Revenge ; the last thing on Dhoni & Co ‘s minds

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The English team is acclimatizing to the sub continental conditions after  playing warm up matches  against India A and   Haryana  and they have had a decent workout in the middle. With less than a week to go for the first test against India in Ahmedabad. 5 of their top 7 batsmen scored half century or more and Petersen top scoring  with an unbeaten ton to boost his confidence. This knock would have set up \ K P  for  the upcoming series after the recent unfortunate  sequence of events in the last couple of months. Everybody in India is excited about the series against the team which tormented India last year with a 4 – 0 drubbing in England. Experts and enthusiasts have already started calling this home series as a chance to take revenge of the last years whitewash. Hang on guys surely it is not just about revenge which India will be looking forward to when they take on England in the opening test in Ahmedabad.  Somehow the  word ‘revenge’ has just no business when it comes to sporting contests however keenly contested they might be.  In fact revenge should be the last thing on the minds of the Indian team. One of the great joys of playing a sport is the passion and the genuine love for the game and the urge to perform at the top level for the country which should be the topmost priority for any sportsman.

The point is well taken when people say that the top level sport has a competitive edge to it which makes for a riveting contest on the field but the feeling of  taking revenge for  the  last year’s defeat will only make the job of winning the home series even more daunting. Playing at home Indian team will be under the pump with Sachin Tendulkar hogging the limelight by stating the need to reconsider his continuity in international cricket after the series against England this winter. Barring a couple of series against the Proteas, India have enjoyed an unbeatable record at home for the last 20 years. But with the test team undergoing transition after the retirements of Dravid and Laxman, the young and inexperienced middle order will be facing the heat against a decent English attack in sub continental conditions. The English team under Alistair cook will be looking to emulate  the feat of David Gower’s team in  1984-85 by defeating India  at home . India has a lot to play for and the captaincy of Dhoni at test level will be under intense scrutiny and any mishap on his part could lead to the shifting of the guard as far as test captaincy is concerned. The pitches  in all fairness will assist spinners at least in Mumbai and Kolkata. India has a great opportunity to redeem themselves in test cricket. The paramount thing for an Indian series victory will be the role of the bowling attack. Ashwin and Ojha have started off on a good note in the last couple of home series against the  west indies and the kiwis but if the likes of zaheer khan ( subject to fitness ) and umesh yadav do not provide the initial breakthroughs the spinners will have a tough job at hand dismantling the English  batting order. One of the key factors will also be how do the 2  sides make use of the old ball and whether they can make the ball reverse alarmingly to make life tough for the lower middle order. The Indian batting lineup is not as strong as it used to be with the likes of Rahane,Pujara and Virat Kohli all trying to cement a place in the test side.

The English bowling lineup is pretty good with the likes of James Anderson, Tim Bresnon, Stuart Broad all having the ability to use the new and the old ball at decent speed and they will be well supported with the likes of Swann and Panesar who will be handy on the spin friendly tracks in India. The English batting line up seems to be fairly inexperienced as far as sub continental conditions is concerned. The likes of Bairstow, Eoin Morgan and Nick Compton are talented players but their ability to play spin on turning tracks will be tested to the core and might well be the deciding factor in the end result of the series. The return of Petersen will definitely boost the visitors because he is one of the most impactful batsman of the modern era. The Indian team on the other hand will be looking up to its young guns to step up to the plate and make themselves counted. All in all it should be a riveting contest and may the best team triumph at  the end.

Indian Fielding: A perennial problem child.

                      

Indian cricket has evolved over last several decades and we have produced a long list of wonderful batsmen and some quality   medium fast bowlers and spinners who have mesmerized the batsmen with their guile and craft. India has always been an excellent batting side with a couple of bowlers to rely upon in the team. The lack of athleticism and quality fielding standards has been the bane of Indian cricket. India has never been a good fielding side and barring a handful players, the rest of the players have been very average as far as the fielding skills are concerned have always wondered regarding the reasons behind being a poor fielding side. Some of the popular belief is that the small kids are encouraged to stress on batting or bowling skills and as a result from the young age they are not made to realize the importance of excelling in the fielding department. There are several reasons which prevent a youngster from developing and honing his fielding skills from a younger age.

The batting and bowling facets of the sport are emphasized majorly while the fielding aspect of a youngster has always been neglected, this situation is improving over last decade or so but still a lot of legwork needs to be done as far as the fielding aspect is concerned. A good coach will always emphasize on improving the fielding skills whether it is catching or ground fielding. Fielding is the only aspect of the game which can be vastly improved by virtue of putting hard work and where very little skill aspect of the game is relied upon. Fielding skills can be vastly enhanced by merely enjoying the fielding drills and practice sessions. A good fielder is the one who anticipates the movement of the ball and adjusts himself accordingly wanting the ball to come to him. There are ample evidences of young Indian fielders shying away from fielding drills and not wanting the ball. Over the last few decades there have been merely a handful of international class fielders. The late Eknath Solkar was an absolute dream at forward short leg. Standing close by to the batsmen he took a number of brilliant reflex catches off Prasanna, Chandrashekhar and Bishen Bedi thus contributing significantly to their test wicket tally. Kapil Dev Nikhanj was a brilliant all round fielder who was supremely fit in all conditions and remained injury free virtually for the major part of his long career. In the 90’s, Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja were among the best in the world when it came to saving runs on the field and taking spectacular catches. Yuvraj singh and Mohammad Kaif emerged on the international scene in early 2000. Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma are top class fielders who are a plus for the rest of the mediocre Indian fielding side.

It is just appalling to see the likes of Zaheer Khan,Munaf Patel and R Ashwin who are very poor fielders and a liability on the field for any side. The Indian pacers regardless of their age have always been mediocre fielders in stark comparison to Brett Lee and a couple of other overseas pacers who have been athletic fielders even in their mid 30’s. The overall hard and bumpy Indian maidans and grounds are responsible to some extent for the fielders being slightly wary of diving and sliding to save some runs.  Over the last few years there has been a marked improvement in the outfield conditions in most of the Indian cricket stadiums and not surprisingly a lot of young brilliant fielders are emerging on the first class circuit. But still clearly a lot of legwork needs to be done in order to improve the overall fielding standards of the Indian team. Indian cricket team cannot match the fielding standards of the likes of Australia and South Africa but by instilling the importance of being an athletic fielding side can do wonders in due course of time. Long gone are the days when a good batsman or a bowler could do his job of scoring runs or picking wickets and just languishing at third man or fine leg. In today’s competitive atmosphere, every player regardless of his stature needs to contribute on the field by virtue of his fielding skills.