Reader Response

Responses to Prem Panicker's column:
Change in attitude needed

It was nice to read your article, in particular amusing to note the extent of frustration (as much as journalistic ethics allow you to ventilate!) that marks your take on yet another absymal test performance.

This is my first mail to you and allow me to record that since the glorious days of R.Mohan of "The Hindu", your team (Faisal, Sujatha and yourself) is the most forthright and incisive of all the desi blokes whose cricket-writing I have encountered.

Further, your articles seldom betray your intense desire to see the Indian team perform well and that adds to the reading pleasure.

To hasten to the point, the change of guard in the selection committee had raised some hopes (the previous one comprised a bunch of frustrated, mediocre, ex-cricketers) towards better team composition. And yet, the continued presence of Agarkar and, to a lesser extent, Nehra indicate that "gangster" Ganguly is as much culpable as "Don" Damliya for the state of affairs.

Here is a captain whose response time in the field reminds one of the valve radios of another era! If his problems while facing genuine pace and movement are mostly confined to outside the off-stump, they are generously spread out all over the ground while he is in charge of the fielding team.

Not to take anything away from his record as captain, but how many instances of wins under him fashioned by astute captaincy, a la Waugh or Imran? Laxman and Dravid clicked in Calcutta against the Aussies, Bajji did and so did Kaif and Yuvaraj in the NatWest final!!

I agree with you that the present team is the best one that we've had in a long time. Hence I don't agree with pessimistic viewpoints vis a vis the World Cup, ONLY if they can get the composition correct!! Srinath (minus his own captain "sledging" him on his journeys back to the bowling mark!) is still good for 10 overs. Zaheer and Bajji select themselves and Yohannan should be adequate in a supportive role,what with Bangar having acquitted himself admirably! Karthik and Nehra could be the back up duo. NOT ONE OF THE ABOVE HAS SCALED AGARKARIAN HEIGHTS IN PRODIGALITY!

Sehwag, Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly, Kaif, Yuvaraj, Bangar is the best one-day line-up that we've had for a while and if they can't deliver, I doubt anyone else can.

I'm certain that my voice is but one in a chorus and yet, in a scenario when the powers that be as so obviously impervious to logic and opaque to reason, I feel that every voice counts. Further, those who are responsible for the selection and performance of the team must be aware that they carry the hopes of a billion!! Also, when it comes to the careers of cricketers like Balaji, Yohannan, Kartik, Mohanty et al., the powers need to realize that "the evil that men do, lives after them"!!!!

Subbu Ramakrishnan

PS: Is there a way that the articles and statistical analyses that your team posts could be made compulsory reading for anyone who matters in Indian cricket?!!!!

Prem Panicker: On behalf of Faisal, Sujata, and various guys who work behind the scenes (Imran Shaikh, Ashish Magotra, Ivan Crasto to name just three), thanks.

There is much of interest – and some amusement, particularly certain turns of phrase – in here. Will take only one point, though, for comment:

The actual composition of the selection committee is not going to make any difference, for two very good reasons: 1) Because whoever makes it to the committee, makes it because of, and through, the zonal system. Various members of a zone have to vote for you, support you, before you can become a selector? Why would they do it? Because they hope you will repay that support when it comes to team selection. This particular ill can be cured only if, and when, selectors are elected independently, owe no allegiance to any zone, are paid a salary rather than be forced to practice clever accounting to make money, and are held accountable for results.

That is a bit like saying the world will be a better place with the arrival of Kalki on horseback with drawn sword.

The second reason is, sponsors. I won’t name names, but look at it as an algebraic exercise. Theorem one: The BCCI’s main goal is to optimize revenue. Two: The biggest slice of revenue comes from sponsors. Conclusion: The BCCI has every reason to please the big sponsors.

Now take the case of player X, who comes onto the scene with a bang. Sponsors, ever on the look out for rising stars, sign the bloke up before he becomes too expensive (for christ’s sake, a Kanitkar got two endorsements on the strength of having hit that winning four in Dhaka).

Meanwhile, Mr X, after the meteoric debut, starts to slide as more and more international teams sort him out, with bat or ball. The sponsor meanwhile has a lot invested in him – and can recover zip if the selectors do the right thing and drop the guy.

So said sponsors go to the BCCI and go, hey, if you want to make money, I have to advertise on TV. If I have to advertise on TV, the guy I bought and shot advertisements around has to play – otherwise, what is the point of my putting in money? And so – put two and two together and come up with your own sums.

It was an interesting article - as applicable today as 5 years back - just driving home the point that the situation remains the same after so many years.

It is not the defeat but the manner of defeat that hurts. And by the way I don't think team selection is to blame - these are indeed the best available candidates (one can argue about a case or two like giving Irfan Pathan a chance) but I can't recall there being much debate about the team selection.

For the same reason, I'd not want too many changes in the team. Sehwag should open. Sorry, but I don't really have faith in SS Das. Sehwag is a wild card and we know that going into the match. I would like to see Kaif getting a chance instead of Laxman for 3 reasons: 1. Laxman doesn't seem to have the fire in him and dropping him might do him good in the long run (and lets not get carried away by his century in Calcutta since it was at home and Tendulkar had taken off the pressure). 2. Kaif is key to the World Cup also and needs to get more batting chances - he hasn't had too much to do lately. 3. Will be a major improvement in the fielding.

On the bowling front, I would give Karthik a chance instead of Agarkar. There is a toss up between Yohannan and Nehra (based on what I saw, Nehra did not bowl that badly - he just needs to tighten up a little bit)

We say that our one-day team has a much better attitude. Remember, almost 8-9 players of that one-day team are also in this test team!! It is all about confidence, in yourself and the team. The one-day team became a much tighter unit in the last year because it started winning regularly.

Tests are a different ball game and it seems like we are taking our one-day attitude and hoping it would work in the tests. Just need to remember that we need to work much harder to win tests than one-dayers! In most of our foreign tours (except the last one in the West Indies), it takes a defeat or two to awaken everyone.

This takes nothing away from the fact that proper planning (about the itinerary and pitches) can make a major difference to the series. But then everyone has already beaten these topics to death. The relevant people don't seem to read (or listen or see).

Ketan Khandkar

Prem Panicker: Hard to quarrel with anything you’ve said here, so I’ll add a little winkle instead: In a one day game, there is less emphasis on sustained strategy and tactics than in Tests. Not saying there is no strategy in ODIs – merely, that much of it can be previously programmed, and the space in which to make blunders is limited. In Tests, that differs – somewhat like the difference between blitz chess and the conventional variety, the errors in the shorter version can sometimes be swept away in the rush of the game, whereas here, the opposition has so much more time to cash in.

You would also want to look at another factor – the one day side started winning consistently, in recent times, with the induction of youngsters who did not carry onto the ground, like an albatross round the neck, memories of many past games where the team had lost because one or two major stars failed. Without those memories, and that baggage, they just went out and played the situation, and the bowling, they won, the team suddenly woke up to the fact that hey, just because we had a Tendulkar or Dravid or Ganguly back in the hut, it did not necessarily spell Armageddon.

Ok this cannot go on and on forever. Forget the first test loss, every cricket fan knows that this team is a very talented side. I would say one of the best ever in Indian cricket history. But what ails the team is the attitude/skill of some players like Ganguly, Laxman and Ajit.

Since how long have we been talking about Ganguly's problems with short ball etc etc....should we say 4 years? What has he done to rectify it?...going by the results-à NOTHING. So do we need players who take their places for guaranteed and make no efforts to overcome their shortcomings?

Take Sachin for example, he time and again proved that he is willing to work on his problems and he always came out victorious (be it over coming Shane Warne in 98 or McGrath in 2000 or Giles recently). So we just don't need to have players who just cant play ball. That's why I say we make these changes

1. Make it clear to Ganguly that unless he can fix his short ball glitch/'slips catch practice' bug in his technique soon , we cannot afford him in the team just for the reason that he is the captain. Let Ganguly be a member of the ODI team. He deserves his place in ODI.

2. Then make Dravid captain in both forms of the game.

3. Take Laxman and Agarkar out of the team and forcibly retire them from active cricket ( I am not laughing ! ) ,otherwise Laxman will hit five triple centuries in a month in domestic cricket and will be back to torment us.. One great innings in 3 years is just not good enough. Thank you for your 281 and that's it! I am not going to talk about Agarkar ..I am not even going there

Pun aside, I know its very easy to say things like this. These are a few things that every passionate Indian cricket fan knows and would like to see implemented....but who can do it....I know I cant do it...I know you cant do it....we need some one like a Dalmiya or a Sachin to take up things like this for the good of Indian cricket.

I say Sachin because he is the only player who has it in him to be an Imran Khan for Indian cricket. I am sure you know what I mean when I say Imran Khan of Indian cricket. Sachin has the clout to talk to the selectors and to the establishment to make things happen. Or simply make him the captain again.

Coming to the test match again, I am not at all happy the way Sachin is getting himself into a shell nowadays. He is too good a player to use his pads (and not his bat!) to bowlers like Oram and Tuffey. Sachin needs to learn from Dravid at this time . I am sure he will. By the way a nice article from you after a long time. Thanks.

Prasad

Prem Panicker: Wow! If ‘pragmatism’ sums up what you said here, and if we say this should apply to every member of the side irrespective, I’ll go around breaking coconuts in front of every Ganpati shrine yet created if this happens – heck, I’ll even put up a few myself!

One area where I would quarrel is in equating Tendulkar with Imran Khan – ‘Immy’ could do what he did in Pakistan because there, the stakes are not as high. Here, as evidenced by the two tries Sachin has had at the helm, a different set of rules applies: power or no power, clout or no clout, the board will not let anyone, anyone, take away from them their control of the purse strings. And believe me, money more than any other factor dictates selection, as it does everything else to do with Indian cricket.

First, nice to see your long article. We do enjoy Faisal's, but please do write more often.

In general, how do we access your old articles (day reports) of Tests/ODIs in Rediff?

Now to the main point: I agree that that's how it is every foreign tour and also our bastmen lack the ability to play fast bowling on outside pitches and conditions.

However, I think people jump from extremes with every single result. As you rightly said, this says nothing about our WC possible outcome. In addition, India is not going to change into an Australia in 1-2 years.

They have started winnings tests consistently outside and this is one change I see in recent times (credit to Ganguly/Wright comb). Sure, they are losing also and not able to win a series yet. But I think it's only a matter of time if this progression is maintained. I know Aus/RSA/Pak are more tough, but India does have that element of surprise that pops up every now and then.

So even though I do feel bad about this abject defeat and I strongly agree that measures have to be taken to avoid these in future, I don't, unlike some others, feel that this means our guys can't play outside. Watch the next test, I would say.

This set of players is much better that any other team we had had recently and in 2000 we have taken the corrupt ones out, so I think Indian team as a whole is on the right track.

Remember about writing more...

Amol

Prem Panicker: Sure, the team has a lot going for it. Perhaps it is for this reason that defeats hurt the fans so much – if the potential did not exist, who would care? I hope, like you, that the second Test will be better – but I would also like to see the team, as a unit, working more towards ironing out their chinks, getting more consistent especially on away tours. As to where my old reports are, the archives of old tourson the Rediff site is full of them, and the columns are in the Columnists archive.

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Mail Cricket Editor