Time for India to shed denial

After their skills were found wanting and their mental fortitude questioned, India can't afford to wallow in home comforts

India were out-batted, out-bowled, out-fielded and out-captained © Getty Images

Four years ago, during an ugly series between these two teams in this country, Anil Kumble, India's captain, evoked Bill Woodfull circa Bodyline, saying only one of the teams was playing cricket. The same could just as easily be said of this series. In their own cocoon of denial, living in the past, out-batted, out-bowled, out-fielded, out-captained both on and off the field, out-coached, out-jibed by the hosts, India didn't really turn up.

The batsmen kept failing but kept getting picked and kept batting in the same positions on the top of that. The bowlers lacked the control; Ishant Sharma carried his flaws and misfortune, which might or might not be inter-related, despite a strong and specialised coaching staff; the old men without the runs didn't write off the debts they incurred in the field; the openers were found out, but everybody kept talking of a time in the past when they used to win.

They used to win no doubt but never as comprehensively as they have lost over their last two series. It was a team skating on thin ice, albeit skating exceptionally well until earlier this year, but the ice has given away now. The rescue squad is of the view it will prepare better ice at home.

To find out where it all went wrong on this tour it is important to go back to where it all started. Melbourne was the kind of Test India used to win over the last four years or so. They just did. Somehow. They used to have the mental strength. That is the reason the fans began to trust this side. That is the reason why they are angry now. They haven't seen that desperation here.

They can't pinpoint a time when the desperation, the mongrel, left this team. Was it when the seniors passed a certain age - and can cricketers age all of a sudden? Was it when surgeries were postponed so that IPL could be played and Tests missed? Was it when the previous 4-0 whitewash was not even part of the board's recap of the last year at its awards function? Did the World Cup win exhaust them and sate them at the same time? This is all conjecture, and possibly unfair, but the fans are asking themselves these questions.

The good Indian team used to win the big moments - it didn't happen over a long period but it was the same personnel consistently making second-innings comebacks and or chasing high-ish totals in the fourth innings. Not now. Melbourne was a bit like Trent Bridge when they let the batsmen off the hook twice. India's bowling plans were outdated, as if the captain and the coaches hadn't seen Australia play since they last played India. They tried to bounce Ricky Ponting out when clearly he had been falling lbw over the last few months, thus playing him back into form. The good Indian teams' tailenders added runs, here Zaheer Khan refused to stay in front of the stumps. A lot of the blame has to be laid at the door of a team of defensive captain and defensive coach, but the mongrel wasn't there either.

It all can't be put down to the absence of that intangible quality either. The skills were found out. Perhaps it might have to do with age and slowing down of the instinct, but Virender Sehwag against the seaming and bouncing ball wasn't a good sight. Gautam Gambhir spent half the series fighting the poke only for the bouncer at his throat to consume him for the other half.

VVS Laxman remained strangely passive at the crease, and only in Adelaide - a Test he shouldn't have played in the first place - did he move his guard to middle stump to counter the fifth-stump line. Rahul Dravid knew his back foot was not moving across, and he tried his darnedest in the nets to overcome it, but could not manage it. Sachin Tendulkar began the summer gloriously, and still looked the best equipped technically, but that is where it stopped.

	Melbourne was the kind of Test India used to win over the last four years or so. They just did. Somehow. They used to have the mental strength. That is the reason the fans began to trust this side. That is the reason why they are angry now

The question marks against the seniors are valid and well documented, and it is time to drop those who will not be a part of the side at the start of the overseas tours in late 2013. There is no disrespect to their previous contributions in dropping them. However, it is disrespectful to plant stories in the media, as has been happening, to try to put covert pressure so they are forced to retire. Retirement should not even be a question here; that is the players' decision, and it is understandable for players to want to keep playing. What are the selectors and team management doing?

Good Indian teams bounced back from first defeats, now "bouncebackability" is a word used to mock them. With this team you badly hoped, for the sake of a contest, that they didn't lose the first match. In the lead-up to Sydney, no one other than the Indian team spoke of their ability to come back after their first defeat. From the time they were bowled out for 191 on that first day in Sydney, it was clear it would be nothing short of a miracle to avoid a whitewash.

Perth and Adelaide were natural progression. Mentally they were gone. They were in such bad state they couldn't even ignore criticism in the papers: R Ashwin called the media a deterrent and Sehwag asked them to support the side like cheerleaders.

MS Dhoni's captaincy may be open to whatever criticism but his leadership style of letting everyone be so they did their job best had worked until this debacle began. Good leaders, however, change their ways with time. There seems nobody in this team capable of lighting a fire under a few backsides, or of making on-the-spot decisions that match the desperation of the situation.

If Dhoni's erstwhile strength might have become his weakness, we don't even know what Duncan Fletcher's role is, except that no player wants to blame him. He was a control freak when with England, but has no powers here. He loved DRS, but can't say that in his new employment. He is supposed to be good with youngsters, but doesn't seem to be pushing for them here. He used substitutes to rile opposition captains, but is part of a team that calls back technically run-out batsmen. Is he a square peg in a round hole?

It is believed it is good to hit the rock bottom once in a while so that the only way is up. The problem is, the team and the board react in a manner that suggests they don't believe they have reached there yet. They still boast of home wins. They are complaining of grass on pitches that have actually been pretty fair, and ignoring completely that most of their recent wins away from the subcontinent have come in more-than-friendly bowling conditions. Hopefully they don't actually feel that way, and it is just a "brave face", although it isn't very clever.

Hopefully, at the next year's awards function, the BCCI will acknowledge that apart from hosting IPL and Champions League and putting together a side that won home Tests - the last one is no guarantee - India also lost badly in Australia. Accepting flaws is the first step towards correcting them. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

MiD DAY lists India's most horrific days on UK tour

MiD DAY lists the most horrible moments of India's 61-day UK journey...

21st July: In the middle of a rhythmic spell, Zaheer Khan, with figures of 2-18, went off the field midway through the third over of his third spell after MS Dhoni won the toss and inserted the hosts on the first morning of the Lord's Test.



29th July: In the absence of Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar assumed the role of the leader of the pace-attack. However, he didn't quite behave like one on the first day of the Nottingham Test. Having been turned down for an lbw appeal off Kevin Pietersen, he argued with umpire Marais Erasmus. The day also saw Harbhajan Singh aggravate his abdominal strain.

6th August: A century from Niall O'Brien saw Northamptonshire go past India's total of 352. Zaheer Khan walked off the field after a three-over spell on the second morning. It was the last that was seen of the left-arm seamer on the tour.

10th August: A turnaround was expected from India in the Edgbaston Test. Virender Sehwag had joined the team, and Gautam Gambhir returned from injury. While Rahul Dravid received the 'ball of the series' from Tim Bresnan that straightened off a good length and crashed into his off-stump, Sehwag registered the first
of two golden ducks in the Test.

12th August: Alastair Cook added to India's woes courtesy a 294-run knock on the third day at Edgbaston that eventually helped England win the series 3-0.

19th August: As Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen piled on the runs, Gautam Gambhir suffered a horrific injury on Day 2 of the Oval Test. While back-pedalling from mid-on, in an attempt to catch a Pietersen top edge, he slammed the back of his head on the ground, and didn't open the batting in either innings. He never recovered from the concussions.

20th August: The horror at the Oval Test continued. Suresh Raina had already flushed his reputation of an emerging Test batsman down the drain. Having been exposed to the bouncing ball, Raina was now teased by the spin of Graeme Swann. When stumped by Matt Prior after being beaten by a ripper, he equalled Irfan Pathan's record of the longest duck in Indian Test history -- 29 balls without a run.

22nd August: It was only personal dismay but that's the influence of Sachin Tendulkar. Just nine runs shy of his century of international centuries, Tendulkar was trapped lbw by Tim Bresnan. The aftermath: India lost their last seven wickets for 21 runs to lose a Test that could have been saved.

5th september: Sachin Tendulkar was officially ruled out of the ODIs because of a toe injury that he aggravated while going for a jog on the eve of the first one-dayer at Chester-le-Street.

11th September: Just when India were closing in on their maiden win, recurring showers, mathematics, and Ravi Bopara had other ideas. The first rain stoppage saw India marginally ahead of the D/L par score. The second stoppage shifted the balance to England. — MiD DAY

It's time to mourn after 4-0 whitewash

By: Clayton Murzello

Date: 2011-08-23

Place: London

Instead of celebrating 40 years of India's greatest Test triumph in England this month, it is time to mourn after 0-4 whitewash

India should have been celebrating 40 years of their greatest Test triumph in England this month -- the 1971 series win over Ray Illingworth's Ashes-winning champion team. It was achieved at the Oval on August 24.



Instead, in many ways, it is a time to mourn. Yesterday, the same ground witnessed probably India's nadir in Test match cricket, a format Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men were No 1 in before the series kicked off at Lord's a month ago.

The Lord's defeat was disappointing, but there was hope for Trent Bridge where India won in 2007. But a heavy loss was experienced there too. New zeal was expected in Edgbaston, but the defeat margin got heavier. And when it came to the Oval, India were expected to do far better on a surface that suited them traditionally. The optimists were proved wrong again as India succumbed by an innings and eight runs yesterday.


Sachin Tendulkar walks back after being dismissed for 91 by England's
Tim Bresnan on the final day of the Oval Test yesterday. Pic/Getty Images

There were not too many believers (and who can blame them) in India at the start of the day, but Sachin Tendulkar and Amit Mishra batted splendidly to go into lunch at 216 for three. But the second session of the final day proved fatal as India could score only 67 runs more before England rejoiced at their 4-0 win.

Sure, there were a couple of questionable umpiring decisions and English brilliance came to the fore once again, but the fact that seven wickets fell for just 21 runs proved that Dhoni's men didn't have the bottle for the fight.

Amit Mishra ended up smelling like a rose (84 off 141 balls), Tendulkar (91 off 172 balls) despite two lives, scrapped all the way and Dravid was exceptional in the truest sense of the term. The rest of the batters need to go shopping for a mirror to take a good look at themselves and they don't have to visit the fashionable Oxford Street for that.

Thanks to old television footage, even young fans have had the opportunity to watch how the 1971 team fought for their Ajit Wadekar-led Oval win ¦ Chandrasekhar, Sardesai and Solkar, who stood precariously close to the batsmen -- unafraid and unaffected of the dangers. Dhoni's men paled in comparison 40 years later.

Sure, there were injuries, which crippled the side physically and in spirit. Poor form cannot be arrested in the face of high quality opposition, but India will always be guilty of not respecting this series enough. India vs England was a big-ticket event that ended up being a terrible mismatch. The rematch could be a different story next year in India, but Indian cricket has a lot of ground to cover. — MiD DAY

Swann's six completes India's humiliation

England 591 for 6 dec (Bell 235, Pietersen 175) beat India 300 (Dravid 146*, Bresnan 3-54) & 283 (Tendulkar 91, Mishra 84, Swann 6-106) by an innings and eight runs

	Graeme Swann chose the final day at The Oval to turn in a match-winning performance © Getty Images

Graeme Swann's six wickets led England's charge to a famous whitewash on a dramatic final day at The Oval as India collapsed during the afternoon session, which included Sachin Tendulkar falling for 91. An increasingly agitated home side had been frustrated as Tendulkar and Amit Mishra added 144 for the fourth wicket, but once Swann made the breakthrough the rest of India's resistance crumbled. The innings folded in 15 overs with England winning by an innings and eight runs.

Swann's success made it the complete series for England, where everyone played a key role in either setting up, positioning or securing a victory. This was a display of attacking offspin of the highest quality, although the wide smile he wore when he savoured his fifth wicket, as Gautam Gambhir sliced to backward point, and his sixth to complete victory, hadn't been so evident during the earlier part of the day.

By batting through the morning without further loss, India had managed their first wicketless session of the series, increasing the prospects of a draw that would have salvaged a modicum of pride. However, that was being overshadowed by the progress of Tendulkar towards the century that would have completed his 100th international hundred - the landmark that has stalked him throughout the series. It continued to prove elusive.

Tim Bresnan, with his first ball of new spell, swung one back into Tendulkar, who was hit on the pad, and Rod Tucker raised his finger. There was a mixture of celebration at a vital wicket mixed with shock and disappointment. Replays showed it was clipping leg stump. It hadn't been a classic Tendulkar innings by any means, but the fact he'd had at least three lives raised the belief that it was to be his day.

The previous evening, England had failed to appeal for a stumping when Tendulkar momentarily lifted his foot, and two further opportunities were missed on the final day. Alastair Cook dropped a relatively straightforward chance at short leg when Tendulkar had 70, and Matt Prior shelled a thick edge with him on 85. During a wonderful contest with Swann, there was also an lbw appeal from a missed sweep that, had there been the DRS and England had reviewed, would have been overturned. The look on Tendulkar's face when he was finally given suggested he, too, would have reviewed given the chance but it wouldn't have mattered.

To highlight that Tendulkar's innings wasn't fluent, it was Mishra who dominated the partnership and caused England, possibly, the greater headache. His second Test fifty had come from 103 balls, and he used his feet against Swann, while playing leg-side shots off the quicks that wouldn't have looked out of place coming off Tendulkar's bat.

For all his failings with the ball, Mishra showed tremendous application with the bat that has been missing from some of his team-mates. For a while it appeared he may even beat his partner to three figures but Swann's persistence paid off when a delivery scooted past the edge. Mishra's presence, and the missed chances off Tendulkar, had certainly got England hot under the collar and Andrew Strauss was given an official warning for his players walking across the pitch.

It wasn't the most edifying sight - and England's on-field temper can still boil over - but it showed the hunger to win. The final two days of this match were of terrific value to them, even if the foot-sore bowlers might not agree, because Test victories shouldn't come easily. To be made to work, as they were yesterday by Rahul Dravid and today by Tendulkar and Mishra, and to come through with victory, will stand them in good stead.

England know how to sense an opening and continued to surge through line up. Suresh Raina completed a horror match as he was given lbw to complete a pair, which used up 42 deliveries, although it was a poor decision from Simon Taufel. There was an inside edge before pad and the ball was also heading over the stumps.

The new ball was taken straight away - Swann had said he, too, preferred a harder ball on this surface - and Stuart Broad, the pick of England's quicks - and their Man of the Series - on the final day as James Anderson struggled with the foot holds, made swift inroads. MS Dhoni flashed an edge to second slip and three balls later RP Singh edged behind. The only question now was whether India would at least make England bat again.

Even that proved too much as Swann wrapped up the innings against batsmen who had decided to have a swing. Sreesanth was the last to fall, heaving an inside edge on to the stumps to send England into another round of celebrations. It was a familiar scene in this series, a run of performances that will go down in the game's history as one of the most dominant displays. England have set a benchmark for this generation of Test cricket and now others need to follow suit. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.