With my team in Shambles and WUMs having a hay day, I am going to try to pin point the reasons behind our current situation.
Before I start, I would like to point out that England have been the better team in all three departments.
So here are my reasons why:
If we look back at the 2007 tour, India won by a very miniscule margin of 1-0. At that time, India had two fast bowlers in excellent form. The bowlers were Zaheer and RP Singh. The secret to their success was that both had played a lot of county cricket prior to the 2007 tour. They were lean, mean, fast and accurate.
Fast forward to present day, and we have facing a 0-4 whitewash. The team touring now is much stronger than the one in 2007. Yet we are staring down the barrel. We cannot buy ourselves a wicket.
In 2010, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan and several others (mainly fast bowlers) asked the BCCI permission to play County cricket. Their request was refused. Most of the Indian bowlers who play county cricket come back as much improved bowlers. They start to function like a well greased machine, but they get run ragged at the hands of the BCCI. The breakdowns start and the old rhythm never returns.
Is the BCCI to blame for our current situation? Not all, but certainly half the blame does lie here. No organization is big without its fans/customers. How long before they recognize this?
The other half of the problem is professionalism. Let’s take Zaheer for example. He is a paid athlete. His full time job is to bowl. He isn’t required to do much else. Yet when he took the field in the first test, he looked over weight and unfit. He must have known the dates of the first test, yet he wasn’t ready for it. India is the type of country where one can be outside with a t-shirt all year around. He doesn’t have any good reason for not being fit.
The priorities of the administration and the priorities of the players need a little straightening out. We (Indian fans) deserve better.
Indian fans deserve better
posted on 11/8/11
Singh_Saab
Because Indian food delicious!
Sounds flippant but in the case of Zaheer is blatantly true. There is no excuse, look at the way Bresnan conditioned himself. Its about commitment. If an established player loses his desire its hard to get it back.
posted on 11/8/11
"If an established player loses his desire its hard to get it back."
No better time to call it quits.
posted on 11/8/11
WUMs having a hay day?
I didn't know Red Indian and Indiasox were out today!
posted on 11/8/11
seriously though, if there is anyone to blame it is the BCCI. not having enough time to acclimatise to england was ENTIRELY the BCCI's fault.
I wouldn't so much blame the players, age and injury are catching up with them, you can't blame them for that.
posted on 11/8/11
Sad really, its so boring now.
Haven't seen a more one sided Test match for...can't remember one.
We are watching the end of a great team, in pretty sorry circumstances.
posted on 11/8/11
Have the BCCI made a similar mistake to the Indian tour in England as per their schedule? They play only one 4-day match before the 1st Test then they play four straight Test matches.
18-21 v Cricket Australia Chairman's XI, Canberra (2245 GMT, 17-20 Dec)
26-30 1st Test, Melbourne (2330 GMT, 25-29 Dec)
January
3-7 2nd Test, Sydney (SCG) (2330 GMT, 2-6 Jan)
13-17 3rd Test, Perth (0230 GMT)
24-28 4th Test, Adelaide (0000 GMT)
or has too much been made of this?
I know England have been criticised in the past of not playing enough 1st class matches before the tests start and also fiddling around with picking more than 11 for a match so they can play more 'proper' batsman in an innings.
posted on 11/8/11
Honestly, from the behaviour of indian fans on 606 and now here this is just about all you deserved.
posted on 11/8/11
singh-saab
totally agree
And what happened to the new bowling talent that IPL was meant to discover!
posted on 12/8/11
"And what happened to the new bowling talent that IPL was meant to discover!"
It was just a load of horse crap to justify IPL.
IPL to me is nothing more than a business which'll do anything to improve their bottom line.
posted on 12/8/11
"Honestly, from the behaviour of indian fans on 606 and now here this is just about all you deserved."
They let a few bad apples mold your opinion. With the IPL and 20/20 we have been flooded with new 20-20 loving fans. They don't have any knowledge of the game and talk trash at the best of times.