Clive Lloyd on India vs England series.

Clive Lloyd questioned India’s preparation methods ahead of a major tour

Former West Indies skipper and Match-referee Clive Lloyd has questioned Team India’s preparation methods ahead of a major tour.

As Team India toured England, it was expected to be the clash of the equals. But contrary to what was expected, a 4-0 whitewash resulted. India were outplayed in every department by England. This has raised the eyebrows of so many former cricketers and Clive Lloyd is no exception.

“Nobody expected England to beat India 4-0. But you can’t not come to any country and play just one warm up game,” said Lloyd.

“Young players especially need 3-4 four-day games before Tests and couple in between. If you are out of form, you don’t get your form in the nets,” he said.

Citing Sehwag as an example, Lloyd said that preparation for a major tour is paramount essential irrespective of the stature of a particular player.

“You don’t get runs by walking straight in. I don’t care how good you are, you don’t get it. You are not going to run into form in Test matches. You need to get your timing right, the foot movement, picking the ball properly,” he said.

A second-string side toured the Caribbean as many senior players sought for rest and recuperation after a having played so much cricket.

“Those who went to the Caribbean, people like Dravid, they did well (here). You need games as you are older, you need to train harder and play more games. The mistake they made is not to have played enough games .. a few of your top players should have gone to West Indies,” he said.

He slammed India’s inept bowling and also opined that this was the weakest he has come across especially when referring to the spin-department. He also believed that Ishant Sharma was overloaded in the series.

“Spin-wise, it looks the weakest. You always had good spinners. As for fast bowlers, anyone would break down with the sort of workload which (Ishant) Sharma had. They needed to use him sparingly and not so often. Other bowlers offered no support. He needed spinners to bowl for long periods. Your spinners always did so in the past,” said Lloyd.

Sachin Tendulkar lost out the chance of scoring his hundredth hundred in England. In the last innings he only added to his agony by getting out in the nineties from when, India who were closing in for a draw, managed to lose the game from a reasonable position. Lloyd however felt that the 100^th century will come at the right time.

“He should be alright. If you get 99 International hundreds, you would get the 100th one as well. He’s been phenomenal. He’s been the batting God,” he said.

Lloyd felt that the administrators must consider this defeat as an alarm bell and should respond accordingly.

“Dhoni has been good for India. You obviously look terrible when you are losing. It’s how you regroup, how you come out of it.”

“England have an elite squad of 25 which is close to the standards of Test cricket. India too needs to have it, your young players must play outside. The ‘A’ tours are a very good point. How players perform outside India, that should be the goal for the future,” he said.

He was afraid that sponsors could refrain from signing the Indian players if they continue to perform badly at the test level.

“I hope people realize it. Nobody wants losers. Sponsors can pull out. For 15 years, we (in the West Indies) have been trying to get back.”

“Players need to train a little harder, work at their games. There is lot of money in cricket but money is subsidiary. The more you win, the more people would like to be involved.”

When asked how many in the current England squad will make a case to his team, Lloyd said, “James Anderson, for he makes you play. Stuart Broad has a nice action and he gets a good bounce and he is learning all the time. I would not exchange for England’s openers.”

“Cook is a good player but he has had just two good tours. He needs to be tried and tested against some good fast bowling. He has a front foot technique and playing fast bowling on front foot is difficult. But whatever time they have been playing, they have done extremely well.”