India drown under

Australia have just wrapped up the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-0 with a win at Perth that took just seven sessions. India have probably had tours like this, but it was in 80′s or 90′s. Since 2000, India have fought bravely on any foreign tour and even if they lose the series, it has not been all one-way traffic, like this series or the England series in 2011. As an Indian fan, it is disappointing to be beaten in seven consecutive away matches and it is not easy to watch.

People will criticize our bowling and say that it is nowhere close to the English or Australian bowling line-up. True, but considering the kind of bowlers we have previously toured with, this was a much better bowling line-up. In fact, Virender Sehwag even said that this was the best bowling line-up he has played with (though that might be a little exaggeration). India has previously got away with similar bowling thanks to our batsmen. While the bowling will not improve overnight, there is no doubt it is slowly improving. Compare the bowlers that India took to Australia in ’03 to those around now and you will see that the fast bowling has improved no doubt.

The very knowledgeable Dileep Premachandran tweeted: “An evening of introspection for Indian fans. The day the golden generation died. No comebacks from this one.“

He is absolutely spot-on. Our weak point is our batting which was once India’s strength. This is how the Indian batsmen have fared in the 7 away losses. As you can see, the only batsmen who has scored runs close to his career average is Rahul Dravid. Otherwise, it has been quite a sorry picture. While the youngsters haven’t impressed much, there is little doubting that the golden generation has indeed died a slow death. If that was not the case, we would have seen India draw at least one of the seven test matches, but that didn’t happen. To change things in the future, we must make some hard calls and ring in some changes.

Here is what I believe must be done:

1. Veterans to go in a planned manner

There is no denying that Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Laxman are legends. All of them have performed superbly for a long time and have nothing more to prove. But, with the series of disappointments that we have seen in the past few months, a smooth transition must take place. India will not be playing any Test cricket till November of this year, when England tour India. In fact, India’s next overseas tour is in Nov 2013. With more than 20 months to go, it is best for the team that the transition be started after this tour of Australia.

During the 2007-2010 phase, Laxman was in sublime form. But in 2011, the only highlight was his 176* at Eden Gardens. If you remove that he averages merely 31 in 2011. In fact, away from home, post 2011 he averages just 28. Continuous failures on the England and Australia tour have led to a lot of voices calling for Laxman’s head. He never quite looked convincing and even though he got good starts in an innings on a couple of occasions, he never converted it into a big score. In spite of being a big fan of the stylish Hyderabadi, I have to agree that it would be best for the team as well as Laxman if he calls it a day after the ongoing series. In case that doesn’t happen, unfortunately we will need to drop him.

Rahul Dravid on the other hand, had a fabulous season last year. Having shown great character in West Indies and then England, he taught many of us the old lesson, that class is permanent and form is temporary. On this tour down under, Dravid has shown shades of form in his 68 at the MCG and 47 at Perth. I am a big time Dravid fan boy, yet I have to painfully admit that his catching and reflexes have both not been as sharp as he would like. Ideally, Dravid too should retire after this series. I do think he has runs in him and wouldn’t blame him if he think so too. In case, he doesn’t do so, he should go by the end of this year.

Indian cricket‘s god-like figure Tendulkar has looked when he scored 80-odd at SCG and 66 at MCG. However, he has never quite been able to convert these starts into big ones which essentially made the difference. Hardly anyone would agree with me, but I still believe Tendulkar should retire after Australia as well. Yes, he still has a few runs left in him however, he has nothing left to achieve now (apart from his 100th ton)

Retiring the big three immediately, would mean India could bring in Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Abhinav Mukund and Ajinkya Rahane into the team. Sure, there will be many people who will be tempted to play Sachin in particular for longer, but the longer he is around, the lesser time we give the next generation. There is no point giving them big farewells at home in upcoming series and then sending inexperienced players to SA.

2. MS Dhoni to be dropped

I have never been a fan of MS Dhoni in Test cricket. Yes, India did reach the number #1 rank under his captaincy, but even then his captaincy was quite ordinary. He has always been defensive, but in recent times some of his decisions have been totally baffling. MS Dhoni as a batsmen has been poor. The numbers speak for themselves. In the last 2 years, MS Dhoni’s average is merely 30. In the last 12 months, this further drops to 24. Yet, he goes onto talk on how he may have to retire from tests after 2013 to continue playing till 2015 World Cup.

How can he possibly take his place in squad for granted ? I do believe he still is better than Dinesh Karthik, Parthiv Patel or Saha, but dropping him, will do him for a few Tests will do him good.

3. Sehwag to bat in the middle order

Many would argue that Virender Sehwag continuous poor show should lead him out of the side. But, his area of problem is his ability to play the new ball. Otherwise, when playing in India, he looked good whether it was Delhi’s slow pitch or Mumbai’s flat pitch. Yes, he does need to convert starts, but I guess that will click. in the past, Sehwag has said that he would enjoy batting in the middle order. So, with veterans moving out, I would give a couple of chances to Sehwag to prove his worth in the middle. If he still doesn’t make it count, then he has to go for sure.

4. Ishant should be dropped

Since Perth ’08, I have always had a special corner for Ishant. There is little doubting his ability but he needs to sort his head out. Either he is trying too much or he is just not able to execute things perfectly. On pitches which had some assistance, all that was needed of him was to bowl the right line and length. However, he was all over the place. One odd ball delivering you the wicket makes no sense when you leak runs on a regular basis. Its’ time we send him back to domestic cricket to improve his accuracy. To take his place, Irfan Pathan would probably be a good option.

Hence, my XI for New Zealand’s tour to India would be: Gambhir(Capt), Mukund/Rahane, Pujara, Kohli, Sehwag, Rohit, Saha/Patel, Zaheer, Yadav, Irfan/Ashwin, Ojha with Rahane/Mukund, Patel/Saha and Ashwin/Irfan completing the 14-man squad.

However, I doubt the selectors have it in them to drop the veterans if they do not retire, so I would hope that at least by the start of 2013, this will be India’s test squad.