Time to smell the (Ageing) Coffee in Indian Cricket?

India's abysmal show in the home test series against New Zealand which was more than just a series loss after an incredible 18 series unbeaten run at home has saddened millions of Cricket fans, including yours truly. Let's be clear, no other nation had such an enviable track record in test cricket at home than India. But like every record, It was bound to be broken at some stage and it finally happened against the Kiwis. To be fair to the incredible team and it's amazing home record, a rare series loss shouldn't mean the end of the world. Even the fact that the recent series loss happened against a side that barely a week before the Bengaluru test had been humiliated by being dismissed for 88 by a team in transition like Sri Lanka before being whitewashed by the Island nation in the series shouldn't rattle us. Nor there is any reason to press the panic button for being outplayed by a bunch of highly motivated but statistically unimpressive players whose earlier track record in the subcontinent made them look like "Goats in a slaughterhouse" in terms of their prospects in and against mighty India without their two of the greatest stars, Williamson and Boult. But what should concern everyone is the kind of capitulation and repeated collapses the team has been enduring of late and the apparent drop in consistency and performance level of some of the greats of the golden generation of our test team in the last leg of their glorious journey. Sometimes the drop has been overlooked as the team has managed to ultimately carve out a win due to contributions from unusual and unexpected quarters just managed to do so in the 1st test against Bangladesh after being reduced to 34/3 and 144/6. As it often happens, a win manages to hide the flaws and the weakness of a team and perhaps that's what has happened with our team of late. It took a series defeat to the unfancied Kiwis for the glaring dip in the form and contribution from our greats to stare is on our face. So let's not look at the series loss against the Kiwis under the prism of a statistical outcome alone. Let's look at it as a disturbing symptom of an ailment that is beginning to look terminal and may be in need of a serious pathological call about what the team needs to do in terms of its greats who are in the last leg of their journey. And this is where one remembers an absolute Cricketing legend who was conveniently painted as the filthiest villain of Indian Cricket at another point of time when there he was trying to address a similar question about transition from the greats of that era. Let's make no mistake about it. He was BAD in terms of carrying the team with him and perhaps too egotistic for ego/man management of modern-day superstars and definitely not an ideal choice as a Manager/Coach of a 21st-century National Cricket team full of stars and superstars with their inflated ego and millions of loyal fans. But being vilified as the biggest villain? Seriously???. Anyway, that is another matter for discussion on another day. Let me get back into the specific facet of that person's view about Cricket and the toughest thing in the context of Indian Cricket: How and when to decide that it's time to move on from the current set of Demigods? 

His name was Greg Chappel and his view was brutally uncompromising.

Most Cricket fans are aware that the controversy surrounding Greg Chappell's well-publicised ruthless initiative to push a few veteran superstars out of their comfort zone/positions in the Indian team with the aim of blooding younger talent to take over for the long-term future ultimately cost him his position as Coach of Indian team in 2007. At the peak of national outrage against him, in one of the interviews he was asked by a reporter whether he felt he was unfair and wrong in his approach of trying to push greats like Ganguly out of the team considering he had managed to notch up a few big scores subsequently? His answer was interesting and enlightening. I don't remember the exact words he used, but it more or less conveyed the following clarification :

"Of Course, they would deliver. They are not great players for nothing. It's not that they forget how to score centuries or pick wickets overnight. If you give them 20 innings, most likely they will deliver on a couple of occasions. But the fact is, the team will begin to suffer on 18 occasions because of the inconsistency that comes when they are past their prime. Now if a supremely talented youngster is included in the team, he may struggle too in the initial 18 innings before delivering consistently and winning the team games. So the point to consider is should those 18 chances be given to a 21-year-old youngster who can turn into a great and serve the team and forms the core of a world-conquering side for the next 10-12 years or should the chances be given to a great player who is anyway in the last leg of his journey?"

Now one can have a different take on Greg's attitude, larger-than-life image as a legend, ego, unfamiliarity with the Indian culture of superstar worship and unnecessary confronting posture with key stakeholders including the players and avoidable haste in implementing his ideas. But no one can and should dispute this golden principle of his which perhaps tells us as much about his belief and attitude as the Aussie template in general and the reason behind their consistently raised high bar of excellence and minimal dip in achievements due to transition from legends to youngsters. 

But then he was Greg Chappel and he hailed from a Country called Australia. This is India. We worship our idols for decades and the harsh truth is, for most of us, our worship of our idols is beyond our desire to see our team reign supreme. We want our idols to be in the team for eternity. It doesn't matter whether they begin to look like a poor shadow of their glorious peak and are carried in the team as passengers. We are fine to just see them in the team sheet even if their lack of contribution hurts the team. We can live with a miserable loss for our team if our idol scores a meaningless 30th century when it doesn't matter or picks up a 300th or 500th wicket without the usual vice-like grip over Batsmen. But we can't sleep peacefully if the team wins a memorable game with our idol being on the sideline. So, we will keep finding faults with a few others including the coach, manager, a few young players still trying to make a mark in their careers and anyone else other than our idol. We will wait for 20 innings for him to score a 50/100 on a flat pitch with not much at stake or pick up a 5-wicket haul on a dust bowl. Once it happens, we will demand immunity and unquestionable reign of our idol for the next 20 innings rather than worrying about his decline and inconsistency affecting our team's legitimate march towards global invincibility. We are a nation too happy to win trophies on Social Media by bullying the world and critics rather than pushing for the same on the field. We are fine with the claim by our Ex Cricketers that "We are the best team (on paper)" rather than asking, "Why a team with 15 great players and 150 potential champion youngsters on the sideline, in a nation of 1.5 billion cricket-crazy people is still bossing the sport on paper instead of the grounds". Greg Chappel and his Aussie template be damned. We are great with our "Proud Cricketing culture and sensibility". World Test Championships can wait a little longer.

By: Ambika Prasad Mahapatra