Coach missing? It shows

Something is definitely wrong with this Indian team and it isn8217;t just cricket. Not just runs drying up, the touch going astray, confidence at an all-time low and the absence of a coach.

Something is definitely wrong with this Indian team and it isn8217;t just cricket. Not just runs drying up, the touch going astray, confidence at an all-time low and the absence of a coach. There appears to be more than just the game stirring the pot of misery at the moment.

Cricket-wise, the explanation is as simple as it gets, analysing it here at Lord8217;s. The bowlers began badly but got better, the batsmen just failed to live up to the hype, the wicketkeeper8217;s performance behind the stumps remained horrible and the weather was as miserable as it could get.

India might save this game, at the most, but a lot more is at stake. 8220;We have got you clueless,8221; says Geoffery Boycott in an on-and-off chat and he is quite right, though England are not really responsible for that.

To get bundled out in just 77 overs in a Test innings and to have the best four batsmen in the team collectively score a mere 87 are trouble enough for any side looking ahead to a busy year. A logical question here, that most former players keep asking, is: 8220;Can this team succeed in Australia?8221; when they tour later this year.

At the moment it looks improbable that India will find success against Ricky Ponting8217;s men. Their batsmen are failing, the fielding 8212;especially catching 8212; is not upto the mark and the bowling a bit inexperienced.

Even as the seniors keep insisting that they are out there to handle the responsibility in the absence of a coach, it is a fact that the team is missing an individual at the helm of it all. After the exit of Greg Chappell, there has been no coach in place, which has left senior players shouldering the extra burden. And here, with much afterthought, a member of the side revealed, 8220;egos do flare up at times.8221;

Chappell8217;s resignation may have given the players a reason to be busier than ever, but it has also left divisions in the team, suggesting that decision-making isn8217;t always unanimous.

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If one has to rely on the chirping that is on, serious issues like selecting the playing eleven, the batting order or even media sessions are creating an environment that appears either unilateral at times or plain awry.

Without a coach now, regardless of whether someone who is Chappell-like or not, the supervisory role is unmistakably divided. For instance, having VVS Laxman to walk out at number seven to bat here was quite in contrast to those who felt the position should have been swapped with Ganguly. On the eve of the game, there had also been the serious arguments on whether Yuvraj Singh should have been in the team in the place of MS Dhoni.

A crack in collective decision making is the last thing India need at this moment. Whether or not to rest players like Dhoni or Laxman 8212; given their performances 8212; has to be a decision based more on the way they are batting and fielding now rather than their experience alone.