A chance to change the script

Now, Indian cricket will need desire and an agenda if it seeks to progress this year. If they are serious about an agenda both the cricketers and the management can have their hands full. Hopefully the cricketers will have more to do than searching for loopholes and arbitrators.

Greg Chappell will be one of those with an agenda. The captain should have one too but he needs an identity first; it is tough to have an agenda if you do not know you are going to be captain! And the BCCI needs to have an agenda but while individuals within it might have one, there aren’t too many signs of a major corporate programme.

That brings us back to Chappell, still finding his feet in India but armed with the spirit of excellence. It is a great weapon to possess. I have no doubt that the first learning he will seek to impart is to make a distinction between winning and setting landmarks; indeed, winning a cricket match must be the only landmark that counts.

Interestingly he told me that he remembers few of his big innings, certainly not all of them, and that his happiest memories are the time he spent with his friends savouring victory.

The Indian mindset, though, is one that glorifies records, unaware of the harm it causes. It needn’t if records are part of the process of playing outstanding cricket but, if they are objectives by themselves, they stand a very real chance of coming in the way of team achievement.

I suspect he might want to concentrate on the winning habit as opposed to the coasting habit that infects Indian cricket occasionally. India have a poor record of winning a match immediately after winning one, which would suggest that the team tends to coast rather than drive harder.

More than anything else, Chappell would have to work with players in identifying roles for them. And top of his agenda will be Sachin Tendulkar. That role will, ideally, be borne out of consensus but might require gentle persuasion. Tendulkar will need to be happy with the role that is assigned to him and that is a little concession you make to greatness. Warne is provided that, so I am sure is McGrath and Lara can sometimes demand it.

Chappell is aware that India do not have an all-rounder and, since that species is most difficult to spot, it is very unlikely there will be one before the World Cup. And so he will have to conjure up a cricketer who can function as an all-rounder.

None of India’s bowlers are likely to become good enough to bat at number six or seven in the next 18 months and so he must look at whether one of his batsmen can give him 10 overs in a one-day game and 12-15 regularly in a Test innings. Sehwag could be that person but Tendulkar has the best credentials. But does he do it from number one or from number five?

High too on Chappell’s priorities will be the unlocking of VVS Laxman. He had a year to forget but shares a mutual admiration society with his new coach. Chappell too played erect, had flowing shots through the on-side and liked to take on the quick bowlers. They will have a few notes to exchange and on top of the things-to-do list will be to get Laxman to be light on his feet again.

There will be a few other points. A realisation on whether Ganguly can be captain, and indeed whether he can be a serious batsman at this level again and, if anything more important, on how to cut through the stagnation that has affected India’s new ball bowlers.

So much is being made of Zaheer Khan being injury-free last season. That is merely an intermediate step for he has to pick wickets and look menacing. Irfan Pathan’s season tailed off rather abruptly and Lakshmipathy Balaji is still a bit too inconsistent for comfort.

With Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar struggling to establish themselves, taking 20 wickets or indeed keeping things quiet in the 20 overs with field restrictions will become a major issue. You can see now why invitations went out to 15 new-ball bowlers rather than the expected seven or eight.

And he will not fail to remind his team that one-day cricket is increasingly moving towards quick-thinking cricketers and that being able to think on one’s feet will start counting for as much as batting and bowling skills. There is much to do, may the honeymoon be long.