The lords of defeat
Ananthanarayanan K Subramanian - 02 Aug 2002

Rarely in the history of sport has so much hope been placed by so many on so few. This statement is technically true if one were to talk about the average Indian cricket fan's longing to see an away series win. Perhaps one comparable scenario would perhaps be the British public's annual "visions" of a Wimbledon title for Tim Henman. But going by the numbers claimed by Indian freedom fighters, who pointed out the irony of being ruled by a country the size of the (then) Madras Presidency, the Henman comparison does not do justice to the kind of reaction that the Indian team evokes after their matches, be it their (infrequent at best) wins or their (much more regular) defeats.

Now as Indians mull over yet another debacle, it is time for retrospection. To lighten my share of the flak that the team will face over the next few days, it is best to concentrate on the strong points arising from this defeat.

Wins or losses, this is the highest second-innings score made by India in the last 25 Tests away from home and just one run less than India's second-highest second-innings score - 398 in the drawn match against Pakistan at Faisalabad in 1989/90. In fact, it is the eighth highest second-innings score by India in the 153 tests they have played away from home, and definitely the highest in the past decade. That must surely count as a positive.

For a few days, I will also have to avoid certain gentlemen living in my neighborhood, gentlemen who have always been steadfast supporters of one Ajit Agarkar. I have always laughed at the various reasons thrown out for his mediocre performances, but I must admit now that I may have been mistaken. While 109 off 190 balls is a remarkable score for a number eight batsman, it is especially remarkable for an Indian with eight ducks to his name, four of them golden.

So has Agarkar finally arrived? I wouldn't come to that conclusion immediately, because even with two key wickets in the England's second innings, he hardly inspires confidence as a Test bowler. And it has to be conceded that the batting of Agarkar is a gift wrapped in a zillion layers of paper. We need time to unwrap it to find the true magnitude of this innings.

So much water has flowed under the bridge since the heady victory at Eden Gardens, and yet VVS Laxman walks the plank most of the time. Give the man his rightful place at number three. His flamboyance is spoken of by many as the reason for his "inconsistency". But do these people realise that his three centuries have come when accompanied by another top-order batsman at least for the majority of his innings. Or that he has run out of partners almost every time the scoreboard has a "not out" against his name.

Detractors may point out that 21 out of Laxman's 36 innings in the top-half of the order have resulted in scores of 25 or less. But I am inclined to ignore this last statistic because inconsistency has always been a part of this Indian top-order. It therefore makes no sense to let a "bored" Sourav Ganguly come out before an in-form Laxman. Maybe desperation brings out the best in Laxman, but let India try to get more out of this character who brings a smile to everyone's face when he bats. Ganguly was another of the type, but sadly we haven't seen such performances from him in the last few years, even if he showed glimpses of his old self in the West Indies.

And thence to the negatives. The Indian bowling attack, frankly speaking in Yankee slang, sucks. It was such a surprise watching the English attack keeping at bay the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid after the annihilation of the Indian bowlers by Messrs. Hussain, Flintoff and Jones (not to mention Crawley and White). While Nasser Hussain might have erred in using Ashley Giles so early in India's innings on the second day, the steady off-stump line the English bowlers adhered to on the third morning was definitely a joy to watch for any connoisseur of old-fashioned line and length.

In marked contrast, the Indian attack sprayed the ball far too much in both the innings, ensuring that a mediocre English batting lineup (at least on paper as compared to India's) scored enough to trounce India. Anil Kumble was a shadow of his usual self, and without him striking regularly, the Indian attack does not pass muster.

But 12 Tests in a four-year time frame does not exactly give one the experience to learn from mistakes. While Agarkar can be excused on this basis, I would expect Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan to do better, at least because they have played more regularly than Agarkar. Harbhajan Singh's absence was probably another selection blunder that will be rued for the rest of the series. Ganguly's absence from the attack in the second innings was inexplicable as well.

But the sorest point of the whole Test was undoubtedly the batting failure. This batting line-up is arguably the best (again on paper) to have played for India in the last 25 years. But a collective performance from them is always absent. Only one or two batsmen from the five seem to perform, and even more consternation, these batsmen are not the same every time.

One factor is probably the constant shuffling, while another is the absence of a fixed opening pair. We should recognise that fact that India's chances of a victory will be bright either if all these batsmen do their bit or a couple of batsmen do everything. While the former is not out of the question, the latter is surely too much to ask, be it of a Tendulkar or a Dravid. A 281 does not appear on the scorecard of every Test. But have we and the players realised that ?

In short, the Lord's Test was a familiar story of missed chances and bad cricket. Though my limited experience in competitive cricket above the college level prevents from giving the team management concrete tips, what I can definitely surmise is that India have to improve now and improve fast. But I can state much more confidently that the team still has much to learn. Ajay Ratra's horrendous cut in the first innings is an ample reminder of this, as is Tendulkar's wild swish. I just hope that the players learn the value of their India cap and realise that there are almost a billion people looking forward to an away series win.

The views expressed above are solely those of the guest contributor and are carried as written, with only minor editing for grammar, to preserve the original voice. These contributed columns are solely personal opinion pieces and reflect only the feelings of the guest contributor. Their being published on CricInfo.com does not amount to an endorsement by CricInfo's editorial staff of the opinions expressed.

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