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Journalism of Courage
SUCCESS has many fathers while failure is an orphan. If India8217;s youthful resurgence is made to pass a 8216;Whodunit8217; test, there will be quite a few hands raised from a crowd consisting of the captain, the coach, the team management, the selectors, the Indian cricket board and, not to miss, the 8216;8216;I-told-you-so8217;8217; experts.
But scrutinising the circumstances under which today8217;s young heroes 8212; Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Dinesh Mongia 8212; got their big breaks, one can conclude that it was not due to some undivided consensus among the decision-makers but a less glamourous fact 8212; the seniors were indisposed.
Rewind to July 7, 2001. India had messed up another final losing to the West Indies by 16 runs at Harare after having dominated the tri-series, also involving Zimbabwe.
The team had Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar opening the innings followed by VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Reetinder Singh Sodhi and Sameer Dighe. Despite the follies that amorphous 8216;8216;solid on paper8217;8217; tag was very much pasted on the Indian blues.
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HOW THE MICE MADE MERRY WHEN THE BIG CATS WERE AWAY MOHD KAIF: KAIF8217;S inclusion in the team quite aptly shows the trend of seniors being pushed out of comfort zone. During the England series at home, an out-of-form VVS Laxman made way for Kaif. Laxman8217;s 26 from 53 balls in the series meant the middle order was in for a change. After his sparkling form in the Challenger Cup series, Kaif made it to the second half of the England series. Since then Kaif has not missed a match. He has averaged 45 in the 18 matches he has played so far. With Yuvraj and Mongia also hitting form it remains to be seen whether Laxman, who is back in the squad, will get a place in the playing eleven. YUVRAJ SINGH: The 20-year-old has made three comebacks in his 40-match ODI career. His last one came during the series against Zimbabwe at home. With Tendulkar and Sehwag sitting due to injuries and Hemang Badani and Sanjay Bangar out of form, Yuvraj had a challenge at hand. His match-winning knock of 80 not out in company of Mohd Kaif at Hyderabad and 75 at Guwahati meant that Yuvraj was here to stay. Story continues below this ad VIRENDER SEHWAG: WITH Sachin Tendulkar out due to injury in the Harare final against the West Indies, India were in search of a new opening pair before the Sri Lankan series. The options tried were: Yuvraj-Ganguly, Yuvraj-Amay Khurasia, Ganguly-Sehwag, Khurasia-Yuvraj before settling for the Sehwag-Ganguly duo. In the first match both failed 8212; out for a duck each. And then came Sehwag8217;s 100 from 70 balls against Lanka at Colombo. Yet, in the subsequent series against South Africa and England, it was back to the Tendulkar-Ganguly pair in most of the games. Sehwag8217;s chance to open with Ganguly came about in the West Indies with Tendulkar being out of form in the Test series. And in England, the 8216;Protect Tendulkar8217; project meant Ganguly-Sehwag were a permanent fixture at the top of the order. DINESH MONGIA: AFTER a disastrous debut series against Australia, Mongia missed the subsequent tours to Lanka and South Africa. But the tri-series in South Africa had its share of fall guys 8212; SS Das and Jacob Martin. This helped Mongia make a comeback against England at home. With Sehwag-Sachin-Saurav switching at 1-2-3, Mongia did not get a fixed spot in the line-up despite his 71, 49 not out, 21, 17 not out and 20 in the series. The subsequent series saw Sachin and Sehwag dropping out and this meant Mongia opening the innings with Ganguly. His highest score of 159 in the final match of the series made him the Wisden8217;s best of the year. For the West Indies series the stars returned, Mongia lost the opening spot but gained the all-important one-drop role. And to his credit in the last two series West Indies and England Mongia has kept the No.3 spot despite the star presence. THE ONE THAT WAS LEFT BEHIND Reetinder Singh Sodhi: had the most flattering bio-data as a junior. Was part of two World Cup winning teams U-15, U-19 8212; as captain and vice-captain, respectively. If there was a promising youngster in the country, it was this all-rounder from Punjab. His transition to senior level at the domestic level too was smooth. But at the international level, he was found wanting. His career average of 27 from 17 matches and a total of just five wickets meant, he wasn8217;t exactly the replacement for 8216;veteran8217; Robin Singh. Despite his stunning fielding and world class fitness, the general feeling was Sodhi had the temperament but not enough skills to match it. So while his Youth World Cup mates 8212; Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif 8212; are a certainty for the senior World Cup, Sodhi may have just lost it on his way to the top. |
Then something unpredictable happened. Tendulkar got injured toe fracture and was ruled out of the entire series against Sri Lanka. Laxman too was left on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on his knee. This meant that those sacrosanct spots in the line-up No. 1, 2 and 3 were at last open.
The selectors were forced to pick Mongia, Kaif and Yuvraj, who were touted as future prospects. The tri-series in Sri Lanka, which involved New Zealand as the third team, also provided the platform for the present opening combo of Sehwag and Ganguly.
While the Lanka series launched Sehwag to the top, Kaif and Yuvraj, making a comeback, had to wait to carve out a niche for themselves during the home series against England and Zimbabwe, respectively.
Sehwag, Mongia, Kaif and Yuvraj, have not only brought a freshness in the team but also sounded the alarm bells for the seniors by extending their stay in the team with their exploits. The opportunities may have been limited but they grabbed it and are themselves responsible for their share of the limelight.
Former coaches of the Indian team agree on this point and say that now the seniors will have to work hard to retain their spots.
8216;8216;The youngsters have come on their own. They are not only talented but also have got the right temperament besides being tremendously positive in their attitude. They also have guts and are really gritty. There8217;s no denying the fact that they made the best use of the opportunity they got,8217;8217; says Ajit Wadekar.
Anshuman Gaekwad says that the selectors in our country give too much importance to the 8216;8216;history8217;8217; of a player. 8216;8216;Unlike in Australia, our selectors become very conscious while dropping the big stars,8217;8217; he says. Gaekwad goes on to add that Kaif should have been drafted into the side much earlier and as for Yuvraj the selectors have shown enough patience with him. Agreed, the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI provided the platform for the induction of youth by addressing to the fitness ills and reviving the India A tours. And with Ganguly and coach John Wright providing encouragement, a conducive environment was also in the offing.
But as Gaekwad puts it 8216;8216;one can take the horse to the water, but not make him drink.8217;8217; The former manager says, 8216;8216;The coach and captain after analysing a player8217;s game can only point out the flaws but can never train a human mind to click under pressure.8217;8217;
The successful chase of 326 proves that Yuvraj and Kaif have not just won the mind game but also the young legs have fitted the bill as far as fitness and fielding was concerned. With the duo of physio Andrew Leipus and trainer Adrian Le Roux providing the ideal back-up, there is a spring in the step of the Indian team.
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Youngsters8217; success does not mean seniors have failed8217; Story continues below this ad Chairman of selectors Chandu Borde feels one should not get carried by the match-winning display of young players THE victory at Lord8217;s is just the beginning. We should not carried away by the performance of the youngsters in one series. The youngsters8217; match-winning performance does not mean the seniors have failed. They have the experience. Sometimes, the seniors do well while on occasions the juniors perform. I am not trying to run down the juniors. In fact, they have grabbed the given opportunity and performed exceptionally well. They have proved that the team can now depend on the youngsters as well. But please do not shower too much praise on them. Let them settle down and perform consistently. For God8217;s sake, don8217;t compare it with that of the 1983 World Cup team. This was just one series although I am happy for the young boys. |
If the batting order has been shaken and stirred to the optimum leading to Dravid being asked to don the gloves, the bowling department too is undergoing a transition. The retirement of Javagal Srinath has pitchforked the likes of Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh to shoulder more responsibility. It has been a mixed bag if the recent showing is any indication but the age factor weighs heavily in their favour leaving the likes of senior pro Anil Kumble under scrutiny.
Former Australian opener and coach Geoff Marsh had these observations to make on Indian cricket: 8216;8216;The sheer numbers of young cricketers is outrageous. In one state there8217;s a whole population of Australia and there are around 30-odd states.
8216;8216;It is a huge job for the organisation the BCCI to see that all these kids come through the system. There must be a lot of kids out there who don8217;t get an opportunity to come through the system. It is a challenge to get the system right and get every possible cricketer through it. 8216;8216;I don8217;t disagree with the fact that raw talent will come through. But there will always be some kids out there who8217;ll miss the bus.8217;8217;
For the moment, though, the Indian cricket seems content in cruising along with those on board.
