Time to look in the mirror: Knee-jerk reactions may not help, but lessons from South Africa series must not be ignored
Reports are already doing the rounds quoting BCCI officials saying there is no need for immediate reactions. Officials specifically said that the World Cup is not far away and Gautam Gambhir’s contract as coach will last until 2027.
Despite the consequences, Gambhir may be secure in his role and have the support of the powers that be; but that should not stop those responsible from learning the lessons the Test series clearly reveals. As a coach, Gambhir comes to the fore when India lose – that is part of his role – and will have to face tough questions when the public wants answers.
India’s next Test mission is seven months away, which is a long time by any measure. However, when India wears white again, some information will remain valid.
For starters, it’s great to have all-rounders or perhaps an all-rounder in the longest form of the game, but you can’t successfully slot someone into that role.
The most obvious case is that of Nitish Kumar Reddy. The selectors and management think he is adequate and his century in the Boxing Day Test in Australia ensured that his innings earned him a long rope. But if he wants to play as an all-rounder, he needs to bowl more than 10 balls on a good surface: India bowled a total of close to 230 balls in Guwahati. While the selection of the playing XI can be strongly influenced by the coach – especially if you have a stand-in captain, as was the case in the last Test – if the captain does not trust Nitish enough to use him more with the ball, is he truly fulfilling his role as an all-rounder? No. 3, India has a much bigger problem. This is a crucial position in the batting order, which has been successfully occupied by Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara for so long that perhaps not enough backup planning has taken place.
In the first Test, B. Sai Sudarshan was left out, only Washington Sundar took up the role. But as not much changed, Washington turned down the order to reinsert Sai in the second Test. It’s unclear exactly what Washington makes of this up-and-down movement.
But it seems that the Indian think tank is also not sure where exactly it fits into this scheme. In domestic cricket, Washington has been a top-order batsman for the longest time, also contributing with the ball. But he played in the IPL and later in the T20Is for India as a bowler who could do work with the bat.
At the international level, players are expected to perform outside their comfort zone. But when it comes to inexperienced players, the constant cutting and changing or lack of role clarity makes it much harder for them to establish themselves and start contributing in a meaningful way.
Sai averaged 27 after 11 innings and could not find a way to make a significant contribution in the face of changing conditions and situations. Karun Nair played four Test matches for England before that but the selectors said more was expected from him and drew a line under his international goals.
Despite making runs in Test cricket and having a superb home record, Sarfaraz Khan has fallen out of favor with the selectors.
He worked on his fitness, lost weight and returned to the domestic grind. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rajat Patidar are two more right-wingers who have been in the bullpen in the Ranji Trophy and for India A but are not ranked high enough by the selectors at the moment.
The fact that Simon Harmer comfortably outperformed his Indian counterparts should also be a cause for introspection.
Harmer’s comeback from 17 wickets at 8.94 is a freak one, and he achieved it through good old-fashioned spin bowling: playing and adjusting with accuracy, subtle variation and the patience of the batsmen. In R. Ashwin’s absence, there was little on display from India’s slow bowlers, who are used to bowling the order changers in their home country.
Knock-on reactions may not work, but India needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror.
