ICC Champions Trophy 2013: Battle of the benches!

Unfortunately, not many teams can master the art of succession management and keep the talent aquifer deep enough to maintain a steady flow of performers. Now Australia and India are faced with the herculean task of filling in the gigantic gaps left behind by their previous generation of superstars. If it’s tough enough to find replacements for Saurav Ganguly, Mike Hussey, Rahul Dravid and Steve Waugh, then Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne are simply irreplaceable.

However, the reality is that sometimes it’s not possible to nurture talent. Every team goes through a phase where the talent pool is not the most enriched one and the ones marked as the “future” don’t live up to their billing. The current Australian side is the prime example of that. With Clarke out due to injury, this Australian side under George Bailey doesn’t inspire much confidence. While Warner and Maxwell are still ‘work in progress’, the middle order looks weak, the bowling lacks steam and the entire team is too dependent on Shane Watson.

Same is the case with South Africa and Sri Lanka. The Proteas’ batting is heavily reliant on AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla and the Sri Lankans still look up to the duo of Sangakkara and Jayawardene for the big ones. Without Dale Steyn, South Africa lacks penetration while the Islanders have struggled to churn out a match winning bowler since the exit of Muralitharan.

That’s where teams like India, England, Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand have done well. After struggling for a decade, West Indies has finally found a group of match winners. If Gayle, Pollard, Bravo and Narine have stamped their authority on world cricket, youngsters like Johnson Charles and Darren Bravo have contributed handsomely.

While England and New Zealand have persisted with the Bells and the Guptils over a period of time, India and Pakistan have blooded in a bunch of youngsters. Though forcing youngsters into the deep end to see if they sink or swim can be often damaging, it has been a traditional approach for these two sub-continent sides. Certain players are identified, handed the national colours and marked as the next big thing. Most of them fade away but a few stick it out to make it count.

Though exposing the youngsters too early may lead to burn outs, the opportunity can help a player grow and provides the team with a unique combination of someone who has both age and experience on his side. But the biggest step for building a solid bench strength is that after the players are inducted, it is important to empower them to take risks and fail, because you learn more on the job than in a classroom. The players are tested to their limits and the ones who quickly turn their mistakes into learning go on to become the next generation greats.

Losing a few games might dampen the spirits of the fans but by encouraging risk taking and freedom to make mistakes and learn from them, the team becomes nimble, ready for change and dynamic enough to embrace an opportunity to succeed. That’s where this Champions Trophy will be interesting. None of the teams look incredibly talented, but collectively have the power to overpower the opposition. The cricket world is used to the Tendulkars and Pontings creating history over the years, but this last edition of this ICC tournament will see the emergence of a galaxy of new stars and it will be the bench strength that will set the bench mark for the sides for the time to come.