Back to Square One

The Indian team looks like it is back to square one. In their effort to devise a winning formula on the road to the 2007 World Cup, a series of experimentations began when Greg Chappell joined as the coach in 2005.

The Indian team looks like it is back to square one. In their effort to devise a winning formula on the road to the 2007 World Cup, a series of experimentations began when Greg Chappell joined as the coach in 2005. Some fetched results, more than a few backfired. A year and-a-half later, though, there8217;s that sinking feeling once again.

Since the tour of the West Indies last year, and till now, nothing has gone right in the one-day department, and with just eight matches to go for the World Cup, the scenario can8217;t look bleaker.

In a situation as bad as this, promising to get worse, Rahul Dravid couldn8217;t help but look back at the only purple patch for India 8212; when they defeated Sri Lanka, drew with South Africa and snubbed England at home in the 2005-06 season 8212; hoping for an encore.

8220;We now need to get back into the one-day mode. We want to do some things which we did well then and had a lot of success. One of the good signs for us is that we began with the winning streak at Nagpur and went on to defeat Sri Lanka. So, hopefully this first ODI at Nagpur will be the start of some good things for us,8217;8217; he said after the first day of the team8217;s ongoing camp here.

Going by the statement alone, things cannot get worse. The fact that India failed miserably on the ODI tours of West Indies and South Africa are something that need to haunt the skipper. The fleeting victories over the struggling Lankans and perennial underperformers England aren8217;t something that the team can afford to fall back on.

8220;Irrespective of what happens, I think we8217;ll do good in the World Cup. We8217;ve got the players who8217;ll do the job for us,8217;8217; says Dravid, when asked about the worries surrounding him at the moment.

The players that the team management had decided to do away with in the Vision 2007 8212; Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan 8212; are now the ones who8217;re on Dravid8217;s list of go-getters. And then there is Sachin Tendulkar as vice-captain, a sign that there isn8217;t a better choice available for Team India at the moment.

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8220;If you8217;re a senior member of the side, then you have a role to play irrespective of what your designation is. Sachin 8212; whether he8217;s the vice-captain or not 8212; has always been used as a sounding board. Whether he8217;s a Kumble or a Laxman or a Ganguly. I8217;ve been used as a sounding board when I wasn8217;t a captain,8217;8217; says Dravid to explain Tendulkar8217;s elevation to the post and the experience that comes along with it.

There8217;s a point missing here. The situation doesn8217;t have much to do with Tendulkar8217;s vice-captaincy, or for that matter with Ganguly and Zaheer8217;s comeback.

Changes in the team, ideas and the experiments that India followed throughout last year, have all suddenly headed for the bin. What lies ahead is completely unknown to the players.

That8217;s why the Ranji Trophy8217;s highest scorer in Ranji Trophy 8212; Robin Utthappa 8212; and highest wicket-taker Joginder Sharma are still not guaranteed berths in the XI when India face West Indies.

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8220;Those we can use we8217;ll use. We might not be able to use some of them right way. Their selection is to make them realise that their performances in the domestic circuit have been recognised and also to ensure that they know that they8217;re in the scheme of things,8217;8217; says the skipper, adding: 8220;We can8217;t give them guarantees that they8217;ll get to play these many games. It will largely depend on the situations.8217;8217;

To India8217;s misery, the team they face now 8212; West Indies 8212; is the one that has troubled them the most throughout last year and it is only to be waited and seen what further permutation and combination can help them get better.