Preview: Team India at WT20!

India will have a lot at stake when they take on Afghanistan in their opening tie of the WT20. After being crowned champions in the Inaugural WT20 in 2007, India has had forgettable outings in the previous two editions of the tournament. The defeat against Pakistan in the warm up game has once again exposed the primordial chaos of the inept bowling attack and woeful fielding standards.

Ammunition supply will be supervised by the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, Raina, Rohit Sharma and Dhoni himself, which to a large extent; will not only countervail India’s weaknesses in other departments but also determine the length of India’s journey in the tournament.  

The most apparent and plausibly the biggest threat for India is its own bowling. Despite an experienced bowling unit, the bowlers look so forlorn in death overs, that it paves the way of comeback for the opposition even from the most precarious situations. The only solace is the all-round ability of Ashwin and Pathan which lends a much needed balance and flexibility to the side.

Indians may not be firm favourites to win the tournament but it would be farcical to write them off. Dhoni is known for his knack of handling pressure situations with great aplomb which may well be the distinguishing factor in the end. 

Players to watch out for – Yuvraj, Pathan

Rahul Dravid: A gentleman who played Cricket!

Rahul Dravid's press conference of his retirement at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, was  in every sense a reflection of the person we have always seen - both on and off the field - calm, mature, prim, articulate, and dapper (Notice that he turned up wearing a suit with India tie). Tears welled up my eyes, as I heard him talk one last time as India player - for he has been my biggest hero since childhood! Like any other Dravid fan, I am also filled with emptiness.

With his departure, the species of the finest and the most disciplined artists of this great game becomes rarer. His talent was more acquired and built by hard work than natural and gifted, he always believed himself to be a learner more than a teacher and his performances testify to that fact. He never belonged to the class of brazen strokemakers, nor did he have the panache that some of his ingenious contemporaries possessed yet his presence in the middle was always reassuring, his cover-drives, cuts and flicks made for a purist's delight and always brought joy to those who understood the game. Dravid's biggest quality though was placing team's interest above self all the time. The brand of Cricket he has played and endorsed consistently over the years has always been centered around achieving team goals which jettisoned an otherwise a predominant Indian norm of enshrining individual accomplishments.

Rahul Dravid: Awe-Inspiring Gentleman!

One can't help but being in awe of him only on the basis of sheer weight of the numbers. He has scripted some of the most memorable and iconic Indian wins almost single handedly. Some of those innings that instantly come to mind are the ones at Adelaide, Kolkata, Headingly and Rawalpindi. He has aggregated more runs at No. 3 position than any other to have ever played the game. But the one reason why Dravid's stature is colossus is because his contribution in Indian wins overseas has been immense. He has even outperformed Tendulkar by scoring more runs and thus winning more Tests for India in 'out-of-the-comfort zone' territories. Not to forget his exceptional catching skills making him the apple of every bowler's eye! But numbers only tell part of the story. Dravid's soft skills have been as important in him becoming the player that he is. His career is largely characterised by perseverance, resilience, grit, unyielding focus, and the ability to concentrate for long periods. It is often said that he has lived under the shadow of Tendulkar but I remember Harsha Bhogle tweeting once that he is too big a player to be cast under anyone's shadow.

True, his exit has in perpetuum denied us the privilege of seeing him take guard for India again, and marvel at the spectacle of his diverse range of shots timed to perfection with a pre-determined result, but he has been a reason for millions of us to be passionate followers of the game and even more to take up Cricket!

Rahul Dravid, you are the best ambassador the game could ever get! Long live legend!

Will India keep Australia from completing last rites?

From an Indian perspective the venue for the last test couldn't have been better to conclude what was touted as India's best chance to win a test series Down Under against a depleted Australian side. India have fond memories at Adelaide. It was here only in 2003-04 when Dravid was at his sublime best and took India home with a gritty fifty in the all important fourth innings. Not to forget his double hundred in the second innings and Agarkar's inspired bowling effort in the third which set up the match for India.Those distinguished efforts saw India take a lead of 1-0 against a more powerful Australian team.

In 2012 though, the scenario is antipodean. India are down 3-0 and not as much as the fact that they have lost all the matches so far is agonizing but the manner in which they have is. With each test match the duration of the game has only become shorter and the Australian conditions have only exposed the frailty of Indian batsmen. But conditions at Adelaide are likely to give some respite to them. The pitch is ideally suited for batsmen and favours the spin bowlers as well with a little something always for the fast bowlers thus offering every individual playing the game a chance to contribute. Also, it is the same pitch where Australia lost to England on the fifth day in the Ashes last year. 

India should feel at home at Adelaide

All India need is for the batsmen to break the shackles, get over the past and start afresh. The bowling is not as much of a concern since the likes of Zaheer and Yadav have done reasonably well. Zaheer has been unlucky though not to have picked as many wickets as he deserved but his effort like always has been above par while Yadav in many ways has been the find of this tour. It remains to be seen whether India can avert the dangers of yet another whitewash, but in the absence of the regular captain MSD the onus of an inspired fightback will definitely be on Sehwag not only as an opener but also as the leader of a dispirited Team India.  

The Curious Case of Indian Batsmen!

Not until too long ago, the Indian Test Team boasted of arguably the world's best batting lineup with the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar & Laxman expected to be good enough anywhere against any bowling attack. Much to the chagrin of the fans of this star studded batting unit all it took was a difficult than expected West Indies tour and more significantly flustering tour of England to come to terms with reality which mirrored the needless rodomontading of their performances at home resulting in heightened expectations from them on tours outside the sub-continent.

The legacies of the Goliaths need to be preserved!

It's important that a batsman is technically sound to be able to adapt better in England, Australia or anywhere else in the world where the wickets are conducive for adept swing bowlers. Barring Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman the required competency seems far from present in the current Indian batsmen who have all but looked at ease in bowler friendly conditions. Safely ensconced in the overdependence on the stalwarts have been their technical incompetency for all these years and as we get closer to a transition similar to the one Australia is going through, the big picture looks only darker.

Sure, when it comes to records each one of those batsmen have quite a few to their name but then records alone don't represent the true picture and definitely don't win matches. The results speak for themselves, only in 3 out of the last 18 innings outside India have the batsmen managed to post 300.

For years we have mourned over the dead pitches and never witnessed a Test series in India where batsmen have had to be distinctively technically skilled to pile runs. This is where the crux of the issue is! The focus here is more on amassing runs rather than the manner in which to score them. This leads to records being made by the batsmen at the expense of sometimes the sheer basics of batting which comes in their way of thorough adaptation overseas. 

If the legacies of the BIG 3 of Indian Cricket have to be kept intact, a roadmap needs to be charted out to groom the plethora of talented batsmen.