Leadership Blues

As India’s next generation prepares to start the limited overs part of the Aussie tour, and hope for better returns than their Test counterparts, rumor mills and board meetings are abuzz in India deciding the future of Indian Cricket (and Cricketers). At the heart of the buzz are two things  - a vehement debate about the seniors and their roles in the near future, and second, the big question mark on Indian team’s leadership, MS Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher. Enough is being said and written about the former, and I feel that the latter needs a deeper look.

To start with Fletcher, his exact role with Team India seems to be a secret that is only known to Duncan, him and himself. After being on the assignment since May of last year, everyone seems to be at a complete loss about what to make of him. Gary Kirsten kept a low profile as well, but results spoke volumes of the significance of his contribution. Fletcher is turning out to be a coach with Gary’s low profile without Gary’s results, which is bad combination. So, what is Fletcher – the aggressive Coach known for making big changes and taking things by gruff of the neck – doing with a much more passive role on the Indian assignment? From face value, Fletcher hasn’t been in the press conferences owning up to the failures, or telling us what India is going to try and do differently – both things that one expects from the Coach. It remains to be seen how much of his placid role is of BCCI’s making – a fact that will vindicate some of the barbwire that he eventually gets, but it shouldn’t acquit him completely. Not by a long shot.

Yes, he has huge boots to fill, and yes, he is coaching a team full of demigods who are supposed to coach themselves, and finally, alas, he has very limited powers. However, if he cannot make personnel changes, can he not direct some changes within the batting order? If he is unable to coach the demigods, can he not do something about the general lack of energy on the field? Should he not be directing the research for opposition batsmen and setting up plans, so our bowlers aren’t trying to bounce out Ricky and bring him roaring back into form in the process? No matter what the Board-Coach relationship might be, tough questions should be asked of Fletcher and he deserves a short rope to prove that he is capable of helping India through a transition that is perhaps its toughest in 20 odd years.

As for Dhoni, he deserves some of the flak that he is getting, but that should all be to make him a better Test Captain, and not an attempt to oust him. Though he might decide to give it up anyway, I strongly feel that India needs him to continue with Test Captaincy.

Ships don't steer themselves to calmer waters. Indian Cricket is in a fix, and a much bigger predicament is up ahead with axing and/or retirements looming on the worshiped veterans. If we are in tatters now, we are heading for absolute dire straits.

Change of personnel, change of batting orders, change of guard and a change of attitude, all are likely and required. What India needs right now is a leader to hold it all together. India needs a leader to do two things mainly: one, galvanize the band of men towards a singular goal despite changes tearing things down around them, and two, enhance the dressing room atmosphere that instills confidence and not doubt. The Australian tour is the first time when India were accused of in-fighting since Dhoni took charge. True or not, these things only tend to surface when the going gets tough. At a time like this, fearless leadership that accepts the responsibility, and earns the respect to do the right thing is the need of the hour.

Dhoni has two things to address. First and foremost, he needs to find batting form in Test matches. Tougher nets or thorough technical coaching, he needs to do whatever it takes and be a contributor with the bat. It can come in terms of the time spent in the middle rather than handsome centuries, but he needs to be a better batsman even if it means redefining himself for Test innings. It’s not easy, but who said captaining an international side was a walk in the park? Nobody can have the confidence to lead men if their own performance is tanking. Period. 

And second, Dhoni needs to grow as a Test Captain. His shortcomings were really found in challenging conditions in England and Australia, where good positions were repeatedly squandered to go from a possible victory to a defeat, and sometimes utter humiliation. Attacking with bowlers is probably the biggest chunk of a Test Captain’s workload and that is where he has been found wanting. A change of mindset and game plan is required - Saving boundaries and hanging back to wait for opposition batters' mistakes, and backing up his own batsmen to scale any mountain, are the two things where he could start. The fact that he doesn't have to play oversees for close to two years provides the blessing in disguise to work on it.

At the bottom of it though is the question of intent. Dhoni looked resigned in Perth, on and off the field. Dynamic leadership and fearless decision making can only come from confidence, which in turn can only come from performance. India needs a confident Dhoni to carry Indian Cricket into the next era. Abandoning test captaincy at this juncture will only make things worse.

Yes, he has neither looked up to the task, nor shown the willingness to grind it out,

But if I had to pick a better man for the job, I'd look around and come up with zilch. 

Kohli's Struggles with Success

It shows on the field, comes out every time Kohli scores a big one or passes a landmark, and even in unfortunate press conferences. Kohli’s actions seem like an endless attempt to prove to everyone that he belongs. As if there is an eternal struggle in his mind, where nobody believes in him, and he is constantly lashing out at the world for doing that. It is ironic, because what he sees in the world might just be his own reflection.

Everything that he does comes across as a slap to the world’s face - “Eat that you ****** non believers!”. The body language betrays anger when there should be elation. And as much it baffles Arun Lal, I have to admit, it makes me question Virat Kohli’s belief in himself. He handles each accomplishment like it is yet another thing that he has proven wrong. Chest thumping that seems to overshadow the sense of purpose does not paint the picture of a person who knows he belongs.

The planets have conspired to present Kohli with the most beautifully scripted opportunity to be a significant part of Indian Cricket for a long time. He doesn’t have the world to prove a point to, only himself. He most definitely has the talent, and has certainly started his journey in the right stride, but that is only one side of the equation. 

Until Kohli can score a hundred and know that it is the only reason he is here, and embrace success like it is born out of brilliance and not wrenched from the hands of mediocrity, there will always be a gap between Kohli ‘the newbie’, and Kohli the Champion.

What Does the Adelaide Test Mean?

Dead rubber? Playing for pride? A chance at redemption? A last hurrah?

What!?!

For Australia, it is a chance to become the second team in as many tours to reduce India into a bunch of touring amateurs reminiscent of the 90s. It is a chance to mercilessly hammer in the last nail and jump start their journey back to the top. A rare chance for youngsters and veterans to come together in splendid harmony, and attempt to perfect a recipe that India has gone horribly wrong at.

 For India, it could be a lot of different things. To say that they are playing to salvage some pride will be making the understatement of the year, but without Dhoni, and with the rest of the team in disarray, what does it really mean to India? To the players who deep down know that they might never show up for another test for their country, what is it to them? For players who have doubts and questions, about ability or their roles in the team - mid-career for some and start-of-career for others - what does Adelaide mean?

For fans who know that this is the last peek at the ship before it completely sinks to the depths of history books, what does Adelaide mean?

I've fought with these questions in the subway ride this morning. The NYC crowd rolling in joy about the Giants’ victory last night, oblivious to Indian Cricket and the agony. God I envy them! As a fan, I can only dig deep within looking for Hope, and all I find is Grief. That's it, plain, pure and shining 24-Karat Grief. I'm disgusted by the thought that the so called ‘Golden era of Indian Cricket’ is over before it started! Like it was all a media scam. Did it even happen!?! Will our greats hang up their boots to disappointing ends of their glorious careers? What does Adelaide mean to them?

It isn't well if it doesn't end well.

For me, the Adelaide test is simply something to look forward to, before the cathedrals of Cricket make way for rock concerts arenas, and the monstrosity of IPL devours everything that is pure and holy. Last year I hibernated through IPL basking in the glory of the World Cup victory. Watching highlights of the final, blissfully unaware of cries and moans of Cricket as IPL beat the **** out of it.

Life seems to be stuck on that same highlights clip loop, thanks to the fact that India has done little else to be proud of since that fateful six by Dhoni. What will help me through the hibernation this time around? The thought, along with Australian Open and a one month old baby, is what keeps me up at night. Be afraid, the voice in my head says, be very very afraid.

Sorry I digressed. Back to the test which promises to be most senseless and the most significant at the same time, we might see India capitulate hopelessly yet again, and guts that feel completely tapped out right now will find another level, find more pain in there. But my greatest worry is, what if we don’t? What if there is a historic fight back? Would seeing Sachin and VVS score hundreds really make a difference? Yes, it would provide a last shot in the arm, before Indian Cricket collapses into a terminal coma, but would it replace this emptiness, this cruel knowledge of the approaching end?

What does Adelaide mean to us?

Bumpy Road Ahead for Indian Cricket

As Indian Cricket goes through the ugly postmortems, analyses and general denunciation, at the center of it all is a feeling of bafflement. We all have inside of us a person who is simply bewildered. How quickly can a team go from the highest of the highs, to the lowest of the lows? How can these batting legends be made to look like tentative amateurs? How can one of the best Captains in the world look hapless and completely disinterested?

How can India be so bad!?!

Well, successive defeats and heartless oversees performances seem to be the least of India’s worries. Recent embarrassments oversees have sparked larger discussions, as they should, across the Cricketing world on what Indian Cricket is going through and what lies ahead for them. A summary of what I have heard and read: It’s going through **** and a whole lot of **** awaits in the future.

Dhoni getting banned in Adelaide might be a blessing in disguise. After 7 tough defeats on the trot, it might be a good thing for him to be able to sit out and give his body and mind a bit of a breather. Mentally, it might help in providing a vacuum before the shorter version of the game starts, which he certainly is more comfortable with. Dhoni’s captaincy is under the hammer and inviting much criticism from all over, perhaps for good reason. With him out of the action, media will move on to other prey. Lastly, it is a blessing because I fear the selectors may need to start looking for a replacement to captain the Indian test side at some point in the future. This would be a good time for a dress-rehearsal.

On the other hand, the criticism that Indian selectors are getting has a couple of sides to it. If one thinks about the long term vision of the board, the barb wire is somewhat justified. However, coming into the series reports about India coming in full-strength were almost omnipresent. Nowhere were the selectors damned for picking Sehwag, VVS, Sachin and Dravid! I guess that’s the thing with being 38 years old. When they hit centuries it is hailed as pure class, and when they don’t the criticism is 38 times more. Now, it suddenly is all wrong and the selectors’ fault!

Phasing seniors out is to be a board decision, but when you have men of this stature, boards can find themselves handicapped as well. It all goes unnoticed when times are good. Unfortunately that advantage has been mercilessly washed away.

From the big three, I personally feel that Laxman was approaching the end of his career, but still had a year or two of Test Cricket left in him. That the last two oversees tours are going to speed up the process and put extra pressure on him, is very sad. I don’t think that Laxman will be dropped for the last test to make way for Rohit Sharma. I am not saying that’s the right thing to do, just that it is how the Indian selectors tend to think. With Yuvraj out of the mix for the ODIs, Sharma is a certain pick for the remainder of the tour. Laxman has had a long illustrious career, especially good against the Australians. This is his last test on Australian soil, if not the last test, and at the end of the day, I think he will have earned a last chance at redemption. Sharma in the meanwhile will be left to get his exposure of the Australian soil in the limited version of the game, and wait to debut back home in the near future.

Dravid is most likely going to retire soon as well. And yes, at long last, I fear Sachin might be close to the end of the road as well. Although Ponting’s sudden resurgence provides some impetus for Sachin to continue for some time, but playing at home for two straight years isn’t going to give these veterans much hunger. Hundreds will be scored on flat decks, records created, and Tests will be won and drawn at home, but tours to England and Australia hold a different kind of value for these guys. They have and continue to live in a world where greatness is measured in oversees performances. We can’t imagine seeing these guys play in England, Australia or the World Cup at 41 years of age, and with recent horrendous memories oversees, it seems that a sad goodbye to Cricket is inevitable and close for our batting Gods. They have one final chance at Adelaide to collect a happy parting memory.

Will Australia remember them for a historic fight back, or as Greats that visited as champions once, but were reduced to lesser men on their last tour?

To end where I started, Dhoni provides another, and perhaps the most interesting piece of the conundrum. The man who has been one constant in good times and bad is Dhoni. Players get injured, go out of form or get caught in scandals, but Dhoni has been the cement that held it all together. It was a long time coming, but finally at WACA it hit me out of the blue. Dhoni looked like he had lost his mojo. Whether it is the lack of support from the other 10, or his own short comings as a Captain and a batsman, or the seemingly never ending downfall of Indian Cricket after the World Cup triumph, it is definitely taking its toll and starting to show. He has already talked about retirement decisions for 2015, and if one of the versions has to take the axe before that, we only need one guess to pick the winner.

Personally for me, what has been most disheartening is to see the apparent lack of interest in Dhoni the batsman. He has come out and has almost looked bored. Disinterested. Can’t wait for it to be over. If Dhoni decides to hang his test boots along with the big three, it will be highly interesting to see how Indian Cricket weathers the storm, and rekindle the hopes in Indian fans’ hearts that we might again someday triumph at Lords or the WACA.

For now, it’s effigy burning time back home, field days for the media, criticism storms all over, tough questions…..and at the heart of it all, utter bewilderment. 

Stiff test for Dhoni the Captain, stiffer test for Dhoni the person

If one ever wondered where Test Cricket got its name, one only has to follow India’s tour in Australia. This beautiful version of the game tests the ability of the players to the truest level. Being in your element for an hour or a few lucky hits can’t win you games here, a player has to find the strength to sustain through the ebb and flow of focus and have the supreme skill and patience to slowly grind the opposition. Apart from the skill though, Test Cricket also tests the character like no other format can. Such are the tests and crossroads that MS Dhoni finds himself and his team in. It is not just a test for Dhoni the Captain, but also for Dhoni the person.

Two issues come to mind when we think of Dhoni in Australia. First and foremost is that he has painfully proved that he is a limited-overs Captain. Second, and what remains to be seen, is whether or not Dhoni can have it in him to accept, learn and take corrective measures. Yes, he has got an issue to address, but would he have the fortitude and attitude to accept it and adapt?

His shortcomings in the longer format as a Captain are embedded within the nature of the game itself. In limited overs, A, the field set is pretty much imposed these days with power plays, so aggression is not a choice but imposed, and B, saving boundaries tends to become the primary focus of the Captain. For a team like India where batsmen come to the party more often than not (on flat pitches, that is), Dhoni can back his team to win most games when the asking rate is 6 or thereabouts. Test Cricket doesn’t allow Captains the luxury to hang back, because batsmen are not playing for quick runs but for building partnerships. Dhoni is a T20 Captain who has grown to Tests and not the other way around. Hanging back and waiting for batsmen to make mistakes can win you limited overs games, but more often than not, this strategy takes Test matches away from you.

Why this is a huge test for Dhoni the Captain is because in places like Australia, England and South Africa, India’s batsmen cannot compensate like they do in India. And so, one sees performances that completely defy everything about Indian Cricket: its high rankings, Demigod batsmen and the general chest-thumping of its fans and commentators.

Furthermore, Test Cricket promises you drama on multiple levels. Apart from the Captaincy, this juncture of Dhoni’s career is also the stiffest test of Dhoni the person. Dhoni’s accomplishments as a Captain have come thick and fast, to an extent that it would take a long time to find another Captain in recent times that can measure up to his statistics. Thanks to the IPL wins, Champions League crowns, T-20 world championship, #1 Test ranking and even the 50 over World Cup win, Dhoni is on a pedestal like we haven’t known before. Commentators, fans, experts and almost everyone else has put him there.

When you spend a long time up there, it has got to start feeling like home. The true test of the person behind this captain will be having the ability to step down and take corrective measures. Yes, to attack with bowling is something he has to get used to, since he has spent bulk of his career captaining a side with severely depleted bowling resources. On tough oversees tours, it’s not just the ability to learn but also the speed with which it is accomplished that can decide the result. It is key to accept that there is something to be learnt though.

Does accomplishing a lot without failure robs the ability to take criticism? R Ashwin with 5 test matches, and Rohit Sharma with a grand total of 0 test matches; it is embarrassing that they are the ones sent out to face the press after an abysmal day of Cricket. The times when Dhoni did decide to come out, barely ever were the questionable decisions discussed, or the issue addressed.

India has gone from the highest of the highs, to the lowest of the lows in a blink of an eye. Dhoni the Captain, and more importantly, Dhoni the person needs to turn things around. On the field and off it.

Taking the issue by the horns is the call of the hour. Hiding behind amateurs and having a deep point is not going to cut it anymore. 

Shattered pieces of a Golden Mirror

Seriously, have we ever heard, or seen, or read about, or bloody imagined a greater anti-climax than the one served up by our savior, Sehwag?

Messiah. Revenge taker. English Beater. Baba Sehwag Dev. The Man!

The hype generated, especially by the Indian media, already had Sehwag scoring a triple hundred in each inning at Edgbaston.

Well, he missed by just a little bit.

Each test shows the surreal progression. The English have gotten better and better, and Indians have scaled depths of equal proportions. 196 in the first test, over 300 in the second, and now marching handsomely-all-trumpets-blowing towards an innings defeat, as an Indian fan, I shudder at the thought of the defeat margin in the fourth test.

Cook’s brilliant double, and Sehwag’s King Pair has perfectly embodied this tour for India. The visitors have gone into each game hoping for a fortune-changing performance that would rouse the sleeping lion.

However, Tests require eleven performances to come together in a perfect Cricket-symphony; they are not won or lost by one sparkling hurrah.

I had hoped that the stark difference between a 100 meter sprinter and a marathoner would dawn upon us after we bid farewell to our last gunslinger-test players. That it would come while they are still around is both a shame and a leveler, in perfectly balanced glory.

Great tests have always come about when two equal-ish teams created epic battles. Sometimes though, one team has to carry the baton and create dominant brilliance that overshadows everything.

So far, it seems, India made the trip for nothing. They could have played these matches from the comfort of their living rooms back home.

It was great while it lasted…..but friends, it is time,

We are not number one. They are.

Period.

Fading memories of Trent Bridge

The outrageousness of India’s defeat at Trent Bridge was actually predicted by Mirza Ghalib when he wrote “Dard ka hadh se guzar jaana hai dawa hona”. For the Urdu challenged, Ghalib was referring to the second test at Trent Bridge in India's current tour to England, when he wrote “pain can only increase to a certain point, beyond which you don’t feel it anymore”. Such was the brutality and ruthlessness of the English attack that the Indian Cricket Team disintegrated in perfect resonance, with the inflicted pain increasing a bit at a time till Sachin was given LBW, and then we were all comfortably numb.

England did everything right. If the victory at Lord’s was near-perfect, the Trent Bridge rout was one scripted by the Cricketing Gods. Slight hiccups were simply opportunities for new heroes to seize moments and continue the carnage, with the bat or the ball, at the top or at the tail. If Cook and Swann seemed to lose their incredible forms, others rediscovered theirs and more than made for all Brit shortcomings. Broad was a marginal selection at the beginning of the series. What a joke that looks like in hindsight! We would have to go back a long long way to find another Test player that could match his current purple patch. Bat, Ball or words, he is playing with them all with mind numbing brilliance.

Bresnan, another outside selection, couldn’t do anything wrong either. Kevin Pietersen, yet another out-of-form man has found his knick in the nick of time to deflate India. Bell, Trott, Anderson, Tremlett are all names in a long list of fine performances from England. The Cricket has indeed been near flawless from the hosts. They have truly and fully outplayed India in all departments and have registered two thumping victories to ensure that they will not lose this series. Glorious memories of 2007 can find another home; they were mercilessly washed away today.

What’s more, it wasn’t cheeky Cricket at any stage. It was bold and handsome, going for the jugular. Victory was never sneaked in by going after the tail while giving easy singles on the other end. England dismissed Sachin in the second innings, and Dravid in the first, before ripping through the tail like a knife through warm soufflé. India didn’t have a lone fighter stranded on one end as it so often happens.

Like the Cricket from England, my fellow fans, India’s defeat was just brilliant in its completeness.

It is also symbolic and morbidly ironic that India’s number one test ranking is being washed away in this fashion. One could argue that this is the last golden legion of Test Cricketers to have represented India. The only way we will see VVS, Sachin or Dravid back at the 2015 tour of England would be as commentators, spectators, umpires or all of the above. One wonders, once these greats hang up their boots and take up alternate professions, who will step up and be the next great Test Cricketer from India? Would any of our new crop go on to become a legend of such stature? Would this seemingly last league of extraordinary gentlemen take with them the last golden era of Indian Test Cricket?

Oh well! No matter how deep these gashes are, and how excruciating the pain may be, we have to cherish these dying moments of India’s reign at the top. We have to cherish these last batting stands by the likes of Sachin, Dravid and VVS. Each boundary, each forward defense, even the well judged ‘leaves’ are like last breaths. We have to live them to the fullest while they last.

Until the next jagging delivery by Anderson, or the precisely shaping outswinger from Broad, takes our breaths away….