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DEAR REDIFF

...But never the bride!

V Gangadhar

Most modern cricketers are unable to read anything besides their cheque books, an occasional comic and cover stories on themselves in sports magazines. Thus, it is no wonder that Indian cricketers appear to be unfamiliar with Shakespeare's lines in Julius Caesar: "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune".

That precisely summed up the performance of the Indians, both in South Africa and more so in the West Indies. The Indians launched their trips abroad after much hyped-about home victories against Australia and South Africa. They also won the Titan Cup after coming back from the wilderness. Cricket writers, particularly from Bombay, lauded Sachin Tendulkar as the great cricketing genius and predicted happy hunting abroad.

Today, those dreams lie shattered. South Africa is a distant memory, particularly the thunderbolts of Allan Donald. The Caribbean experience was more painful, it was a case of 'too near, yet too far'. We lost the one Test which produced a result and went down 3-1 in the one-day series. The humiliation was complete.

To add to our woes, the West Indies turned out to be like Mavelikara in Kerala during the monsoons. The downpours halted the Test matches at Antigua and Guyana, though there was no guarantee that we would have won either of these. Many cricket followers believed that we should have won the Barbados Test where we failed to make 120 runs in the fourth innings and were skittled out for 83. But I beg to differ. The West Indian fast bowlers at last found a wicket to their liking and would have bowled out most of the teams playing cricket today under a score of 100. It was more of a minefield than a cricket pitch, and I do not blame the Indian batsmen for not holding out against Ambrose, Rose, Bishop and Dillon.

I was more upset that we did not force a win in the second Test match at the Trinidad Oval. The wickets at the Oval and in the earlier test match at Sabina Park, Kingston were more 'Indian' than those in India. In fact, they were slow turners and helped leg spinner Anil Kumble to regain his form and confidence. The West Indian cricketers had every reason to be upset at the work of their groundsmen, who so generously prepared wickets to suit not the home team, but the opposition. On such a wicket, India dismissed the West Indies for a modest total and then piled up a big score with Navjot Singh Sidhu cracking a double century and Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid making big scores.

Here was India's problem. While Sidhu played a long innings because he had to prove several things to several people, both Tendulkar and Dravid, known strokeplayers, batted as though they were playing in a 'timeless' test match and were seldom able to score at more than 2.5 runs per over. When one of them got out, another 'strokeplayer', Saurav Ganguly, came to the crease and scored four runs during the last hour of play when the West Indian bowling was on its knees. Even the next morning, there was no real urgency about the batting. The Indians did get a huge first innings lead, but ran out of time to bowl out the West Indies in the second innings.

This was the crux of the problem of Indian cricket. They had the enemy on the mat but could not strike the final, decisive blow. The lack of killer instinct yet again came in the way of a win and it was surprising that this happened when one of the top strokemaking batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar, was at the crease and was all set to launch a blistering attack. But it never came!

Cricket, like sex, is often played in the mind. The captain must have a clear strategy on when to launch an attack, how to starp up an innings, or score some quick runs. Tendulkar, unfortunately, messed up everything. There was some criticism that he did not send Azharuddin to bat instead of Saurav Ganguly. But Ganguly, normally, bats with refreshing freedom and should have been clearly instructed to push things a bit. I do not share former Indian captain Mohamad Azharuddin's views that cricketers at the Test level know everything about the game and do not need any guidance from the captain. In this situation, after making sure that India would not lose the game, Tendulkar should have sent clear instructions to the batsmen to get on with it. Why, even Nayan Mongia continued to play his push and prod game and wasted precious hours in the Indian chase for victory. I still believe that the real mess-up was at the Trinidad Oval and not at Bridgetown, Barbados. A 1-0 lead would have done wonders to the morale of the team.

To a certain extent, it was the same lack of aggression which led to the shattering defeat at Kensington Oval, though scoring 120 runs was not an easy job. 'Wait for the runs, do not go for them' was the instruction given to the players. But with some balls rearing up from good length and others scooting through, it was difficult to stay put for long and wait for the bad ball. Unfortunately, not one batsman had the foresight to blend aggression with defence. If only two batsmen had scored in the range of 30's or 40's, India could have won the game. If only Kapil Dev had played under such circumstances, he would have gone for the bowling and perhaps won the match for India.

Even more depressing was the loss in the one-dayers. The St. Vincent loss, where we literally grew the game away, was hard to believe. Imagine losing the last seven wickets for just 46 runs when we needed just 65 runs from 66 balls. Such choking up is quite common in one-day cricket and I have a sneaking doubt that had the West Indies been in the same position, the result could have been the same. After all, the Caribbean contest was between two mediocre teams which depended heavily on the performances of two or three stars. If only the remaining seven batsmen had continued to score in singles or twos and avoided hitting the ball in the air or going for impossible singles, the match could have been won easily.

Winning abroad was such a rarity that we just are not able to do it. I think the trouble is more mental, and lack of leadership counted a lot. Tendulkar was made the captain amidst much goodwill. Often he led by example and he has a shrewd cricketing brain. But he gets flustered on the verge of unexpected victories. In the second one-dayer which India won, we had the West Indies on the ropes. They lost the first six wickets for only 44 runs, yet when there slight signs of Adams and Bishop staging a recovery, Tendulkar got panicky and spread out his field, enabling the batsmen to get frequent singles. What was needed was attacking captaincy which would have yielded better results by choking up the West Indian batting. Even in the Tests, the field placing by Tendulkar was ultra-defensive. At the slightest hint of the West Indian batsmen choosing to attack, Tendulkar went into his shell and lost out on the initiative.

At the end of the tour, the skipper made his usual 'brave' statements and said that those who were 'selfish' would not find a place in the team. Selfish in what way? Digging in to bat and scoring some individual runs rather than force the pace for the sake of the team? If that were so, Tendulkar himself was guilty. It was seldom he played his natural attacking game. The same was the case with Dravid, who maintained his form and emerged as the best batsman in the side. Yet, Dravid often was unable to wrest the initiative from the bowlers. This quality is the hallmark of greatness. On this tour, we never saw the Dravid who dared to take on South African speedster Allan Donald in the final of the triangular series some weeks back.

Despite being labelled a strong batting side on paper, batting still posed problems. The continuous failures of Azharuddin was a major factor in losing the series. The former skipper tried to attack, and then tried to defend, and yet got out. He fielded superbly and took some stunning catches in the slips. Sidhu continued to be an enigma and was as injury prone as usual. Obviously, someone should tell him about former England batsman, Eddie Paynter, who rose from the hospital bed (he was admitted for tonsilitis), braved high temperature and enabled his side to save a crucial test match. It was unfortunate that manager Madan Lal had a clash with Sidhu when he declared himself unfit for the third one-dayer, but in this case, the injury was genuine. The manager, in that case, did not distinguish himself for berating a senior member of the side.

The opening problem persists, though V V S Laxman did well in the few opportunities he got. He too was ultra-defensive and allowed bowlers to dictate terms. Ajay Jadeja proved yet again that he is not equipped to open the innings at the test level. What a time he had in the 80 minutes he struggled in the final test at Guyana! Even in the one-dayers, the consistent Jadeja had just one good innings, but by that time, it was too late. Like Azharuddin, Ganguly also did not come up to expectations. Obviously, he forgot to play his strokes and was often scratching around.

In the bowling department, one major factor emerged. Anil Kumble holds no terrors outside India. Of course, he did take 15 wickets in the first two Tests against the West Indies. He was bowling all the time and some wickets had to come his way. Yet in the second Test, the most famous Indian spinner was unable to deliver the goods and wrap up the match when the West Indian batsmen were struggling on the fourth and fifth days. Shane Warne, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq, I believe, would have run through the West Indian batting on that wicket. Kumble's bowling sadly lacked variety and he seldom gave the ball enough air to lure the batsmen out. Joshi quietly faded away while Noel ('Who?) David did quite well in the one-dayers.

The only redeeming factor was the emergence of Abey Kuruvilla as a front-line opening bowler. Both in the one-dayers and in the tests, he really tested the West Indian batsmen and none of them, including Lara, really mastered him. It was a pity that the selectors waited for so long to try him out. Five years earlier, Kuruvilla was a lot more quicker and would have tested the batsmen more. Prasad was good in patches but looked overworked. But in Prasad, Kurivilla and a fully-fit Srinath, India has a fairly formidable pace attack. Ganesh was too inconsistent to meet with much success.

Where do we go from here? The Independence Cup is on us, in the sweltering heat of May, and I do not think the Indians are in proper shape for the tamasha. But then, playing at home is always different. Pakistan is sending a depleted team, New Zealand has never been a good one-day team, so the only real challenge comes from Sri Lanka. Sachin and Kumble may be back to their winning ways, but much should not be seen in these frequent one-dayers. Our indulgence in these is one of the main reasons for the poor performances in South Africa and West Indies. The time has come to cut down on one-day tournaments.

The cricketers may have to adapt themselves to the changes which might be coming in the days to come. Groundsmen from New Zealand have toured the major cricket playing centres. The BCCI has appointed Kapil Dev as the chairman for the Pitches Committee. Knowing Kapil and remembering the struggles he had while bowling on the heartless, slow tracks, we may expect livelier wickets with more bounce. The transformation could take some time, but at least a beginning has been made.

The media's approach to cricket coverage was also disappointing. One stray win, and Sachin Tendulkar is hailed, particularly by the Bombay press, as a great captain and strategist. He may become one in the days to come, but not if he continues with this defensive frame of mind. If some of the players were 'selfish', why were they persisted with? It is time that players at the test level were told what was expected of them. If the approach was not forthcoming, they should be replaced without any qualms of conscience.

The hunt for a capable allrounder should go on. Robin Singh and Ganguly do not fit the bill, though Ganguly should be given more bowling, both in tests and one-dayers. It is strange that the skipper and the manager are ready to drop Ganguly on the slightest provocation. Without sounding regional, there seems to be a bias against Bengal!

Indian cricket has a long, hard road ahead of it. The focus must shift from one-dayers and players should prepare themselves for more test matches. When South Africa recently hosted Australia, there were three test matches and seven one-dayers. This concept must change. Our players must believe that they can win matches abroad. It is the captain who should instil such confidence in his team mates.

Is Tendulkar capable of this? Only time will tell.