No, I did not mean the 21st December 2012 that was predicted by many (referring to the Mayan Calendar). What I was referring to instead was the Indian loss of the test series against England. There was post-mortem held on all major television channels and endless interviews of ex-players.
The main folks who are authorized to take any action - BCCI - did not utter anything in public. Whether they did in private is not known but the focus very quickly turned to the T20 series (India won the first match and all was forgotten again!). What was instead known was the schedule of next IPL!
Sunil Gavaskar suggested that Virat Kohli be made a captain based on his one century in the last test match (where even Ian Bell made a century)! Srikkanth wanted Dhoni to play as a batsman going forward! Dhoni, however, commented that he would not run away from the crisis. Brave words from the captain though one does not feel if there is any choice for him.
Just like Ricky Ponting (after the retirement of the Aussie greats), MS Dhoni has to take the mantle of a mentor for the rest of the team and guide them through the crisis. Indian cricket is clearly going through a transition and there is no doubt that we will stumble our way without the presence of Dravid and Laxman (and very soon Sachin Tendulkar). We, the Indian public, will need patience to provide the Indian team time to stumble, learn and recoup from further losses! Remember the 1999-2000 series Down Under when India lost 0-3 - only after that series, did the Indian team recover to gain the top spot. Let us hope this is the lowest point in Indian cricket for some years to come - the only way forward is up !
What we will have to worry about is more importantly the bowling composition (I will refrain from using the word 'attack' for obvious reasons). Zaheer is out of favour and Ishant Sharma has been given enough chances to show his progress. Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron are injured (just like Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar and host of others in the Ranji tournament). Who else will open the bowling for India then? While we feel that the spin department is better equipped, the performance in the latest series showed that Ojha and Ashwin had a lot to learn.
With the Australian series starting in February, will the next few weeks give us enough hints of the changes one can expect to see in the Indian team? Hope 2013 will see the Indian team have a better direction in terms of vision (wishful thinking in place of hoping for the top slot in Test cricket).
The main folks who are authorized to take any action - BCCI - did not utter anything in public. Whether they did in private is not known but the focus very quickly turned to the T20 series (India won the first match and all was forgotten again!). What was instead known was the schedule of next IPL!
Sunil Gavaskar suggested that Virat Kohli be made a captain based on his one century in the last test match (where even Ian Bell made a century)! Srikkanth wanted Dhoni to play as a batsman going forward! Dhoni, however, commented that he would not run away from the crisis. Brave words from the captain though one does not feel if there is any choice for him.
Just like Ricky Ponting (after the retirement of the Aussie greats), MS Dhoni has to take the mantle of a mentor for the rest of the team and guide them through the crisis. Indian cricket is clearly going through a transition and there is no doubt that we will stumble our way without the presence of Dravid and Laxman (and very soon Sachin Tendulkar). We, the Indian public, will need patience to provide the Indian team time to stumble, learn and recoup from further losses! Remember the 1999-2000 series Down Under when India lost 0-3 - only after that series, did the Indian team recover to gain the top spot. Let us hope this is the lowest point in Indian cricket for some years to come - the only way forward is up !
What we will have to worry about is more importantly the bowling composition (I will refrain from using the word 'attack' for obvious reasons). Zaheer is out of favour and Ishant Sharma has been given enough chances to show his progress. Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron are injured (just like Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar and host of others in the Ranji tournament). Who else will open the bowling for India then? While we feel that the spin department is better equipped, the performance in the latest series showed that Ojha and Ashwin had a lot to learn.
With the Australian series starting in February, will the next few weeks give us enough hints of the changes one can expect to see in the Indian team? Hope 2013 will see the Indian team have a better direction in terms of vision (wishful thinking in place of hoping for the top slot in Test cricket).
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nice post
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