RESCHEDULE DOMESTIC CRICKET

A few years back the BCCI took a step in the right direction in changing the format of Ranji Trophy matches. The induction of the two divisions (Elite and Plate) allowed the developing teams such as Rajasthan or Orissa who excel against the minor opponents to be given a chance against the high profile teams, such as Mumbai or Delhi. The format also meant a team which started off in 2^nd division (Plate Division) could qualify and compete in the Elite division knockout stages. It was the right way to proceed to ensure the Ranji trophy stayed competitive. The time has come to take the next step and ensure that the schedule of the domestic tournaments prioritises four day cricket. The starting point is to have four day matches played throughout the whole season.

It is clear after the England tour debacle that the further focus needs to be on the 4-day games and less on ODI or twenty20. From a technical perspective, the selection process for the test team has also changed. At present, the selection criteria for a player for test cricket seem to be success in twenty20 or ODI format, rather than superlative performance in the 4-day Ranji trophy format. Suresh Raina or Yuvraj are perfect examples of players who are stars in the short format but have never cut it in the longer format. Apart from the hectic international schedule, the other reason players have disappointed in the longer format is because they haven’t played enough four day cricket. Similarly, bowlers are picked on performance of twenty20 or 50 over format.  When was the last time Suresh Raina played a Ranji trophy match? Despite been fit since January, why hasn’t RP Singh played any 4-day format matches? The answer is that the way the domestic schedule is broken into dedicated windows for the different formats does not allow players a chance to play four day cricket.

Compare the Indian domestic schedule to the structure in England, South Africa and Australia. In England, the four day matches for Division 1 and Division 2 are played all the way from the start of April to the end of August.  Throughout those 6 months the twenty20 also continues in parallel with four day county championships. Importantly, it means that, if an England player wants 4-day match practice, then there are matches scheduled throughout the season.  Perfect examples of this scenario are Stuart Broad and Andrew Strauss. In between the India and Sri Lanka series, both players, were able to go back and get “match practice” before returning to the England team.

In Australia, the situation is similar to England with 4-day cricket played from the start of the cricket season in October all the way to the end – the first week of Match. The start of Big Bash this year has meant there is a gap of one month in between. This method is parallel to India’s in the way the IPL window is allocated.

The South Africa four day tournament starts from September and runs all the way into March. There is a dedicated window in November for ODI cricket (40over matches) and another three-week window in February for the twenty20 tournament.

Like India, the three countries mentioned above have a cricket season which lasts for about  six months. The major difference being the four day practice matches are continuously played six months in England, five in Australia and four in South Africa. In India four day games are played only from November to December. Only teams in the top two of the respective groups in the elite league or top team in the plate league move on to the knockout competition in January. This means only six teams in India are playing 4-day cricket for three months. The schedule is further amusing as it caters for two months for ODI competition and then, of course, there is the window at end of season for IPL in May.

This brings us to the predicament that, if a test series is ongoing in India in early October or in February/ March, two times of the year when overseas teams normally do visit India, there are no domestic 4-day matches played across the country. How can a bowler or batsman get match practice during this time? How can a Gambhir or Ishant Sharma get match practice for 4-day matches if the player wants to prepare for a test match during that time?

It is part of the international schedule for India to host at least two ODI series between November and January. This means at least ten ODI during the time intervals. The batsman and bowlers who are in the ODI squad will miss the opportunity to play 4-day cricket during the specified time, so when is the next opportunity? The next available chance will be the Deodhar trophy played for two weeks from mid to late march.  This is in strong contrast to the scheduling in the other three countries.

This presents a dilemma for players such as Suresh Raina or Yuvraj Singh. If India is scheduled to play ODI in November, December and January and a test series in February and March, then what options do Raina and Yuraj have to play 4-day matches in February or March? How can they practise to ensure their four day performances improve? Similarly, RP Singh cannot gain 4-day match practice after January?

Moreover, this system is further exposed for teams which appear in the Plate League Ranji trophy. For teams such as Jharkhand, Orissa or Hyderabad the four day matches are available only for two months. Unless the team qualifies for top position, the likes of Saurabh Tiwary playing for Jharkhand will only play a maximum of nine matches and a minimum of six. Compare this to Australia or England where a player will play a minimum of ten matches. As an example, if Saurabh Tiwary is away with the ODI team in December, the chances are he will only play a maximum of three or four matches. If the four day schedule was to be spread out, it would increase his options to play four day cricket, hence improve his four day skills.

The better approach would be the one followed in Australia and England.  This means a four day match is followed by the one day match against the same opposition in the space of one week. For example, Mumbai will play Bengal in the Ranji trophy match and then after a couple of days play them in an ODI match. This format allows teams to play the four day cricket format over a longer period of time. This means all formats are played through the six months and players who need match practice in either format have the option available. It will also avoid the intense travel schedule for current domestic matches in which they try to cram seven 4-day matches into two months.

There is no doubt the interest in cricket has increased in India and the game has become widespread across the nation. The time has come to ensure all the formats are now played throughout the six months so the next generation is exposed to all formats.

SHORT TERM SUCESS AND LONG TERM FAILURE

A spectator at the Oval held up a banner on the 3^rd day of the Fourth Test that read “Anna Hazare fasts for Team India”. If India is to come back to the motherland with a series whitewash, there may well be a few more people lining up to fast. The test series hammering will go down as one of the worst in Indian cricket history ever since India won its first test match away in 1968. India’s last whitewash was in 1999 against Australia; but back then even the BCCI secretary predicted it. Does that make this test series the worst ever? Was Team India’s short team planning leading to long term failure?

Ineffective planning after World Cup success should be looked upon as the start of the downhill trend for the Indian team. The blame could be sheeted home to the BCCI and also the players to some extent. The first disappointing thing was to schedule the IPL only 3 days after the World Cup final. Did BCCI do this deliberately and take a gamble in case India failed in the World Cup? If it had happened that India didn’t win the World Cup, then the attention would quickly have been diverted to the IPL, and players and BCCI would have escaped the nation’s backlash. Either way, there should have been at least one week in between. In that week, the players should have been paraded across two or three major cities to celebrate a victory which meant so much to the nation, or should have been whisked away to their secret hideout if they had failed. The players should have had time to take the success of the field before their lucrative deals with IPL confined them on the field. This would have allowed the players to relax and take it all in before they started to aim for the next objective in their cricket schedule.

Would the England series have been a disaster had India not won the World Cup? One thing the public of India needs to understand is that the players are human, after all, and the success at the World Cup was physically and mentally draining. It is a normal human behaviour that, once such a goal has been reached through dedication, the mind seems to relax and takes time to become motivated again.  In a business situation, once an employee has worked hard to get a promotion over a period of time, it is common for the individual to sustain the dedication once he/she gets the promotion. The person then needs to re-evaluate his/her goals once at the summit. It takes some time, as an individual and team, to set the next range of goals. Sometimes, people are not used to success and find it difficult to motivate themselves once successful ... or can even become complacent. Team India has suffered from both malaises on this tour.  

 The first time Team India’s new coach and manager came together was only a month before the England tour. The other senior players were not even together only two weeks prior. The planning towards the England tour could never have been a top priority – and if it was, then it was pathetic planning. Virender Sehwag admitted that the players planned for the World Cup final exactly one year before; if this England team was priority, when were players emulating the England series? The World Cup has been a long term goal; good planning by coaches and dedication by players ensured it was executed. Similarly, winning the England series was the goal but no plans were derived for it. This brings us to the question: how much time was required to plan for England? The answers would have been with new coach Duncan Fletcher, M S Dhoni and other senior players. Sadly, the next time all these parties were together was only two weeks prior to the first ball been bowled at Lords. Surely, in the modern world of technology, a plan could have been executed during the IPL. The poor scheduling is a good excuse to the public, but there are defining problems underneath it all.

As so often happens, though, it only takes one successful tour in the short-term future to dissolve memories of the pathetic performance in England. Team India along with the media are masters at washing a bad series away. It won’t come as a surprise, should India win the ODI series, if the news headlines read: “Team India still world champions”, and this test series will be a distant nightmare.

But, in the long term, India will face the proposition of an overseas tour after hectic schedule in the next four months again. One hopes the primary goal should be the series down under in Australia. In between is the Champions trophy (IPL’s brother), ODI series at home against England, test series and ODI against the West Indies at home. It is imperative the BCCI takes input from the team management. Whether the input has fallen on deaf ears will be determined by the schedule and the team selection for the home series against West Indies. The planning and executing could well be the significant factor in whether India can save themselves another embarrassment within six months.

The Australia test series will be nearly a year after the World Cup, and one hopes that, just like the individual in the office who has now found his new goals after his promotion, team India has found theirs. It would be nice to hear Virender Sehwag say, “We started planning for this over four months ago,” after the Adelaide test match in January next year.

BREED THEM EARLY

Greg Chappell recently mentioned there is lack of talented cricketers in Australia compared to sub-continent. But is this a true fact or is there an underlying conspiracy that Greg Chappell was trying to imply.  Conspiracy based on the lines of Australian young cricketers moving on to different sport.

From a young age all kids growing up in Australia are exposed to all sports. This is due to the way sports are structured on seasonal basis. It allows kids to be multi skilled and allows them to be exposed to every sport. Overtime the exposure allows the kids to be complete athlete, meaning they can adapt to any sport.

Practically the young sports men end up playing the sport which eventually presents the best opportunity. It’s this opportunity for the young men in cricket between in the ages of 17 and 21 which seems to be lacking behind compared to other sports.

The lack youngsters coming through in Australia teams is further exposed due to policy of selecting players with sustainable state cricket experience for national team. This has its benefits as seen in Hussey, Haddin and Hodge who are complete players when they reach the top level. Each of players mentioned made their test debuts at the age of 27 or above. However, the age barrier will always act as an obstacle if one is to have a form slump.

This is in contrast to players in sub-continent who are thrown into deep end from the start. There selection can even often by based solely on basis of youth tours. Some of them excel and cement their places but as history reflects lot of them are dropped to re-define their games. But in there instance the age is on their side. Furthermore the youngsters get the feel for the elite level at a tender age. It is practical human thinking once you have been shown the life at the top any individual will want to cling to the opportunity.

Thus the motivation is far greater and the young men strive that for that extra to ensure the keep their places or retain it. Australian cricket has a lot of talented youngsters at age of 17 and over who are not picked even for state cricket. Even if a state team might be out of contention end of the year, it is essential to breed the young men. This will allow them to be involved with cricket and not move to another sport.

In the world of professional sportsmen the peak age for an elite sportsman in Australia has dropped expect for cricket. Rugby and AFL players are reaching peak at 22 rather than 25 or 26. This is also a result of exposing the young men at tender ages of 17 and 18. The question for Australian cricket is if these boys are told to play against men and that too in a physical sport of rugby and AFL then why not cricket.

It is imperative the Australian cricket and state cricket acts upon this issue before further talent is lost to other sport.

Only NSW out of the six states have adopted the approach of breeding young men. Players such as Phillip Hughes, Moses Henriques, Pat Cummings have been thrown into the deep end. It is time for others to follow this trend to ensure Australian cricket once again at top of the world.

Only when this approach is acquired will we really know if talent is really lacking in Australian cricket.

 

HOW INDIA ‘CHASED DOWN’ THE WORLD CUP

Virender Sehwag admitted the planning for the world cup final began exactly one year ago at Dambulla. However the foundation plan that led to India’s world cup victory was scripted more than 5 years ago. The plan was based around India’s necessity to chase down large totals, especially in home conditions.

Chasing totals has always been a thorn for Indian teams in the past. Any successful chase above 250 in the last decade was considered memorable. Victories against Pakistan at Dhacca in 1998 at Independence cup final, Sachin master class against Australia at Sharjah in 1998, Kaif and Yuvraj coming of age at the Natwest final in 2002, incredible chase of 326 against West Indies in Ahmedabad in 2002, and offcourse the famous world cup 2003 chase against Pakistan at Centurion. Although memorable there were far and few in between ten years of constant cricket.

If Greg Chappell is to be given any credit, it will be for identifying this issue and devising a strategy to address this problem. He realised that the Indian middle order failed to close off games despite brilliant starts from the top order.

The answer to this shortcoming centred on Rahul Dravid, the stalwart batsman of the Indian middle order. Batting alongside him were two aggressive stroke makers in M.S. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. Dravid would pick up singles and frequently rotate the strike, something that suited his style of batting perfectly. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, on the other hand were called upon to take risks. As time progressed, this game plan was imbibed into Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni, who found themselves adjusting their batting according to the situation, thus broadening their batting skills and providing them with much needed confidence to dictate the middle overs.

It’s said that the strength of a philosophy is tested in the absence of the philosopher. Even after Dravid’s departure, the knowledge and experience of Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni made them a formidable pair in the middle order. Both batsmen have since guided India to numerous victories and now can be aptly called, “The Chasing Masters.”

Furthermore, the likes of Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli were thrown into the deep end to ensure this method was conveyed to the next generation. Raina in just his 4th innings against Sri Lanka in 4^th ODI, 2006 at Pune, scored a composed 38 not out and helped India chase down 262. Then again in his 6th and 8th innings against Pakistan and England respectively he scored 35 not out and 81 not out to ensure India got home. The second of these innings in Faridabad coming in at 4/80, young Raina helped India run down target of 268 in 2006.

While Virat Kholi batting at number 3, scored a classy 79 not out helping India overhaul a 175 against West Indies. The innings received special praise as it was against Kemar Roach on bouncy Wanderers track during the Champions Trophy in 2009. Kohli averaged significantly higher whenever India batted second. He scored his first two hundreds while chasing big targets. The first hundred came whilst chasing over 315, coming in at 2/23 after India lost Sehwag and Tendulkar early on against Sri Lanka in 4^th ODI at the Eden Gardens. Kohli further topped that effort scoring 118 to run down a 289 against Australia last year in Vizag.

The secret behind it was to have calm and calculated stroke play. It is easy to panic and attempt the big shot when the required rate is seen hovering at 8 per over, but as the Indian middle order will now advise, it takes only one big over and one settled batsman to change the fortunes of a match.

Results are there to be seen as India chased down targets in 16 successive games when batting second in 2005/06. India’s record chasing a target over 250 also improved significantly. India’s record of 26 wins and 9 loses while chasing over 250, is now rated the best in the world.

Confidence instilled in the middle allowed the top order to bat with further freedom. In fact even the top order was able to finish off matches. Tendulkar batted through the innings against Australia in the 1^st ODI final of Commonwealth bank series in Sydney, 2007. Then in late 2009 at Eden Gardens against Sri Lanka in the 4^th ODI, Gambhir remained unbeaten on 150 as India chased mammoth 315.

During this period of 5 years the team attained self confidence and security that must have given Gary Kirsten confidence at 2/31 in World Cup Final. Finally, all this hard work and belief was paid off when on the biggest stage India has managed “to chase down” the World Cup.

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