Still we depend on them

Nothing has actually changed in five years. It is a pity that we have not seen a consistent performer since the entry of stylish Yuvraj Singh and explosive Sehwag. The sad thing is that India is still dependent heavily on their senior players.

On the other day I heard somebody comment in a news channel that Piyush Chawla is better than Anil Kumble! Such kind of remarks are only testimonials of the die hard passion of the common Indian cricket fan. When his superstars win a match for India, he worships them. When they dont perform to his expectations, he calls for their heads. It is really amazing that players such as Tendulkar maybe a little worn out, maybe he is not as good as he was five years ago, but he is able to perform even when under the enormous pressure of the hundreds of millions of his fans.

The obvious and scary question that India will have to find an answer pretty soon is : Who will fill the space soon to be left vacant by the fab four: Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman? Gautam Gambhir who has been in and out of the team in the past three years has a long way to go before he can be called a reliable batsman. Robin Uthappa knows only one way- hit the ball. He showed a lot of promise when he came first came to the scene. The good thing about Uthappa is that he looks to play straight more often than the others in his era. But he has to give more value to his wicket. Hopefully, Sehwag will come back to the team soon and will answer his critics with his performances.

Even when some of the Indian teams were not competent enough when compared to the other comtemporary teams in the previous decades, we had at least one spinner in top form. I strongly believe that Anil Kumble's retirement will make a bigger impact than any of the others'. Will Piyush Chawla be able to take over the reins from Anil Kumble, once he retires? Seems like there are already too many questions to find answers for.

A missed opportunity

The second innings of the Lords test was a perfect setting for any Indian batsman to cement his place in the side. While Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik made the most out of it, it was another missed opportunity for Sachin. Yes, you heard me right. Sachin has to prove his commitment,skill and ability to be sure of a place in the eleven.

While each delivery he faces will be watched intensely by not only his critics but also his millions of fans worldwide, the pressure he has to face, I believe, is at its peak now. For more than one-and-a-half decades, he has been the premiere batsman of the Indian cricket team. Most of these years he was the only dependable batsman. Captains world over priced the champions wicket over the other ten and they had good reason for that. He is the only batsman in the last two decades who has not been dropped from the test or one day team owing to poor performance. But I believe that its getting worse for the little master now. In our cricket crazy nation, everyone still expects him to make a hundred everytime he takes guard at the crease.

His exploits against South Africa, without doubt, proved that Sachin had still some fire left in him. He hooked, pulled and drove the likes of Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel to all parts of the ground in two glorious innings. But he failed to repeat the magic in the all important decider, the third match of the series and in the second innings of the test at Lords. The way he got out to Monty Panesar was appalling. With all due respect to Monty, it was not a delivery good enough to scalp the wicket of one of the best players of spin the world has seen. But of late, he has got out to spinners whose records are nowhere near as impressive as Panesar's.

Hopefully, the Trent Bridge test might see a different Sachin. With the millions of other Sachin fans around the world, I too would love to see some of the master's masterclass.

What does Yuvraj have to prove?

At one time we hear them saying that the old war horses have worn out and need to be rested and young blood will be courted. Then after a while, when the hype is over, they still persist with the same team. For a team which still has Saurav Ganguly with his place cemented in the eleven, even without too many performances to boast of, one does not see any point in complaining.

Yuvraj Singh, arguably, is the best batsman in the current Indian team. He already has a mature head on his shoulders at the young age of 26. Nobody ever doubted the elegant southpaw's talent. But initially the application was lacking. But this man has been around for 8 years and has scored runs all around the world. Still he has to fight for his place in the eleven. Does the board think that Dada will recreate the magic of his first tour of England? I think Yuvraj and Laxman should be considered before Saurav.

With an ageing Sachin and Rahul, Yuvraj, with loads of experience behind him, should be there in the team. England bowling attack may not be the same without Harmison, Jones and Flintoff; but its potent alright.

Saurav: a head-ache?

Its a catch 22 for the board. Play Saurav, and you can be sure that at least 30 balls will be wasted. Play him not, and you have to be answerable to the millions of Dada's fans. His average in the last five or six matches is exemplary. But its the strike rate that is the worrying factor.When has this man last scored a-run-a-ball 30? Don't tell me that he is the anchor-man. Dravid was dropped from the team a few years ago because he tried playing the "anchor man".

A good thing about the Prince of Kolkatta is that it is hard to knock down his wicket. He values his wicket more than most others. But his stint at the crease would be worth if he could at least try to take a few more singles or to run a bit more harder! In the match against Ireland on June 23, almost all the boundaries he hit were off half-volleys. Can the once "God of the offside" score only off half volleys?

His batting has not improved at all in the last few months. Its just a matter of time before he retires. I was a devout fan of the ex-captain a few years ago. I had fought a million battles against his critics. I would love to see him exit gracefully- not with a 100 from 150 balls; a 50 from 50 balls is much more satisfying for an average Indian fan like me.

Against the turn and against the tide

India had one of its worst ever world cup this time around. Its a pity that a team led by a man who, for me, was one of the very few Indian cricketers who kept improving with every match, had to go down so unceremoniously. But the hard truth is that India did not deserve a place even in the semifinals.

We had the talent, or so we believed. Indians are known to be the best players of spin. But in the last few years, spinners have really caused havoc. How many times have we seen Sachin get out to spinners lately? From Ashley Giles to Abdur Razzak, the spinners have had the better of him especially when he was new to the crease. Ganguly, who is known to hit towering sixes against spinners was found wanting against Bangladesh. In the world cup match against Srilanka, Uthappa seemed to be in a hurry against Vaas. The way he batted, it looked as if the team strategy was to finsh the game even before Murali got his hands on the ball! Dhoni "walked" when wrapped on the pads by Murali, even before he appealed. Now, how often do you see that !!

Gone are the days when we cheered Sachin as he danced down the track a million times against Warne, arguably the best spinner the game has seen. Ironically, the younger batsmen in the team play against the faster bowlers better. Sandip Patil, an explosive batsman of the yester years, was concerned whether he would be able to sight the ball when he went for his first West Indies tour. True, the faster bowlers of this era are nowhere as scary as those of the 70s and early 80s- a period when helmets were just worn for a more stylish look.

So where do we stand in the end? We cant play Murali and we cant play Brett Lee. Once Sachin, Saurav, VVS and Rahul retires, who are going to make the much hyped about "Strong Indian batting line-up"? Yuvraj, for me is the only answer. Sehwag maybe. Who are going to be the others? We havent seen a single batsman since the entry of these two who has come anywhere close.

Every 3 years, we have had a new problem. When Srinath and Prasad hung their boots, we asked "Who next?" Then we saw the advent of a flurry of talented quicker bowlers in Agarkar, Zaheer, Balaji, Irfan,Munaf, RP Singh, VRV Singh and Sreesanth. Then came the problem of a wicket-keeper who can at least look like a batsman. We tried M.S.K. Prasad, Ajay Ratra, Vijay Dahiya, Deep Dasgupta, Parthiv Patel etc. Now we have found two stable batsmen who can also do the glove work excellently-Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik. The latest question is, a question which we, even in our wildest dreams, thought we would not have to answer stares back at us- Who are going to make-up the Indian batting line-up in future? Lets hope that we can find answers to it as we found to more difficult problems.