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What Indian cricket needs is medication and therapy

Anand Vasu

December 31, 2001

It is very rare to find an international team, other than Australia, that is healthy in a cricket sense these days. The once invincible West Indies suffer from an inconsistency that makes it impossible for them to win anything of substance. Pakistan have been blowing hot and cold, more cold than hot. South Africa, steeped in discipline and hard work, have failed to raise their game to a higher plane when called to do so. New Zealand, struck down by injuries to key players at important times have rarely fired on all cylinders. Sri Lanka have been dominant at home and rather meek abroad. Zimbabwe have had as many captains as matches... But India, now they have been suffering from a malaise more unique and debilitating than anything else - Schizophrenia.

A good place to start is right at the top. 2001 has been a nightmare year for Sourav Chandidas Ganguly. The southpaw whose Test bat seems to have more edge than meat, has averaged a paltry 22.2 in 13 matches. Not once did the scoreboard show three figures against his name during the year. The situation has come to a pass that even little children on the streets know how to sort out the Indian captain in the longer version of the game. International Test bowlers have preyed on this chink in his armour in fine style. The same man in one-dayers had managed a handy average of almost 37. The two-facedness is there for all to see and yet there seems to be no cure near at hand. With England due to come over to play a one-day series soon, Ganguly will indeed have to perform out of his skin to retain captaincy of the side.

The big hero of the Indian team in the last twelve months was VVS Laxman. Dubbed `Very Very Special' Laxman for his match-winning and record breaking innings of 281 against Steve Waugh's Australians at Kolkata, Laxman carved a place for himself in Indian cricket lore. Known for his thirst for big scores, Laxman, who incidentally scored 10 first-class centuries in as many matches last season, has since struggled to even make a half-century. Hitting every ball he faces with timing that is as crisp and refreshing as a freshly brewed pint of draft beer, Laxman delivers a few sizzling boundaries before the fizz runs out. In 10 Tests, Laxman has fallen for less than 35 on nine occasions. Hardly what you expect from a man who looks good for a ton every time he walks out to bat. There's his dichotomy for you.

In the bowling department one need look no further than the man who made a mockery of the Australian batting line-up, Harbhajan Singh. After scalping 32 wickets in three Tests including a hat-trick, the offie fell to pieces. In six Tests at home, Harbhajan Singh managed a whopping 45 wickets. The tragic half of the story is that six away Tests yielded just fifteen wickets for India's star spinner. Tiger at home and pussycat abroad? Well, call it what you will but it's still two dissimilar faces of the same coin.

The aforementioned offie's much feared partner in crime, Anil Kumble too would be a much relieved man when the clock strikes 12 and 2001 is relegated to memory. Coming back from a shoulder injury that threatened to destroy his career, Kumble attempted to regain the glory of old without ever managing to do so completely. Reaching the landmark of 300 Test wickets in the England Test at Bangalore, Kumble came out strongly against his critics. There were many who criticised and doubted the Karnataka spinner for the fact that he was not a spinner in the classical mould. Surprising though to see that a man who is confidence personified on the field, thanks to his voluminous achievements, is so insecure off it, simply on account of a few nagging critics.

There's much that can go under the microscope - the emergence of a few medium-pacers, Ashish Nehra and Tinu Yohannan to name but two, the axing of opener Sadagoppan Ramesh and Virender Sehwag's century on Test debut. These are all things that deserve a place in the sun and yet will not get it. The media has had more stories on what came to be known as `The Mike Denness' affair than on Sehwag, Nehra and Yohannan put together. The scraps between Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of BCCI and the ICC caused a Test match to be stripped of its official status. How could there be a winner if that was the result of the fight?

But let's not get overly depressed by the condition that's almost taken over the psyche of Indian cricket. For every malaise there's a treatment. This one needs a combination of medication and therapy. For medication, look no further than Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. The fact that the man who once looked to tear every attack to shreds, and almost always succeeded, has curbed his natural instincts is significant. Perhaps it was age and fatherhood that mellowed the master bat. Perhaps it was the fact that without him succeeding there was little chance for Indian cricket. Either way, the way Tendulkar has dealt with his personal demons and emerged a rock of stability in Indian cricket is a lesson worth imbibing.

The second factor that will turn things on its head for Indian cricket in the coming years is the therapeutic effect coach John Wright can have if all goes well. Arriving on the scene with little working knowledge of conditions at Ground Zero, Wright has quickly become so much a part of the system, learning and adapting at every turn, that he has the makings of a fine coach of India. Ask any of the leading players in the Indian team and they will tell you so.

As is the case almost every time one has to look back at a year of Indian cricket, there is enough to be positive about and yet too many pockets of discontent to ignore. There are so many contrasting voices in Indian cricket that it seems a Promethean task to move ahead in one direction.

Indian cricket's unquiet mind though can be calmed. There are many that believe that 2001 brought the malaise to the fore and threw up a cure at the same time. But hey, it's up to the patient to follow the doctor's advice.