How philosophical impediments have short-changed Indian Cricket

India have more often than not been found wanting in bilateral series’

The past Sunday, as I sat in front of my TV, pretty blank and hopeless, witnessing the demolition that the South Africans were handing out to the Indian cricket team, something struck me. South Africa played the whole series with the single-minded desire to win, at any cost while India were merely clinging to the straws, with the odd punching above their weight.

I don’t mean that the Indian team wasn’t playing to win. But the difference in the intent, passion, and determination was as clear as the Maldivian waters. And then came another epiphany. India has always been a nation which loves its Sports (Or should I say ‘cricket’), but it has neither been nor is a ‘sporting nation’.

Yes, India has been pretty unbeatable at home. Yes, India has won 2 world tournaments, reached a World Cup final, and one semi-final in the past 5 years. We have been pretty impregnable in world tournaments. But when it comes to the “lesser” series, the team has often been found wanting in the will to be hard-boiled, strong-minded, and indefatigable; Case in study – The home series against Pakistan and South Africa, the series loss to Bangladesh away, and the tri-series in Australia.

Through the series, the Saffers had clearly done their research and deployed the short ball or more specifically, ‘just back of the length’ theory to the Indian batsmen to perfection. Even their batting had a methodology to it. There rarely seemed to be a method to what the Indian team was doing. The purpose of the coaches and team management is to come up with strategies and plans to negate the opposition. Not sure if we have something of that sort in place.

Agreed, the bowling attack against South Africa was extremely ordinary. The best bowlers (Ashwin & Shami) were out injured. But it was disheartening to see the likes of Bhuvneshwar, Mohit Sharma, and Axar Patel keep doling out length balls in the death overs, in spite of being deposited into the stands multiple times. There was not even an intent to try something different.

Add to that the stubbornness of the captain, MS Dhoni, to try a Plan B. There has been a set way he has handled his bowlers throughout the past few series. He sticks to it even if the plan is going awry. He was probably right when he said that the likes of Binny, Axar, Jadeja are the best options they have right now, but this isn’t an excuse to not think out of the box.

Indianness to blame?

The Indian team has seldom believed in strategizing their cricket. There rarely has been a period, barring the highly underrated, misunderstood Dravid-Chappell era, when the team adopted a process to their game. The team’s philosophy has mostly been to rely on instincts, street-smartness, and sheer talent.

In the world tournaments, our team has backed it up with the heart and passion for producing the results, but the cracks in the strategic foundation have often come unglued in bilateral series or the less important tournaments.

There is probably a cultural element to this. We, in general, are people who lay more faith in Jugaad (a classic Indian term for street-smartness) than in a set Process. Be it our academic or professional lives, we believe in taking things easy, believing a bit too much in our instincts, and waiting till the final / most important moment to really put in the effort. Sounds familiar? Transposing this to a bigger scale, we get the performance of the Indian team, particularly over the past five years.

This doesn’t in any way mean that the Indian team isn’t committed to winning, and slacks during the matches. But there is a difference between effort and intent. India needs a strategic think-tank in their dressing room. The current team management hasn’t done anything towards that end. At least nothing that speaks for itself.

As much as this has been debated upon, India also probably needs a new captain. Dhoni’s methods seem to have gone lethargic and past their expiry date. The players seem to be responding much lesser to it, and the opposition has started finding the obvious chinks in it. Dhoni has had a long, successful run. India still needs him as a batsman, and a clear-headed MSD might just be what’s needed for his second wind.

As we start counting down the days for the 1st Test, India will certainly need more than a different captain and a bolstered bowling attack (with Ishant, at least from the 2^nd Test, and Ashwin back in the reckoning), to ensure India doesn’t end up losing in all the three formats against the visitors.