It146;s all about talent

Our batsmen make merry on flat pitches but even a 300 score is for our bowlers indefensible. On bowler-friendly surfaces, our bowlers are heroes while the famed batting line-up is reduced to impotence. We lack the pace, the swing and seam to win consistently overseas Irfan Pathan8217;s recent performances are not to be caviled at but these are early days yet and he needs to be pitted against stronger sides; and then again he would be a one-man army and our spinners need the curators8217; help in abundance to win matches for their side at home.

True, talent without discipline will take us nowhere. Pakistan8217;s record is as inconsistent as ours and given their talent, unpardonable though not inexplicable. It can be put down to their inability to yoke their talent to discipline and to the nemesis of all sub-continental teams8212;a lack of team spirit. On the other hand, our record, while equally unconvincing, is entirely commensurate with our talent!

It is also true that in all walks of life including sport, men have risen far above their ability. Ravi Shastri enjoyed great success as a cricketer, often boxing way above his weight. But a team of Shastris does not a winning team make. Take away Kapil Dev, Sivaramakrishnan and Maninder Singh, and Shastri8217;s performances would have proved unavailing. 8216;8216;But what became of Siva? Compare his career with Ravi8217;s,8217;8217; I hear the critics say. But they miss the point. It is not that discipline and method are not necessary but that sans talent, they are of no avail. As India showed when they toured Down Under in 2004 and England recently, the great masters of method in recent times, the Australians, would be half their strength and eminently beatable without the genius of Warne and the extraordinary talent of McGrath. The point of it all is that we cannot hope to become a top team enjoying sustained success against top sides, until we have the players, both batsmen and bowlers who have the requisite talent. For batsmen, this means the ability consistently to dominate the best of attacks in all but the most difficult batting conditions and in these to show the innovativeness and skill, not to say the technique, to put up decent scores whether batting first or second. For bowlers, it means possessing the variety and the acumen to force errors and prise batsmen out in good conditions and to exploit favourable ones ruthlessly. Of course, fitness is important. Arguably, England8217;s lack of success during the nineties was due to their inability to field their best team for any length of time. Their recent ascent is due in great part to their overcoming this failing. But over a long period, a fit but mediocre team will be no more successful than a talented but less fit bunch. Until talent emerges therefore, we must lower our expectations of our cricketers. For they have succeeded as much as their individual and collective talent will allow. To reach the finals of one-day tournaments as many times as they have done in recent years is no mean achievement, given the talent they have. As regards Test cricket, the position we occupy in the rankings suggests that if anything, we have performed far above our talent. It is another matter that we have not won many Test matches or series abroad or many more one-day trophies. But doing so would require skills of a higher order than we currently possess.

So, let8217;s rejoice in our cricket and cricketers, sit back and enjoy the entertainment they provide. Let us not rent the air with shrill cries of denunciation when they fail to win a one-day final, but let us applaud them for having gotten that far. Let us not expect that they will win Test matches and series abroad but let us be proud of their victories at home. All the time, let us scout for talent and skill. For in the end, an ounce of talent is worth much more than a gallon of method.

The author is a Delhi-based management consultant and a former cricket commentator with the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation