Unable to press home the advantage

``GO BACK to the basics and work hard on them'' is what senior professionals invariably tell the youngsters struggling for form. This little advice needs to be followed by the people in power to bring back Indian cricket on the track. At the moment everyone is either concerned or disconcerted with the performance of the Indian team in Australia.

In defence of Sachin and his boys it must be said that they never had the rub of the green, be it umpiring decisions or otherwise. On the other hand, one cannot escape the fact that the team played far below its potential.

The triangular tussle between the coach of the Indian team, an official of the BCCI and the selection committee for establishing authority added to the existing problems.

Over and above all these, the lack of talent has given room for compromises, which has boomeranged badly. The current situation of Indian cricket is due to the complacency of the administrators,whimsical attitude of the selectors in the past and indifference towards the quality of domestic cricket.To explain in detail, I must take the readers back to the early Nineties.

The offshoot of the controversial Pakistan tour was the sacking of Krish Srikkanth and Dungarpur's famous `team of the nineties' was announced in 1990. This was the onset of capricious decisions from the various selection committees. Just after this the concept of aggressive cricket marketing was taken up which was very heartening and beneficial to everyone concerned.

The influx of enormous revenue coupled with the roaring success of the Indian team under Azharuddin from 1993 (after very ordinary tours to Australia in 1991 and South Africa in 1992) was thought of as the much required turn around for the game. It was for the team, but unfortunately the neglect of the domestic circuit started then and continued steadily which left to have a telling effect in the future.

The `A' series was introduced with the object of spotting a strong bunch of cricketers who would eventually graduate into the senior ranks. It is here that the people who make up the system undermined the object of the concept.

The then selection committee adopted the strange policy of providing opportunities for as many cricketers as possible in order to please the people who mattered. In other words, things were made easy rather than the other way round.

Major tournaments like Irani, Duleep, Deodhar and Ranji became just another thing in the calendar in the last few years. How is anyone going to explain the recent Duleep Trophy? Two teams comprising the top thirty cricketers were away on tours, viz. the senior Indian team in Australia and the India `A' side in the West Indies.

On top of this another team was sent to Abu Dhabi for some insignificant tournament. So the selectors were given the job of scouting talent for the future based on the performances of cricketers who would not have probably been picked in the first place.

On the other hand, how can an outstanding performance be ignored even if it is a lacklustre tournament? For example, the big double hundred by Schewag against South Zone, which had a good bowling attack.

Gone are the days when playing a Duleep game was more or less like playing a Test match because all the top stars figured in it. Would anyone believe that Sidhu, Manoj Prabhkar and Gurcharan Singh were the reserves for North Zone in one particular game?

It is about time that the domestic circuit is given more importance in order to prevent further disintegration of the game. It can at least be done in the case of Duleep Trophy which should be played on league basis with all the top players playing in it.

Otherwise it will be a farce as it proved to be the last time it was played on a league basis. It is apt to mention here that the BCCI President should deal with this issue quickly, firmly and purposefully since he is keen to improve domestic cricket.

Coming back to the Indians currently involved in the triangular series Down Under, success seems to be a very distant thing.The Indians had the early round of matches under reasonable control but eventually ended up losing the games.

The inability to press home the advantage has been the major problem for the Indians in Australia. Considering that they are up against the World Cup finalists, the Indian are not going to get many opportunities their way. Once again, the tactics of the team have been unpredictable and at times beyond comprehension.

Tendulkar opting to go down the order may not be the best move from the team's point of view even after taking into account the success of Laxman in the last Test. It is all the more better for the team if Tendulkar gets to bat as many overs as he can. The Indians have to salvage their pride and in order to do that they have to play out of their skins in the remaining matches.

Otherwise Kapil Dev and Tendulkar,two of the greatest cricketers of the country, will be subject to considerable grilling on their return which will be unfortunate. Then,of course,certain things do go with the jobs.

WOORKHERI RAMAN

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