single cause. Most of the above has contributed. What is not in doubt is Ganguly’s contention that “tough decisions and honest ones” will be needed to pull cricket’s largest and richest nation out of its tailspin in the most prestigious form of the game.
Tell us Your Queries, Suggestions and Feedback
3 Responses to Indian Cricket Team – A Major Downfall in Performance
« Is Inflation always harmful? Ram Dev Baba a Yog Guru or a successful businessman? »
indian cricket team has proved der downfall in der performance,de kind of result of series against pak lost by 1-2,test series lost against eng by 0-2 in home…although,ICT wer at der extreme best level wen dey won de world cup…tym n performanse has bin changd alot since den…ICT wer once de world’s best ODI n TEST team…bt at present ranking dey r down in der table,dis cn prove de fact dat dey r down in der performance…
it is the rising topic in recent days….. india,after winning the world cup in 2011, their performance gradually detorieted… the major reason behind it is the retirement of big names like laxman, dravid, tendulkar from the team…. but it can happen to any team…the same case happened with ausralia,srilanka etc… the team is running through the transition period… so,the selectors are givivg chance to youngstars like sami,kohli,kumar,rahane… but we have to keep faith in them… and must be provided with more and more oppurtunities as they totally inexperienced…. but in this series against england the youngstars have performed well and now we are leading the series by2-1…. so we must keep faith in them and give them some time and soon them team will come back in the river of victory..
Yes, I admit that the Indian Cricket Team has been performing poorly for the last year & a half since the tour to England. But before criticizing the team & the captain I think we have to take into consideration the fact that the team is going through a trasition phase now which every team goes once their star players retire or at their fag end of their career. India was never a good bowling side overseas but for a few brilliant individual performances. The main thing that saved India from the blushes since early 2000s is the fact that their batting line up clicked & amassed huge number of runs in most number of series they played. But since the retirement of Sourav Ganguly , India has failed to get a player who could fill the void left by him for long. And now, after Dravid & Laxman’s retirement though Cheteshwar Pujara & Virat Kohli have taken up the mantle but what we have to take into consideration is that the legends like Ganguly , Laxman , Tendulkar & Dravid were not legends when they first wore the Indian cap. It’s after playing for a considerable amount of time that they got this status of legends of the game. So, we have to give the youngsters more time. Test Cricket is certainly the hardest form of cricket & requires immense amount of concentration & skill to do well in it. Temperament it can be said is a very important thing in this format. Blaming the captain alone or the team wont be of any help. Even the Aussies went through a phase of low once their stars like Warne , McGrath, Gilchrist & others retired. They did even got all out for 47 against the Proteas in a test shortly after those stars retired. But they are doing well now & it took about 4years to do well once the like of Warne , Mcgrath retired. The selectors showed immense faith & belief in the youbgsters & now they are delivering for the aussies. The youth usually needs backing to enhance their confidence which is very important in cricket.
Again , the influx of t20 & IPL is also an issue for this downfall. Youngsters all around the world are more interested in developing a fancy shot & play for 3hours a day max then to face the tireless toiling of Test Cricket which needs immense application. Players are doing well in t20s but are not doing well in the 4-day or the 5-day format. So, it’s basically upto the selectors to decide upon the final squad after getting a good knowledge about a player before picking him only after watching him perform well in a match or a tournament of shorter format. Ranji Trophy , Duleep Trophy scores should be the prime criteria actually for an Indian cricketer to get his 1st Indian National team test squad call-up.
So, I want to conclude that though India is playing poorly for the past year & a half , we the supporters should provide them with the required backing so that it enhances their confidence rather than demoralising them by criticizing each failures. These players who are representing India are the finest among more than a Billion people so , trusting them is what we supporters can do to help them do well in future.