Letting others decide your own destiny is an accident waiting to happen. Playing for individual records instead of achieving a team objective is not deliberate accident. The implications of both are now known to the Indian cricketers, as they pack their bags and head home from the Asia cup.
It will be the second time within space of two months the team has failed to reach the finals of a multi-nation tournament. First it was the tri series in Australia and then the Asia cup. India has relied on favourable results to ensure their path to the finals. On both occasions the results have been unfavourable, resulting in an early exit. Yes, it frustrates supporters but not as much as when players in the team put individual milestone ahead of the team.
India’s first two games were good examples. Player’s individual achievements disrupted the flow of the team. It was evident from the way the batsmen batted. In their first game Gambhir and Kohli were in cruise control taking India to 1/175 after 35 over’s. Both batsmen were on 80 and 85 respectively, when India took the batting power play. In an ideal situation one should have accelerated while the other could have batted in slightly conservative fashion. But both seemed to batting in a conservative manner, only one four was hit and they scored mere 33 runs in 5 overs of the batting play. At the end of it neither had achieved their milestones. Importantly, it affected the final total.
From the outside it was so blatant the players wanted to get to their hundreds before taking risks. Gambhir who had not scored a 100 for about 14months was determined he did not miss this chance after his two 90’s in Adelaide. Once he reached the landmark he let out all his frustration. Kohli was little sub-due but the youngster has learnt after the Australian test series runs don’t come easy.
From a distance though you had to wonder what Duncan Fletcher would have been thinking are we going to be 20 runs short? Luckily for India the Sri Lankans chased poorly and Dhoni’s batting blitz ensured the slow batting towards the milestone was made transparent. Surely, there were to be eyebrows raised and the issue needed to be rectified.
Three days later India repeated the same mistake again. They scored 34 in the power-play over’s when the score was 1/169. The culprit was the great Sachin Tendulkar and to a small extent Suresh Raina. Tendulkar case will always be justified but there was a small incident that indicated even a 50 was considered so valuable to an individual.
The last ball of the 45th over, Raina on 49 received a knee high full toss which a well set Raina would have smashed for a boundary. Instead he simply punched it down the ground for a single. Yes, Raina could have easily smashed or mistimed the full toss if he tried to belt it but the important thing was there was no intent. Raina clearly knew he was on 49 and he wanted that milestone.
All sports are of if’s and but’s and had Raina had intent to smash the full toss then he could have hit a boundary. Additional four could have been added to the India total. We all know how important a run can be in ODI cricket. More so it was evident how much a small milestone could change the mindset of the batsmen.
This time the team had to pay dearly for the opportunity missed by the Indian batsman. Bangladesh chased brilliantly and won the match. At the end of the day it was the loss that cost India a place in the Asia cup final.
Is it because of the Indian culture ?
Some might say the culture of the way cricket is played in India makes cricketers play for milestones. Former opening batsman, Aakash Chopra, in his book “Beyond Blue” says due to the intense competition the only way to catch the selectors eye is by an individual milestone. Chopra goes on to state a 100 in a dull draw still takes precedence over a match winning 70. If this is happening at the domestic level then it not a surprise it exists at the international level.
There is always an exception to this belief and that is the Indian captain. MS Dhoni is least concerned about milestone and rightfully he is the leader. Dhoni never shows his jubilation when he reaches a personal milestone. He simply acknowledges his peers and continues to bat accordingly to the situation the team demands.
So when a leader is such a team player then one gets the feeling it should be rubbed upon his team mates. The likes of Raina, Gambhir and others have been under the captaincy of Dhoni for last 5 years and they still are yet to learn to put the team before their personal milestones. Clearly, we cannot blame it all on the culture if the captain is such a team man.
India’s failure to reach the Asia cup final should be blamed on individuals striving for personal milestones? We can speculate about the correct answer but watching certain stages of the first two games answered the question.
It's fanboy thinking you are applying there regarding Raina. There is the story. Every Indian bat underperformed in Australia. In Asia cup all, given the opportunity to bat up the order on these flat tracks, decided to ADD RUNS as a priority, to improve their overall average, ie Gambhir, Tendulkar, Kohli and Rohit. (BTW, all would do so, in other circumstances as well). Here a slowish 100 or 70 was more important than say 30no in 17 balls. ie. runs were more significant than landmarks or SR.
ReplyDeleteFirst meaningful innings:
1. Gambhir scored >100 at SR <100
2. Kohli scored >100 .. ditto
3. Tendulkar > 100 .. ditto
4. Rohit scored >50, ditto
But Raina in this first (small) chance went for quick runs, as per the team requirement, at expense of getting out early. Remember his 30 off 17 balls. LUCKLY for him, he pulled it off. But 30 makes little impression of the SHORT-TERM AVERAGES.
Luckly, for the second time in 3 years, Raina batted above No. 5 on a flat-track. But the demand per Mx, and Gaurav Joshi-types was for quick runs,ie. to make up for the lumbering Tendulkar. For example, Gavaskar (with his usual bias) was consoling himself on why Rohit Sharma was demoted in the order, by saying the "other guy" was there to hit quick runs. Basically, it was an opportunity with a high chance of failure (& if he succeeded, which he did, one wonders why he doesn't bat up the order a la Viru Sehwag? For example in 5th ODI v WI 2011, batted No. 7, and where India could have lost due to blistering Pollards 100. Tiwary scored a slow hundred and Kohli + Rohit mismaged the BPP and the next 5 overs. Even Rohits fanboy, Sharsti was getting a bit upset: heard him say, "it time for Rohit to start hitting out". Both failed at the first instances of doing so. NB> Raina score a few quick runs, even if there was a danger of getting out like the other two. Anyway, the point is why put India at risk of losing the match - give RAINA A CHANCE TO SCORE A CENTURY, AT THE EXPECTED SR)
Now, v Bangladesh, 51 off 38, was much better than Kohli. Raina who is capable of taking singles off every ball without much ado, was more than capable of doing 50 off 50 balls and with 51 off a 38 balls would have gotten India to a massive total with his 101 off 88 balls. Faster than all others. That is, If given the right opportunity and a free hand to play "selfishly" for his average. Again 101 off 88 balls is not selfish by any stretch of the imagination. Except for people like Gaurav Joshi who expect much, much more!!
Kohli went on to make a big innings v Pakistan. Raina had but a few balls at the end of this match on another dead track. Both had good form for the last 4 matches - and whilst Kohli showed his veritable class and brilliant form on these pitches - Raina also played excellently but given his limited opportunities, couldn't in fact capitalise on his brillant form.
Alternatively, Gaurav Joshi could just look up how quickly Raina got to his 50, that he took risks - played big shots - in the last 10-20 runs off the landmark and .. well, come up with a better reasoning.
Waiting for a response