Rest could have helped cricketers recoup

It was interesting to read Anshuman Gaekwad's statement the other day that neither players nor the team management had advocated a stagge...

It was interesting to read Anshuman Gaekwad8217;s statement the other day that neither players nor the team management had advocated a staggering of the Pakistan tour, so that the players could get some well-earned rest. Ironically, on the same day, some lumpen elements ransacked the Board office in Mumbai to put a question mark on the tour. If the tour had been called off, it would have forced the players to take some rest. But that, certainly, would have been no way to give the players rest.

Non-stop International cricket, despite the financial rewards it brings, takes a heavy toll on the players8217; physical and mental resources. With no time off, players have no time to recover from niggling injuries which get aggravated with time; nor to fine tune their skills or work on any deficiencies, which creep in from time to time.

Just consider this: Back from New Zealand after a two-Test series plus a One-Day series, India now face Pakistan in two Tests followed by a Triangular Test series part of the Asian TestChampionships featuring Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Then a One-Day championship in Sharjah, a conditioning camp for the World Cup and a 15-day acclimatisation period in England prior to the World Cup. How do you expect the cricketers to maintain the balance between Test and One-Day cricket?

The ideal situation would have been rest till Sharjah. In this period the player could have been made to work on fitness. Messrs Bobby Simpson and Andrew Kokinos should have been encouraged to spend at least a month starting from Sharjah, and if possible, till and during the Cup.

That would also have given the players a chance to play some domestic cricket, which besides lending some credibility to the forgotten8217; domestic circuit, would have kept the players in touch with the game.

The concept of Test playing nations competing in a championships is not only welcome but it also needs to be pursued to make the extended form of the game more popular. While South Africa routed West Indies 5-0, India capitulated inZimbabwe and New Zealand. There was not much exciting or competitive cricket in these series. The Ashes saw some mixed cricket, though England, despite one win, were no match for the Australians.

In the light of all this, it does appear that Test cricket is meandering along a bumpy road, and before it reaches a terminal situation, certain drastic measures need to be taken. But squeezing in a Test series and the Asian Test Championships, at a time when these teams would be better off preparing for the World Cup, is hardly the way to save Test cricket. This same series could have been conducted after the World Cup or at the start of the next season, maybe in September.

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Now for the Indian Test team itself. We are yet to discover the winning formula in alien conditions. For that we desperately need two sound openers and two match-winning bowlers. Other issues like running between the wickets, mental attitude and specialist close-in fielders etc are areas that should normally be worked on during off season butwith no respite from international cricket, such areas continue to plague Indian cricket. Simple as it may sound, we always find it tough to put enough runs on the board and then bowl out the opposition twice.

In India, barring exceptions like Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan, we have always forced middle order batsmen to try out the slot. Vinoo Mankad, Dilip Sardesai, Farokh Engineer, Ashok Mankad, ML Jaisimha, Abbas Ali Baig, Anshuman Gaekwad, VVS Laxman, Sanjay Manjrekar, Arun Lal, Ravi Shastri were all batsmen who at some time were doing well at positions other than opening. But they were forced into the slot, which calls for specialists. Some clicked for a while, and some failed. But no permanent solutions emerged.

India had its best moments when it had Gavaskar and Chauhan, so doesn8217;t somebody think about that? In the just-announced team, the selectors have finally picked a specialist opener like Sadagopan Ramesh and an exciting youngster like Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who was a surprise alright. But itis worth taking a chance with youth than continue with the same material and not getting results.

Venkat Sundaram, a former first-class player, was the manager of the Indian team to Sri Lanka recently