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World Cup
Harsh but Wright message for India
By Vijay Lokapally
LOOKING DOWN BEFORE LOOKING UP: If Indian cricket fans are looking forward to a lot, then Ganguly and his men will have to pull up their socks and perform. — Photo: V.V. Krishnan
But then, the fireworks in the team bus, in the dressing room and a lashing from the coach even a day after the match was very much on the cards, and very much in place too.
The players deserved every bit of it. "Can't defend them,'' hissed Wright at the end of the practise match at Chatsworth on Thursday.
What went wrong for such an enormously gifted team so that it suffered such humiliation, losing to a team which was a depleted combination and playing its third match in three days?
Complacency, recklessness, indiscipline. It was a lethal combination of everything that a team ought not to betray as India lost to a provincial opposition in front of a crowd which had gathered to cheer the visitors.
It was not a competitive game and as Ganguly rightly described, the attack was "mediocre.''
Why then could a batting line up that boasted of Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif and Dinesh Mongia not get the target.
"At times it's baffling to find answers,'' conceded Ganguly. The fault lay in the old failing, repeatedly pointed out by former great Sunil Gavaskar, that the stars in the team leave the job to the others.
"They haven't learnt to finish the job,'' Gavaskar would lament and it still holds true.
Team effort required
``You can't win always banking on individuals. It's a team game and the responsibility lies with every member," was how Mohinder Amarnath once reacted at India not living up to its potential.
Having played a stellar role in the 1983 World Cup triumph, Mohinder knew why it was essential for each member to contribute.
There will always be a few failures in the team and the rest have to make up. In this case, the onus was passed on to the other man simply because the Indians took a victory for granted.
The team may have rested a few trusted performers but that would never absolve them. They paid dearly for taking the game lightly.
Now, this match may not have a bearing on the contests to follow — just as the New Zealand tour, which the Indians claim and insist, is a bad dream long forgotten.
But the Kiwi ghost continues to haunt them. There were signs of the same insanity in attitudes during the warm-up match against Kwa Zulu Natal XI.
Well, the Indians were not the only ones to lose to a provincial side. The Australians lost the other day. So did the Pakistanis. And the South Africans. So you cannot read much into this defeat.
Even if there is nothing alarming about the situation, it cannot be ignored because Wright obviously looked at it from a different perspective.
As the Indian innings progressed, Wright went into his shell. His mind was busy making notes as he retired to a corner, just outside the Indian tent, and kept to himself.
No player dared approach him. There were no instructions, for the players had been taught enough.
So much had been drilled into their brain that the coach could not have done more than what he did.
It was said the Indians had improved their running between the wickets but we could not get to see this spectacle because the batsmen believed they could score merely off boundaries.
One good shot was followed by a horrendous one and that said it all. These Indians were still learning and still experimenting.
No more amateurish stuff
Wright was not going to allow any more amateurish stuff and took them to task before the team left for Cape Town. The warm-up matches against the Natal XI at Pietermaritzburg and Chatsworth had been eye-openers for Wright. His assessment of the team was not as impeccable as he had imagined. There was much to be done in very little time.
The Kiwi is not the kind who would publicly ridicule his players. For that matter no coach would.
But he did not wish to hide his displeasure either not wanting to be accused later of being soft. He can be harsh when he wants to and this day he was unsparing.
None escaped his wrath and he went on record to say that, "such batting performance can't be defended. I have done it for long.''
From Tendulkar to Sehwag to Kumble and Harbhajan it was one miserable procession.
India's defeat at Chatsworth had all the components that can worry a coach on the eve of a big tournament.
There were awful shots, shocking run outs, catches dropped and misfielding too.
A failure on all fronts. Even the wicketkeeper, Parthiv Patel, was out of sorts, maybe rusty. But he looked the least impressive.
But Ganguly said that not much credence should be given to these two matches because they do not reflect the team's resilience.
"We are aiming to win the Cup and this was just a minor aberration,'' said Ganguly after the match. It would help the team if the defeat remained a minor aberration. For it can't afford to adopt similar tactics in a Cup match.
No room for complacency
Ganguly and the team have promised not to allow the one bad day at Chatsworth affect their morale. Wright will adopt tougher postures, if need be, and demand the seniors to deliver.
They cannot leave the stage for the youngsters anymore. The message from Chatsworth was clear — it will have to be a collective effort with no room for complacency.
The first match against Holland will give some insight into the thinking of the Indian team, especially the seniors who have a far greater responsibility.
Wright will have to identify people who know how to finish the job and concentrate on them.
The experiments with the batting order need to cease and it is time the team settled down on an established course.
It is one thing to be flexible and another to be able to successfully carry out the changes. Wright would have realised it the other day and made a note — not to allow any member to take his place for granted.
That was the message he is understood to have given the team on the eve of the World Cup.
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