Much Ado about the new season

After the tremendous high  of the World Cup win after 28 years came the season of 2011-12 which was a nightmare as far as Indian cricket was concerned. The Indian side which was the world cup champions and the Numero Uno  test side  as far as rankings were concerned had a mixed tour of the Carribean where they won the test series by a margin of 1-0. In the last test at Dominica .The approach of the team was baffling where chasing a stiff target  of 180 in not many overs , The team did not attempt to go for a win  against a bowling attack which can be described as average and they shut down shop when they actually should have played ruthlessly and gone for a win . This is was the most crucial point which showcased the attitude of the team which frankly did not deserve to be number one in test cricket certainly not for the  defensive attitude  which they showed especially against a meager side like the West Indies. This  was the sign of  things to come in the entire season throughout .

The Indian team went on to lose the No 1 rank in Test cricket to England when the poms gave the visitors a  4- 0 walloping .  After 3 months again the Indians were at the receiving end of another whitewash when the Aussies beat them down under. Both these series again brought back memories of a decade back when the Indian team struggled to adjust  to the conditions abroad and would surrender meekly in abroad conditions. MS Dhoni got criticized a lot for his handling of the team and also for his leadership style, what made it worse was his own poor show with the bat which raised doubts over his ability in overseas conditions in test cricket. All said and done Indian cricket must look ahead to  the next season which in all probability should be an easier kettle of fish looking at the schedule where majority of test cricket will be played at home. A consistent season should go a long way in bringing the team on track. This season will also see the shifting of the guard as far as batting line up is concerned with Dravid already announcing his retirement earlier this year and in all probability VVS Laxman might hang up his boots before the end of this season. It will be interesting to  see which of the younger lot of players ( Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli  establish their position in the middle order replacing Dravid and Laxman. The Indian team needs to do a lot of sole searching as far as preparation  for the crucial matches is concerned. The BCCI on its part also needs to  fix their priorities and give a strong signal to the country as a whole as far as the handling of test cricket is concerned. Lack of preparation was one of the major reasons for the dismal losses in the last season. Clearly with  poor scheduling and a lot of meaningless one dayers, test cricket is  facing  the brunt of it all. The likes of R Sharma, Pujara (if he is fit) , and Rahane will  take a great amount of heart from the fact that they will be playing  home test series for a while now. This will help them  find their feet in test cricket, the young fast bowlers with the likes of Umesh Yadav,Varun Aaron and Vinay Kumar will find it tough on the flat decks of the Indian subcontinent but Zaheer Khan will have to nurse them through these difficult phases with his  experience and  guile. The spin cupboard seems to be bare with a handful of quality spinners on the domestic circuit. R Ashwin and P Ojha have looked decent without looking spectacular in the opportunities they  got last season

MS Dhoni has had a fairly successful run as Indian skipper but last season he  was overtly defensive and looked a bit lost for ideas the moment he was put under the pump albeit in tough conditions. In the last  2 or 3 years Dhoni has not faced tough opposition in alien conditions and the first time he experienced these tough conditions, he came a cropper as far as tactical decisions were concerned. In this upcoming season India will  go to Sri Lanka for a 5 match ODI series in July.  The Kiwis will be travelling to India for a strange 2 match test series (why not a full 3 match series is anybody’s  guess). There are speculations that after the home series against the kiwis VVS Laxman will call it quits on his international career..India have been a poor T 20 side on  the world stage after their historic win in the inaugural 2007 T 20 world cup. India will have the opportunity to have sweet revenge on the English side as they play  hosts for a 4 match test series , 5  ODI’s and 2 T 20s.  starting from Nov to Jan 2013. The Aussies will be travelling to India for grueling 4 match test series in February – March. All in all the young brigade will have ample chances to prove their mettle in the longest form of the game against tougher oppositions.  India will have to play fearless and consistent cricket to prove it to themselves more than anybody else that they can  be consistent in all forms of the game. Here is wishing  the Indian  team the very best for the upcoming season.