The Indians have shown the visiting Englishmen that they are a difficult
side to beat at home, just as they did to the Australians in the early
part of the year. Every nation, for that matter, does better at home
than abroad, and the Indians are no worse or better. The only problem is
that the margin by which they lose matches abroad can be embarrassing at
times. At the moment, the Indian team is in a transition phase when it
comes to bowling, but the batting line-up has been fairly established.
With the year drawing to a close, the Indians should sit and analyse
their performances through the year and try to chalk out a plan for the
coming year. Sourav Ganguly has been in charge as captain for over two
years now and, although John Wright and Ganguly may have had differences
of opinion on numerous occasions, they get along well. That should the
prime reason for Wright's contract to be renewed; to be fair to Wright,
one solitary year is too short a time to make world-beaters out of the
Indian side.
The year 2001 has been a strange one for the Indians. They beat the
much-fancied Australian side at home after being down by one Test. The
series in Zimbabwe was drawn, and nothing spectacular came out of the
Sri Lankan tour either. The trip to South Africa was ridden with
controversies and bruises, in terms of Test results at least. Though the
Indian side made it to the finals of the triangular tournaments in South
Africa, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, they faltered on the day it mattered,
keeping with a trend started in 1999 at Nairobi.
Many players had to miss out on various series or tournaments due to
injuries, compounding the captain's problems to a large extent. As the
number of casualties grew during the middle part of the year, there were
a lot of misgivings about the efficiency of physiotherapist Andrew
Leipus. It has to be borne in mind, though, that some of the players
sustained bone-related injuries on the field, and nothing can be done
about those. In Sri Lanka, the Indians had to play without the little
champion, Sachin Tendulkar, and also the sensation at the time, VVS
Laxman. Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble were also not regular members of
the Indian side due to injuries and rehabilitation respectively.
Looking back at the year in a nutshell, then, there have been gains and
losses in equal measure. India has gained in Harbhajan Singh a very good
bowler, and another piece of good news is that Kumble is back into the
groove; this duo can win matches for their country, at least on home
pitches. There has been much chopping and changing in the medium-pace
department, and the ideal partner for Srinath is yet to emerge. Zaheer
Khan and Ashish Nehra showed enough promise, but injuries and
inconsistency have denied them a regular berth in the side. Tinu
Yohannan, the product of MRF Pace Foundation, is the recent inclusion in
the pace bowling department.
The Indian batting has been indifferent, with the middle-order batsmen
not clicking in unison when the side needed them to. Ganguly, for one,
has been off the boil for almost a year now in Test cricket, and with
Rahul Dravid being shuffled around, things were not smooth for him
either. The biggest disappointment of the year, though, has been the way
in which Laxman has repeatedly let down his side. He established himself
against Australia with the highest individual score by an Indian but has
done little sine then. Mind you, he is a big innings player, but if he
keeps tossing his wicket away in the twenties time and again, the team
is bound to suffer. The only gain this year has been the emergence of
"Veeru" Sehwag, who has been refreshing in both forms of the game. One
only hopes that he does not take things for granted and keeps performing
consistently.
Overall, the year has been one best forgotten, since the team has not
won too many games. The wicket-keeper's slot is still up for grabs, and
a partner for Shiv Sunder Das is still to be found, although Deep
Dasgupta looks a handy prospect. The Indians have to concentrate on
their upcoming tours, since performances abroad have not been
spectacular in recent years. The basic tendency is to wait until the
eleventh hour and then pick a combination in a jiffy. It is about time
that things changed, and planning for the future should be the top
priority. The phrase has been a cliché often heard, but with so many
tours abroad slated for 2002, the time to act has arrived.