The Agony is over
- The Indian Cricket team tour of England has finally ended. It was one of those tours that Indian Cricket lovers ,would like to forget. A test series washout ,( lost all the four tests ), lost the one off T- 20 match and a performance in the ODI not supported by the result ( Series lost but the result could have been more favourable to the Indian team ). The team did not win a single match except the side county practice matches that it played against local teams and this "no win "must be a record of sorts for the ODI World Cup holders.
While it is easy to criticise , many things went against Team India and Dhoni's lady luck deserted him totally. Some thoughts and comments :
A total of ten players were injured as the tour progressed and replacements were sent in. I am not sure if any touring team called in for ten replacements on a tour . There was a eleventh injury on the final ODI ( Munaf Patel ). It is difficult to plan your team options in this situation. It is incredible that the team carried on and did very well in the ODI's.
The luck remained with England all through out . How can Dhoni loose the toss all the time and allow the opponent to gain advantage ? ( Why did Dhoni not allow someone else other than him to call the toss , when your luck is so wretched is something that could have been tried )
The Duckworth Lewis method was set up for England only. In the tied match of the fourth ODI, when the players went off for the first time when Engalnd was chasing , India was ahead. They did not the cross the ropes , when they were called back to continue the match. In the next over, rain forced the players to go off and guess what , England was ahead and it took a while for the match to resume. When the match was called off , the scores were level. India could never win the D/L formula !!.
The weather gods were always kind to the English. It rained when they wanted and shone when they wanted. Sunny conditions when England batted and cloudy and chill when the Indians batted !!
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It was a irony that England wanted this tour to beef up the finances of some of their counties which was hosting the tests and ODI. Some counties were on the brink of bankruptcy and only the Indian team could have brought the crowds in . The Indian support for all the matches were good although the team was loosing. So the England ploy worked from all angles. The comprehensive win by the English team was a bonus in addition to the betterment of the Coffers of the counties where the matches were played. .
Will England Invite l the Indian team again ? Yes -- not for the coffers but to repeat the winning ways ! The English support will come in numbers to see this ...
All said and done , England planned very well in all aspects of the game and the results were inevitable due to this.
Captain Dhoni was unflappable . Captaining a winning side is different but captaining a team that was loosing and had its first choice players out, was not easy. Keeping the morale high was not a easy job. Dhoni did that very well. At no stage was his behaviour grumpy.
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The other surprising fact --Normally when a Indian team looses like this , there is a call for a wholesale change. Change the Selection Board, Change the captain etc etc . But so far , I have not seen a call to do any of that. This is good . We need to maintain the confidence in our team. Of course , some players will get the axe. Age has clearly caught up with them and they are a liability rather than an asset.
How can I sign off without talking about the "Wall" -- Rahul Dravid-- Superb , Awesome , Outstanding .. The key to his success has always been his fundamental approach to all forms of the game and being very consistent and a unwavering focus on the task on hand. If anyone wants to know what committment is , there is Rahul for everyone to see. Lot to learn for the youngsters from Rahul .
Comments
Very good summary, of a dreadful English summer. We had similar results in the past and have overcome to play superbly well and I guess we might do it again. However one good factor to note is that T20 need to be reduced because current batsmen don't play out the entire overs and shorter version don't expose the shortcoming of the player.
Rahul "The Wall" Dravid really played well and he is true champion cricketer who has never got his due recognition, however this is his key attribute that made him an excellent and most respected player.
Santhan
Spot on about Dhoni - no whining about conditions, key player absences, injuries, umpiring or any of the usual excuses.
And we are always optimists, true Indian fans. We had a wash against West Indies after '83 WC, and WINDIES had a similar wash against Australia after '75 WC, but they came back strongly and held the stage for nearly 15 years. I hope we too will bounce back.
Radha