Before you go onto read this one, please do read part 1 of this series and then you can read did the Indian bowlers messed up in WTC finals?

Bumrah and the special treatment

Bumrah’s absolute lack of any effect on the game is startling. He was the only seamer who failed to get a single wicket from both the teams. This is a failure that Bumrah must not forget in his life alongwith the fact that he wasn’t given the new ball in the 2nd innings. Bumrah’s performance has started to tail off over the last couple of years. This is a major concern for the team. So much has been invested on him.

He has been treated with a kid’s gloves. It has been 5 years since he made his debut and has played only 2 tests in India because in India, it is mostly the spinners who does the job and as such he is not expected to bowl that many overs. Instead the toil on unfriendly and hard wickets is left to Ishant and Umesh. This is the extent to which the team management and the board has gone to protect Bumrah from injury and burnout. It remains to be seen whether Bumrah is able to repay this faith in his career.

The absence of Kumar

English conditions and Dukes ball is made for swing bowlers. The biggest mistake was to leave Bhuvneshwar Kumar out of the squad. The reason that was given was that he has lost interest in the long format. However, based on recent reports Kumar himself has said that whenever he prepares, he prepares for all the 3 formats. He has basically thrashed the perception that he is not interested in test cricket. He is the best Indian swing bowler. If at all anyone must have been in England and must have played the finals, it must have been Kumar. Instead, he is preparing to leave for Sri Lanka. Hopefully, a SOS will be sent across and Kumar will fly to England before the test series.

Lastly, the Indian tail

It is fair enough that the bowlers must not be expected to score runs. It is what the batsmen are for. Number 1 to number 7 is expected to score runs but the Indian tail must learn to stay at the wicket. They do not have to score 50 or 100. Just stay at the wicket and support the batsman at the other end. Something a Tim Southee or a Rabadda can do. At the moment, with Ishant, Shami and Bumrah, all that the opposition needs to do is pick up the first 7 wickets and the last 3 will follow without a whimper. Ishant atleast used to stay at the wicket but he has perhaps lost his appetite for batting.

Bumrah and Shami must realise that they are the bowling mainstays will do well to concentrate on their batting. They will have to prove that they cannot be dislodged easily. Gone are the days when bowlers were expected to surrender while batting. It is not the case anymore. Every team boasts of bowler who can stay at the wicket. The days of Chris Martin or Glenn McGrath or Mullaly will never come by. The Indian bowlers must learn to put a price on their wickets. Especially, with India’s top and middle order proving jittery, this assumes added importance.

Bench Strength

Off late, there has been lot of talk about India’s bench strength and how the opposition is jealous of that. Siddarth Monga has written this article on www.espncricinfo.com. I had to spend some 20-25 minutes to read the article. He talks about how Gill and Siraj looked at home in their first series. He talks about the efforts at various levels, be it under 17 or 19 or the A tours that has ensured that Indian cricket is supplied by unrestricted talent.

Greg Chappell, the former Indian coach who had such a horrendous time with the team said at the end of India’s Australian tour in 2020,

“For those of you who were surprised that India could deal with all that was thrown at them in this series, and could hold their nerve and win in such courageous fashion, I say: you better get used to it. Don’t worry about India becoming the best team – they are already capable of producing the best five teams in world cricket!”

However, if the first team is unable to win the WTC finals or at the least draw the game when it was the most expected result after 2.5 days were washout, there never isn’t a bench strength. It is only a mirage or an illusion.

Multiple failures

This is still a team that hasn’t won a series in South Africa despite multiple attempts. They have been humiliated in England over the last 3 series and in New Zealand too. The only saving grace is the team’s performance in Australia. We all know that Australia is only a shadow of themselves. Unless India can win series in the SENA countries consistently and comfortably and win a few ICC tournaments, there isn’t any bench strength. Australia in the 90s had real bench strength. Their first team won almost everything under the sun. Multiple Ashes, series wins in every nation except India. Three consecutive World Cup wins.

However, I do not mind having another team because it gives much required exposure to a set of players who may not be able to get into the first team.

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The Indian cricket pitches

Whenever, a side from one of England, Australia, New Zealand comes to India, the one talking point is about the pitches. There will be lot of editorials on their newspapers stating that a minefield is awaiting their teams during their visit. Every pitch in any Test series will be doctored to suit the Indian spinners or to stump the visitors because of their lack of ability against spin. However, none of them thinks about the poor technique displayed by the visitors against spin. Not the perfect one but a better technique would have ensured that they prevail. Having said that, the Indian cricket pitches will probably have to change. Defeating India in India is one of the most toughest in the cricketing world. Defeating Australia and defeating South Africa are the other tough propositions. I have not included England or New Zealand because both the teams have lost rather a few games more than that is allowed. Over the last 23 years, India have lost less than 10 Tests at home with only 2 series losses. That is an incredible record to boast about. The sheer dominance at home is something no other team could achieve. Accusation against the team Despite that, the talk invariably turns to the pitches. There were lot of accusations on the Indian team that they will not be able to win so many games if the pitches weren’t so spin friendly. A few years ago, in 2015, against South Africa, both the teams, India and South Africa were unable to cross 300 once because the pitches turned square from ball one. The Nagpur pitch for the 3rd Test was rated poor. It left Kohli fuming. “Well, there have been three scores of under 50 runs in South Africa but I haven’t seen any sort of articles on that. Teams have been bundled out under 100 for about six times in South Africa,” he said. “The situation in our country is highlighted a bit too much and that’s a fact. Because the only thing we talk about is the pitch and when we were in South Africa, the only thing we talked about was how badly we played. We are criticised for our techniques but when visitors don’t play well, it’s always the wicket.” It is true what Kohli had said. There are lot of games in Australia and South Africa that have not exceeded 3 days. Especially, in South Africa, the pitches are overly favourable to the fast bowlers. Since South Africa can churn out them by the dozen, they have always prepared pitches that has incredible pace and bounce. They have always maximised the home advantage and particularly against the Asian nations. WTC Points system is another reason Likewise, India is also justified in preparing pitches that does not suit the opposing batsmen. Here I say the opponent’s batsmen is because even the Indians are not that good against spinners any longer. Just look at the number of games the Indians were tied down by spinners in white ball cricket that has prevented them from scoring huge runs or chase down one. The situation is not that better in Tests either. Nowadays, spinning pitches are prepared not because it is comfortable for India but because it is uncomfortable for the opponents. One other factor that warrants results oriented pitches is the WTC points system. It awards 12 points for a win and only 4 for a draw. It places great importance in playing attacking aggressive brand of cricket. WTC points is a significant motivator. Teams need wins to be in contention to play the final. Where does the chances for winning most of the games lie? It is at home where you know the conditions and you know how the pitches will behave. Hence, the need to prepare pitches where you give your team the maximum chance to win. “There is a huge premium on results,” Dravid said before the fourth Test. “You draw a game like Kanpur against New Zealand, where you take nine wickets in the second innings, you draw that game and that sets you back, in a home game. “Every team is getting results at home or are putting in really good performances at home, so there is a premium on results. You get four points for a draw and you get 12 for a win, so there is a premium on that, there’s no question about it.” It is time to return The downside of all this is that the averages and the performances of the batsmen have dropped drastically and the spinners are having inflated strike rates and averages. One will only have to compare the statistics of both Ashwin and Jadeja with their away record. It will clearly establish the fact that these two spinners, ofcourse they are good, are not as great as they are made out to be. Perhaps, the time has come to return to the more batting pitches that helped the Indian batsmen outscore their opponents. The spinners will have to really use their guile and intelligence to pick up wickets rather than just drop the ball and leave the rest to the pitches. There was a period, against England in 2017, where both the teams amassed runs and yet, India won handsomely 4-0. Ashwin & Jadeja still emerged as the highest wicket takers but they had to move out of their comfort zone. The Indian fast bowlers too had long bowling sessions. This was in stark contrast to how Bumrah asked to be left out of the squad in 2020 against England because he hardly had to bowl. Wrapping up the Indian cricket pitches The problem is not the turn but the dust that comes out of the pitch everytime there is an activity. Sri Lankan pitches have also turned but the soil does not come out. India have had similar pitches and it is time to return to that. 2 and 3 day games will kill the game. Let the batsmen be able to bat confidently. For inspiration, India will only have to think about the pitches against England in 2017.

Whenever, a side from one of England, Australia, New Zealand comes to India, the one talking point is about the pitches. There will be lot of editorials on their newspapers

Read More