Aftermath

So India as expectedly is out of the T20 World cup just like they did in 2009. So its safe to conclude that they are not good enough in the format despite boasting of so called successful sporting league that’s none but one man show thus far. The worst effect it has had over the national team is that they forgot the intensity needed to display in the team as playing together. Dhoni famously said for the need to be in the semis for an IPL when the owners pay them so much money. What about the national team when more than billions watch the team play and put their hopes and expectations on the players to do well, if not win everything they play. At least they expect the best players could put in every game and then they lose, nobody would complaint.

We are not a good T20 team and we should accept the fact with the pinch of salt. IPL is not cricket and it can be watched for fun and excitement, but never it can replace the pride and honour to play for the country. Few players have felt that playing in IPL would get them the booty securing their lives and playing for India is an added bonus that gets them the additional money. So performance goes for a toss. Such players are:

·         Yusuf Pathan

·         Yuvraj Singh

·         Zaheer Khan

·         Rohit Sharma

·         Dinesh KArthik

·         Murali Vijay

·         Harbhajan Singh

The intensity this players shown in the IPL was amazing and sadly that intensity on the field in Indian colors was missing.  How many wickets did Zaheer and Harbhajan take in the games they played ? 0. They have 235, 208 wkts in ODIs respectively, 245 and 355 (approx) wickets in Tests respectively and are the leftovers of the side that Ganguly made in early 2000s. Sadly Lalit Modi has spoiled this cricketers.

The captaincy was baffling, he made same mistakes every now and then. Preferring over Jadeja even after his class was exposed time and over, ignoring Chawla (though he did not deserve to be here at first place) playing 2 spinners on a fast bouncy tracks, having pedestals as bowlers (Zaheer, Nehra, Vinay LKUmar can never bowl short balls the way Indians faced from mediocre West Indies team) and repeatedly coming down the order despite the fact he is well known player for short and spin bowling than the likes of JAdeja, Pathan and so forth.  Bowling first was good option when they had the form of 2006 in ODIs when they won everything chasing. But then they had Dravid and Tendulkar in the team who can face short bowling with aplomb.  It was pathetic to see Gambhir jumping to the likes of Dwayne Bravo, Kemar Roach in the T20s when he has had dominated better bowling attacks home and away.  

So what are the factors that led to Indian exit in the World T20s when the weaker and pathetic teams Lanka and Pak got through to the semis:

·         Poor team selection : Everybody said so, I say the same. Srikanth erred in his Chennai prem and ignored the better in form players of IPL – Manish Pandey, Robin UThappa and Virat Kohli who’s had wonderful ODI season this year. In the bowlers he preffered Nehra, Zaheer, Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar who never form a quartret to frighten the opposition. Dinesh Karthik was opener and Vijay was replacement to Sehwag, whose absence in both T20 editions was felt. Needless to say he is one of the 2 batsmen successful in ODIs and Tests for India over a year now.  What can you expect of team that has Vijay and Karthik as openers in comparison to Watson, Warner (Aus), Jaywardhene(SL),  Keiswetter, Lumb (England) and even bugger Akamal (Pakistan). Not to forget Gayle for Windies.

·         Sehwag’s absence was hugely felt. He cannot be replaced by duds like Karthik or Vijay, even they hail from CSK.

·         Dhoni’s fascination for PAthan and Jadeja. He is turning the mules to horses when they do not qualify even as Asses.

·         Its time to call curtains for Jadeja and Pathan in the LoIs. They are not just good enough for the highest level of cricket. Not good ethically and not good physically.

·         Dhoni erred in tactics. He kept taking on bowling first and then opted for part timers.  When the track was bouncy, he opted for spinners.  Many times he came lower down the order than Pathan and Jadeja.

·         Selectors chose the team on reputation and not on the form and fitness. Regional favoritism was shamelessly displayed.

So who are those bakras who should be axed but wont be:

·         Harbhajan Singh from T20Is. He is best bowler for Tests but no more for ODIs and T20Is.

·         Yuvraj Singh from all three till he comes back leaner, meaner and fitter.

·         Vijay

·         Karthik

·         Pathan

·         Zaheer Khan from T20s and possibly ODIs too. He is not that effective in LoIs now.

We have had enough of IPL ruining our chances in international formats. None of the cricketing fraternity is gonna remember IPL winners years on from now, but yes the world cup winners would be. I don’t find anything wrong in Dhoni’s statement that IPL parties played a big role in the exit. Likes of Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Raina, Rohit, Zaheer, Pathan were regulars in IPL nights.  They were exhausted and by the time real test came, they were croppers.

IPL should be scheduled far away from the ICC events. Next year India hosts its biggest sports event in CWC ( way bigger than C’wealth games). So if IPL is scheduled before it, we should kiss the dreams of a world cup win good bye.

If a large responsibility lies on coach, skipper for this debacle, a lot of it lies with selectors too and Kris Srikanth at the max for the continuous dubious teams he is selecting.  The replacements for Yuvraj, Pathan and Jadeja are right here.

Kohli  for Yuvraj

Uthappa for Pathan with an added bonus of wicket keeping. That’d keep DK away

Pandey for Jadeja.

Yuvraj Singh is more on reputation than the form now.  He deserves rest to sort out his off the field problems whatsoever. Jadeja and Pathan are not over franchisee class, perhaps they should stick to the franchisee cricket. Dinesh Karthik, Vijay and other lesser TN players would keep coming and harming the chances of Indian team as long Srikanth, the worst selectors chief ever in memory, is around.  Sacking Dhoni and Kirsten for T20  failure would be a unfair thing to do as they have done commendable tasks in Tests and ODIs, the formats that really matter.

After all lets accept that T20 is not India’s cup of tea despite boasting of a chicken tandoori item called IPL.