India’s shocking 3-0 defeat against New Zealand has left fans and experts bewildered and angry. Many are calling for immediate changes, and the BCCI has been caught off guard by the developments during the New Zealand series, which concluded recently.
This defeat which is being termed as a Whitewash will be remembered as one of the lowest points in India’s cricket history. It is time for the BCCI to wake up and carry out corrective measures immediately.
M.V. Narasimha Rao, better known as Bobby Rao, former Indian Test cricketer and Hyderabad captain, was livid about the way India lost the series. He called up Siasat.com all the way from Ireland to express his frustration about the methods being followed right now in Indian cricket.
Rule changes required
“It is high time that the Lodha Committee recommendations are looked into and revised wherever necessary. The rule about not allowing people of the 70 plus age group to mentor or guide the players must be junked. It is the older ex-players who could play against high-quality spin bowlers. They must be involved in the plans to guide our youngsters,” he said.
“We used to have excellent batsmen in the past such as Brijesh Patel, G.R. Viswanath, Mohinder Amarnath and many others who knew how to deal with spinners. Their services must be utilised to help our present-day batters who have no clue,” said Bobby Rao.
“So my very first suggestion is that the rule of keeping away the senior-most players must be thrown out. The expertise lies among those batsmen of the previous generation who used to face top class spinners such as Prasanna, Bedi, Chandra and Venkat. Why not avail the services of those players? This rule does not make sense” he said.
“Secondly, now that our weakness has been exposed, the Aussies may prepare spinning tracks for the series that begins later this month. On those tracks our batsmen will be all at sea. We must be prepared for all situations,” said Rao.
“What about our bowlers? Are they being guided in the right manner? Washington Sundar succeeded once because he hit the deck. Ashwin relies on carrom balls and other subtleties which may not work on certain types of pitches where spinners need to hit the track hard to extract turn and bounce. Our bowlers have to be guided about this,” explained Rao.
Overconfidence preceded disaster
Rao’s views are right on target. In addition, there’s also another aspect that needs consideration. The fact that the BCCI had already announced the team for the next series against Australia without waiting for the outcome of the present one shows that the administrators of cricket were overconfident and lacked foresight.
They were sure that all would go according to plan and India would triumph over New Zealand. Hence they announced the team for the next series in great haste. Now it looks like changes may be required.
The greatest worry
The biggest worry for India is the repeated failures of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli with the bat. Going by their performance against New Zealand these two senior most batsmen seem to have lost their touch completely.
Even before the series concluded, former Australian captain Ian Chappell pointed out that age was beginning to catch up with India’s two top batting stars. Rohit Sharma is 37 and Virat Kohli will be 36 on November 5th. Chappell said: “They are both at that age when everything starts going downhill. Once it reaches a player’s head, it is very difficult to overcome it.”
Chappell meant that in sport, ageing is also a mental process. If a player realises that his reflexes, coordination and skills are leaving him, he falls into a psychological trap from where it is difficult to extricate oneself. The two stars have lost the commanding presence that they had earlier.
The tour against New Zealand was India’s biggest debacle in a decade. After watching the incompetency of team India, the Aussies must be rubbing their hands in glee. So it is clear that necessary action must be taken however harsh it may seem. The BCCI must consider taking advice from senior ex-players like Bobby Rao has mentioned. They should also review the team that they have selected and if necessary, carry out some alterations to the list before the big battles with the Aussies begin later this month.
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