AWAY BLUES

As optimistic as a few people may be, like I was before the start of the Melbourne test, there is a vast majority of people (most of them Indians) who are very confident about the fact that India will always lose the first test of any series and probably the series itself, away from home. Even more appalling is the fact that a large number of these soothsayers are not even regular cricket followers but the assurance with which they predict this loss, is very commendable to say the least. And then there are people like me, who believe they are pundits of cricket and this ignorant mass does not understand the nuances of the game, and have a quiet laugh about it. Then it comes down to the action on the field and as we wait with bated breath, lo and behold, the soothsayers are right again. It beats me every time when I try to figure it out; so many people defy logic, predict that such a talented team is going to lose, still get away with it and in the process make me look like an adolescent trying to read a novel even before learning the alphabets. It has happened too many times for my liking and let us admit it, no one likes being made to look foolish time and again.

Rahul Dravid clean bowled: Thrice in Australia so far

Almost all the top teams in world cricket can boast of being very formidable at home. The environment they have grown up in, the crowd to back them and the know-how of the local conditions put any home team in strong stead ahead of a test series and rightly so. But it certainly does not guarantee a win. It just makes you feel mentally good about going into the game. For the away team also, it is a question of self-belief and getting the basics right. All the top teams in the world are decently matched, a few stronger than the others, but amongst the top 6 teams currently, no team is glaringly ahead of the others in the pack. So for any away team, it comes down to adapting to the conditions and preparing well. Preparation is the key to success in any domain. Much like any exam, the better prepared you are, more confident you will be. If you are prepared to tackle anything that comes your way, more often than not you will do well. Even the converse is true. However talented you may be, lack of preparation certainly dents your confidence and then it becomes difficult to find answers even to the relatively easy questions. That is the difference between achieving the desired result, and failing to achieve it: Preparation. This is one area where Team India has lacked desperately.

England under Flower and Strauss: Lessons to be learnt

A very relative case in point is England. After being humiliated 5-0 in Australia in 2007, they wanted to make sure they not only beat Australia at home, as they did in 2005 and 2009, but also beat them in their own backyard. They realized and correctly so, that although they had the necessary firepower to do so, preparation was going to be the key. With that in mind they landed in Australia almost a month before the Ashes to get themselves acclimatized. To top it up, they had even practiced for hours on end against the Australian bowlers even before landing in Australia. If you are wondering how that is possible, the answer is The ProBatter. It is an innovative bowling machine which simulates the entire run up, delivery stride and the actual release of the ball being bowled by any bowler on a screen and then the ball is delivered exactly from the same point from where the bowler would have actually released it. It uses hawk eye to get the trajectory of the ball right and stores data about all kinds of balls bowled by all the bowlers around the world (For a detailed video on how ProBatter works, click here). So even before the warm up games had begun, the English batsmen were very well equipped and fully prepared to tackle all the Australian bowlers. The impact: An astounding 3-1 series win to retain the Ashes urn. Of course it was their consistency, hard work and determination that paid off, but the fact that they were so well prepared for the task, surely helped them achieve what they had not achieved in a very long time. When the Indian board has practically all the money that runs world cricket, investing on such ground-breaking technologies is not a big deal, but the point is does it care enough to do it?

A dejected Sehwag walks back to the pavilion

The pitches and conditions back home in India also play a part. The flat tracks which assist spinners in India are great for India to dominate any team in the world. Of course we need to retain the home advantage and continue to play international matches at these venues. But these pitches are also the cause of failure when we travel to foreign shores. A solution to this problem is that at a few cricketing centers in the country for first class cricket, we need some pitches that encourage fast bowlers to run in and bowl fast, move the ball and test the batsmen. The fast bowlers and spinners need to learn how to bowl on seam friendly tracks away from home so that they do not get carried away when they actually see one. As far as the batsmen are concerned, if they are never tested at the domestic level on a regular basis, they are bound to struggle at the international level and that is what is happening. Players like Raina, Yuvraj, Kohli and Ashwin who have been exceptional at home have struggled to adapt in challenging conditions abroad (Ashwin, agonizingly, is the second highest run scorer for India in Australia so far, but he has surely struggled and has not had any impact with the ball). Another factor that also plays a crucial role is scheduling. England kept themselves free for almost two months before the victorious Ashes campaign last year. Before whitewashing India earlier this year (in what was supposed to be a marquee series but turned out to be a damp squib) they had a test series at home against Sri Lanka to get into the groove. Similarly, Australia had a test series at home against their Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand to prepare for the India series. Although they suffered a defeat in one of the two tests, it still got the ball rolling and the consequences of that we have already seen in Melbourne and Sydney.

By stark contrast, India after their victorious world cup campaign, even before the feeling of being world champions had actually settled in, went into the IPL. Extensive traveling across the country, so many matches cramped in such a little time and all of it for a “domestic” T20 competition; hardly the kind of scheduling you would expect just before a very important test series in completely alien conditions. To be perfectly honest, it was not at all surprising that the players broke down in England. The physical and mental fatigue had to catch up with them at some stage, and it did. Similarly, before leaving for Australia, most of the squad played a one-day series against one of the weaker attacks in the world on some of the most batting-friendly pitches in the world. These are just a few instances but rest assured, there have been plenty of these in recent times. The BCCI and the men at the helm need some serious scheduling tips. The players, their workloads and their injuries need to be managed very systematically. Only then it is possible to forge a healthy environment and a winning culture in the camp. At any given point of time, you need a pool of about 25 players who are ready to step up to the challenge and play at the highest level.

Yes, we are faced with a monster that raises its ugly head every time we go abroad. We have lost our Numero Uno status in test cricket. We have not slipped; we have been toppled over and come stumbling down. We do not play an away test series for nearly two years (Yes. We don’t go abroad for almost two years; an ingenious piece of scheduling yet again). During these two years it is more than likely that we will continue to bully the teams that come to India and climb upwards in the rankings again. So we have time to address all these issues, but in the current scheme of things they are unlikely to be addressed any time soon. Two years from now, when Team India will again embark on a voyage to foreign shores, hopefully these issues will be resolved. If that is indeed the case, we will be in good stead and I am less likely to make a fool out of myself again. If it is not, the monster will raise its ugly head again. Only this time (with probably either one, two or all three of Sachin, Dravid and Laxman gone) it will be far more deadly, dangerous and destructive. I sincerely hope that this monster never sees the light of the day again, but I had also hoped that India would win its first ever test series Australia this time around. Well, you can either blame Fate or Team India or BCCI or for that matter even me. I made my choice. You make yours!

My next feature: A look back at Melbourne and Sydney and a look ahead at Perth and Adelaide.

CRESTS AND TROUGHS

Picture this. You walk out to bat as the opening batsman of your team. The atmosphere is building and there is a buzz around the ground. You take a middle stump guard. The bowler is at the top of his mark, you have a look at the field, the umpire says “Play”, you take your stance and the bowler starts running in. As he releases the ball, the ball starts to drift away. An ideal start, you think, to let the ball go to the keeper, get a feel of the pace and the bounce of the track and soak in the atmosphere. You are ready to leave the ball, it pitches on middle and off, lands on the seam and comes back in to wrap you on the pads. Everybody goes up in a vociferous appeal, the same man who a few seconds ago politely asked you to play, now raises his finger skywards, says “that’s out!” and sends you back to where you came from. What would you call this? A batsman’s nightmare! And that is exactly what Irfan Pathan can do! Bring the ball back into the right hander and away from the left hander at considerable (not express, but very decent) pace.

Irfan Pathan in his delivery stride

My first memory of Irfan Pathan is that of a tall, smart looking, fair, 19-year old boy, with longish curly locks bowling to the mighty Aussies on India’s tour of Australia in the 2003-04 season. I distinctly remember the spell he bowled in the drawn Sydney Test (the same test where Sachin got his 241*) where he first got Steve Waugh caught behind (by his baby faced state-mate Parthiv Patel) and bowled a brilliant in-swinging yorker to get rid of the dangerous Adam Gilchrist. You realized it then, that a star was in the making. Comparisons with Wasim Akram flew around, and in Wasim Akram himself, Irfan found a new admirer and guide. Another one of Irfan’s outings that I clearly remember is the Karachi test in January 2006, where he became the first bowler ever to take a hat-trick in the very first over of a test match, dismissing Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf in the process, three of Pakistan’s most dangerous batsmen, with an excellent display of swing bowling. By this time Irfan was becoming the new poster boy of Indian cricket and developing as a genuine all rounder, with tremendous batting performances to go along with his bowling. In the Chappell era, when most of the other players in the side were discontent, he was becoming indispensible for the Indian team. He quite regularly batted at no.3 in ODI’s and even opened once in a test match (against Sri Lanka at Delhi, December 2005, because of a last minute injury to Sehwag) and went on to make 92 (top score for the innings, and faced more balls in this innings than either Gambhir or Dravid or Sachin or Laxman), a truly remarkable feat for a fast bowler. He was the go-to man for team India. The man who could do no wrong. The man who could play any part that the script demanded; swing bowler, wicket-taker, no.3 batsman in ODI’s and if needed, an opener in tests. Those were his glory days.

Irfan and Yusuf after guiding India to victory

For a man who was born in an impoverished family, 27 years ago in Baroda, it is a truly remarkable journey.  His family lived in a mosque, where his father served as the muezzin (the man who leads the daily prayer call in a mosque). He and his brother Yusuf took active interest in cricket and travelled a long way to play the sport. A very interesting anecdote that I remember from one of his interviews was that he said, since they had a long way to travel every day, they used a bicycle. While going for the practice Yusuf used to ride the cycle and when they were tired after the day’s play, he would make Irfan ride it. He took advantage of being the stronger (and of course, the elder) one. Not very chivalrous, you would say. But these are the kinds of things that create bonds that run very deep. A lot of hard work, adverse times and grueling training have gone into making Irfan (and for that matter, Yusuf) what he has turned out to be. A lasting image in my mind will always be that of Irfan and Yusuf sharing a match winning unbeaten 8^th wicket partnership (59 runs of 25 balls) in a T20 match and snatching victory for India from the jaws of defeat, against Sri Lanka in Colombo (February 2009) and celebrating the win. Two young boys who played in the backyard of the mosque, making it big, brothers playing together for the country, winning the match from nowhere and doing it at the biggest stage; Fairy-tale stuff that! From those days where they used to take shelter in a mosque, to that fateful day of the IPL 2011 auction, where both of them combined fetched a whopping 4 million US$ (approximately 20 crore Indian rupees), the Pathan household has surely come a long way. 

But somewhere in the middle of all this, Irfan inexplicably lost his swing. The ball did not move any longer. The pace and movement which was compared to the likes of Wasim Akram, was now being compared to the likes of Anil Kumble. (“I swear Kumble can bowl faster than Irfan!” were the kind of accusations leveled at him). That can be counted as sarcasm, of course, but nevertheless it was a serious indicator of the problems Irfan was facing. Following the exit of Chappell and soon after the inaugural T20 World Cup (where he was Man of the Match in that historic final against Pakistan), in the wake of his continuing problems, he was dropped from the side. He made occasional appearances but could not live up to what was expected of him. One can only imagine what the man must have gone through. The poster boy of Indian cricket, the indispensible cog in India’s wheel was suddenly in oblivion. The spotlight he was so used to had eluded him. The fall was a big one and the climb back to the top was very steep. Then started the rehabilitation at the NCA under the bowling coaches, the grind of the domestic circuit to rediscover the pace and swing. There were never any questions about his talent, his batting prowess in addition to his obvious bowling skills but he had to prove himself, all over again. The 2011 Ranji Season provided him with the opportunity to do just that. After two years in wilderness, the hunger to perform was back and so was the swing. Only 3 games this season is what it took for him to put himself back into contention. 3 matches, 21 wickets, 3 fifers (one in each match, including 7 wickets in an innings against Delhi) and he was back. The ball was moving, the speed gun was showing good numbers and the batsmen were struggling. His name started making the rounds for Indian selection and surely he was recalled at long last, for the last two ODI’s against the West Indies. He played only the last game and took a wicket, lbw, plumb in front, of a ball that came back into the right hander on his very first ball back in India colors. Yes he was back and how!

Irfan celebrates a wicket on his return to international cricket

When the Indian test squad for the Australia tour was announced, there were no surprises. The 5 first choice fast bowlers (Zak, Ishant, Yadav, Praveen and Aaron) were available and selected. Then came the news of Praveen’s injury, providing a glimmer of hope for Irfan. It was Mithun that got the nod ahead of him. Just a few days later, Aaron was ruled out and surely, this time it had to be him. Vinay Kumar was named as Aaron’s replacement. Although both Mithun and Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar have been very good in the domestic circuit for some time now, Irfan has been to Australia twice. Once when he made his debut in 2003 and second in the ill-tempered series of 2007-08 which India lost 2-1. Just to refresh our memories, in the only test match that we won on that tour at the WACA in Perth, Irfan was Man of the Match (a combined match haul of 74 crucial runs and 5 important wickets). Although Irfan would not be in the starting 11 on this tour (assuming, hoping and praying that Zaheer, Ishant and Yadav would be fit for all matches), he would have been a great backup to have. It would have surely calmed some nerves back in India knowing that Irfan was ready to step in if needed, and not expose Mithun or Vinay to the Aussie batting. It would have done his confidence a world of good staying in the dressing room where he once was a regular feature. With his batting skills, he also gives the team management the option of playing 5 bowlers (with Dhoni at 6, Irfan at 7 and Ashwin at 8, which is still a very decent prospect) and lending that much needed balance to the side, a luxury which India have rarely enjoyed. The selectors had two chances, they didn’t take either. By all means (at least in my opinion), Irfan should have been on the plane to Australia and currently in Sydney with the rest of the squad. Although he will, in all probability, be there for the limited overs leg of the tour, I still think it would have done him and the team a world of good to have him there right now.

We have seen what he can do; he is our brightest hope of finding the elusive fast bowling all rounder after Kapil Dev, someone who can be as useful to the team as a Freddie Flintoff or a Shane Watson, something which we have all longed for Team India to have. He is probably the best answer we have to quite a few of our glaring problems and he needs to get back into that dressing room, to start feeling that he belongs there; for him to have that kind of impact that we know he is capable of. Two opportunities have been blown up; I hope the third one is not. For this second innings of his career, I wish the willow works for him, more importantly the ball swings for him, he finds that golden touch again and that golden touch never deserts him, ever again.  

My next feature: My take on why India are traditionally slow starters and almost always struggle away from home.