A gaze into the crystal ball

Harish Chandramouli

At least as far as this one cricket fan is concerned, the decision of the Ministry of External Affairs to not only not send the Indian cricket team to Sharjah, but to also suspend India's participation in meaningless one-day tournaments of such a nature for the next three years, could not have come at a more opportune time.

Forget Pakistan.

For too long, Indian cricket has been held hostage to the avarice of its own officials and administrators. Toronto. Kuala Lumpur. Singapore. Sharjah. Kathmandu. Timbuktu. Uranus. Pluto. You name it. India have probably been there to play the tamasha version of the game.

As a result of which, not only have the Test match skills of the players themselves become greatly attenuated, but in turn, one-dayers themselves have lost what little significance they once ever had. If you play about 400 such games each year, how on earth is it possible to take each and every one of them seriously, I ask?

In that regard, the Ministry here has to be given kudos like never before. For not only have they put paid to the intentions of the short-sighted administrators themselves, but in addition, they have given the players every opportunity to rest, recharge and hone their skills for the one form of cricket that matters the most. Test cricket.

All the more a timely intervention, because over the next year, India do have some pretty important Test assignments coming up. The euphoria over the recent series win at home notwithstanding, our real test (pun unintended) will come when we tour Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, South Africa and England. Will India, away from its partisan crowds and local pitches, finally win a Test match? Will a team, that hasn't won even one outside the subcontinent since 1986 stand up and finally be counted? (at least, for starters, against the minnows, Zimbabwe)

Following that, will Indian cricket do the unthinkable and actually put up a creditable showing in South Africa, and follow that up by at least winning one more Test match in England next year?

Knowing Indian cricket as well as one does, one does not possibly wish to hazard a guess to all of these questions. Every seasoned pro knows that India is perfectly capable of losing to Zimbabwe once again, and coming back from South Africa and England without a Test win under their belt, to boot. And one hardly wishes to tempt fate further by prematurely predicting anything to the contrary.

However, if those who have their fingers firmly crossed and their hands taped to wood will permit me, I do put forward that the signs seem a little more promising this time than they were before:

India won the recent Test series against the World champions, not on Krumblers and with the help of a bowler who just cannot bowl abroad, but on relatively good cricket pitches and mainly because of the skill of an offspinner who should be able to take wickets even when we tour. You need a good spinner to exploit conditions overseas -- one who actually turns the ball for a change -- and at least Harbhajan has a shot.

India finally has a genuine quick bowler who can be used as a strike weapon. Zaheer Khan, I am banking on you over the next year or two on all of our overseas assignments. Even though you were ridiculously left out for Ajit Agarkar when we played Zimbabwe at home, and have thus suffered a knock to both your confidence and pace, one can but hope it is only a matter of time before you recover your top speed and are charging in full pelt once more. An aggressive quick who has the pace, revels in bowling yorkers, and can attack from one end, will indeed be a novel addition to our side - and one whose salutary effects to the cause simply cannot be underestimated. With Srinath and Agarkar as backup, India finally has something resembling a decent pace attack, too.

Catches may win matches, but till you find bowlers capable enough of inducing those catches to begin with, you are just wasting your time - and in that regard, both Harbhajan and Zaheer will be welcome additions to an otherwise ordinary bowling attack.

The batting too looks reasonable, and not just speciously so. Das and Ramesh may be no Hobbs and Sutcliffe, but both have do some ability in their own right - especially against fast bowling. The horrors of watching Vikram Rathour and Woorkeri Raman on that last tour of South Africa still remain only too vividly etched in my memory, and one can only reasonably assume that this pair will at least fare a tad better. This in turn will mean that someone like Tendulkar won't be walking in at 10/2 every single time, but will actually get to play himself in against an older ball on occasion, too.

As has been mentioned before, less OD cricket should in turn mean more time in between to focus on Test technique, as well as hone other basic skills such as running between wickets, fielding, and general match tactics. All in all, more focus on the game, less emphasis on mindless tamasha.

So, to the million dollar question, then. With the odds thus being reasonably 'stacked' in our favour, what can one hope for from this cricket team over the next 12 months?

Despite past disclaimers, I do expect us to triumph in Zimbabwe fairly comfortably, so the real challenge for me will be to see how India does in South Africa and England.

Thus, from a personal viewpoint, a very satisfactory set of results would read as follows: series win in Zimbabwe, series drawn or won in Sri Lanka, series drawn in South Africa (before you fall off your chair laughing, don't forget that India almost won a Test match there even on the 96/97 tour - this despite having Tendulkar as captain, and stalwarts of the order of Rathour, Raman, Dodda Ganesh and David Johnson around the side), and a solitary Test match win in England.

A less satisfactory, but still acceptable sequence: Series win in Zimbabwe and a single test won in England, stuff it to the other two tours.

Anything worse than the latter, and I think we can safely say that our team's recent success against Australia was but illusory, and in reality, Indian cricket has really gone nowhere.

Anything better than the former - well, not only will I need a stiff drink and some immediate medical attention, but it will also be clear that Indian cricket has finally taken its place near the top, where its natural talent ought to always keep it.

Time, as always, to provide the conclusive answer.

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