Interesting Times in Indian Cricket

Some very interesting things are happening with Indian Cricket. Chappel-Ganguly fued, World Cup debacle, English series Win, ICL-IPL and now we have a new Captain.

Indian fans are a very interesting breed, they follow the game very passionately. As Ganguly famously said, even the paanwala would like to offer him tips on what to do on field. Very few people actually realize that one day game has transformed completely. Its a different game from the days when India was winning something in mid-80s. Well, we had a decent run in mid-80s, we won the World Cup and Benson and Hedges Trophy in 85, few tournaments in Sharjah but after that we have really struggled to win anything significant. We reached the final in 2003 WC but the final was very much a one sided affair.

I would like to draw a parallel with hockey, in which we used to rule the roost but we kept admiring about the past and now we struggle to qualify for Olympics. Why am I talking about hockey suddenly.... let me explain, just like with advent of astro turf the game transformed, something very similar is happening in Cricket as well. Oh don't worry, cricket would still be played on grass but fitness level required for the game especially in ODI has gone up by several notches. If you watched, India in England ODI series, it was very clear, we had too many players whom the captain was finding difficult to hide in field. In mid 80's we could get away in matches with fielders like those. Zimbabwe was an excellent fielding side back then as well. But major test playing nations focused more on the core skills, batting and bowling. But in last decade or so fielding has become very much a core skill.
Hence the parallel with hockey, where physical fitness became very much a core skill as soon as the Astro turf arrived.

We have an ODI series coming up with Aussies, just watch out the fitness level of Aussie players and ask yourself do you think our team can consistently beat them in this game. Sadly, the answer is No. Aussies would surely miss their retired stars like McGrath and Warne in Tests but they have very fit and suitable replacements in ODI version.

I think its extremely important that we accord the importance to fielding in cricket else we might end up just like the way we are in hockey where we just keep harping about our past glory but the fact of the matter is we haven't won any significant event, where all leading countries participated, in more than four decades!


The big 3 of Indian cricket need to start thinking how long they would be playing the ODIs. I think the message has been sent by selectors now. In Ganguly's case, I think its better that he calls it a day. Sachin should start focusing more on his Test centuries ;). Dravid can continue probably for another season. I think our selectors should stop fooling us by telling us Ajit Agarkar is an all rounder. What am i doing here, advising, just like the paanwala, of course, I would do that as I am also a proud Indian fan !

Now talking about ICL. It was an interesting to read about spat between Kapil and Bindra. Each accusing the other of trying to make quick bucks! Well, I think they both are right in pointing out that other guy is in it for money. So what's wrong with that. Credit should go to Zee and Kapil for making BCCI move and think out of box, which has led to IPL. It would offer more opportunities to fringe players and if Lalit Modi's vision materializes we might have our own versions of Manchester United and Liverpool. Cricket would actually become a viable career option, this would be terrific. I am really excited about this development but their is a long way to go. It would be interesting to see whether big franchises would actually materialize or this vision would fade away.