Just not good enough
When will we learn not to put unnecessary pressure on ourplayers
Partab Ramchand
29-Nov-2001
So the Indian cricket team lost another series abroad? What else is new?
Nothing really, except perhaps that the contest was even more tame than
one expected. Two defeats, one by an innings and the other inside four
days, and a draw that had the Indians fighting with their backs to the
wall were not exactly the kind of results envisaged at the beginning of
the series by fair-minded and knowledgeable critics.
When will we learn not to put unnecessary pressure on our players? As it is, there is enough pressure on them when they play on faster and bouncier tracks in alien conditions abroad. It is worth recalling that almost all our notable performances abroad have come about when there was no pressure on the players and the expectations have been modest. |
The trouble is, we get carried away by the Indian team's impressive
record at home and expect them to carry this form abroad, aware as we
are of our abysmal away showings. We get so caught up in the seemingly
awesome credentials of some of our prima donnas that we feel they can do
no wrong. What we conveniently forget is that the opposition is also
strong, and they too have players who could walk into a World XI. We
overlook the fact that they have a balanced team, with the right blend
of youth and experience, a more-than-adequate attack, and a batting
line-up consisting of both stonewallers and swashbucklers. They also do
not have any opening-slot or wicket-keeping problems. And, oh yes, they
have three all-rounders, whereas we have none.
When will we learn not to put unnecessary pressure on our players? As it
is, there is enough pressure on them when they play on faster and
bouncier tracks in alien conditions abroad. It is worth recalling that
almost all our notable performances abroad have come about when there
was no pressure on the players and the expectations have been modest.
Did any of us expect the Indian team to win in the West Indies in 1971?
Or in England later the same year? Did we honestly see the Indian team
drawing a tough series in Australia in 1980-81? And what about the World
Cup triumph in 1983?
On the eve of the 1999 World Cup, a national news-magazine ran a long
cover story entitled "11 reasons why India will win the World Cup,"
which analyzed, in a hopelessly one-sided manner, the country's
prospects in the competition. The gist of the story was that India was
sure of winning the World Cup as the team had the world's best batsman
in Tendulkar, who had the support of Dravid, Ganguly, Azharuddin, Jadeja
and others. Besides, it was argued, the team had a balanced seam attack,
so very important in English conditions; it had ten-wicket-man Anil
Kumble; it had a lucky captain in Azharuddin, and so on.
A proper and balanced perspective would have also provided the strengths
of the other competing teams. But the lop-sided cover story just ignored
this aspect, as if India had all the giants and the other countries had
just schoolchildren playing marbles. Of course, we all know now how
India fared in that World Cup. Are not many Indian cricket followers
just as imbalanced in their thinking? Do we not look only at our
strengths and ignore the strong points of the opposition? Just because
we have cricketers performing super-feats at home, we raise them to a
pedestal on which they do not belong. Playing at home and playing away
are very different propositions, particularly as far as Indian cricket
is concerned.
Just one look at our record should convince us of this. Let us therefore
face facts squarely and bravely and admit that we are just not good
enough. Let us just be thankful that there was no infamous double
collapse, like being bowled out for 100 and 66 at Durban in 1996. On the
other hand, this was perhaps the worst performance of any Indian team in
South Africa. For, on the last tour, we at least came close to winning
the final Test.
The pity of it all is that the latest debacle will soon be forgotten if
and when we get the better of England next month. That, of course, is if
there is any play at all.