Indian Cricket: Tests: The Curse of The Subcontinent

When the final wicket fell during the fourth day’s play, India not only crashed to one of their biggest defeats on Sri Lankan soil, it also served as a reminder of the ghastly fact that Indian cricket has some serious issues. And more astonishingly, the problem is playing in the sub-continent, our strength until a few years ago!

Since the turn of the century, India’s win percentage at home has been 42.11%, winning 16 out of 38 games. To India’s credit many of these wins have come against worthy opponents such as Australia, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan.

But the few losses have been to these very same opponents, namely Australia, South Africa, England and Pakistan.

India famously lost the 2000 series against SA in a very poor fashion, which later prompted the legendary Sachin Tendulkar to resign from the captaincy.

But after that, India did not lose a single series at home, till Australia, under Gilchrist and Ponting, secured the “final frontier” during the winter of 2004.

This was preceded by a dull Test series against New Zealand, which saw both Tests being drawn.

In fact, the last time India even came close to dominating a Test series at home was in 2005, when they beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in the three Test series.

It was a period which saw India pulling off some breathtaking performances away from home. Most remarkably Test wins in West Indies, England (both in ’02) and the famous drawn series in Australia (’03-’04). (India’s wins in Bangladesh (all tours) and Zimbabwe (2005) have been overlooked.)

Therefore it is astonishing that the team fell to such depths at home!

Here is what the numbers say:

At home:

Year	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win %
2000	4	1	1	2	25%
2001	6	3	2	1	50%
2002	5	4	1	0	80%
2003	2	0	2	0	0%
2004	6	2	2	2	33.33%
2005	6	3	2	1	50%
2006	3	1	1	1	33.33%
2007	3	1	2	0	33.33%
2008 (so far)	3	1	1	1	33.33%
Total	38	16	14	8	42.11%

Away:

Year	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win %
2000	1	0	0	1	0.00%
2001	7	2	1	4	28.57%
2002	11	2	4	5	18.18%
2003	3	1	1	1	33.33%
2004	4	2	1	1	50.00%
2005	0	0	0	0	0
2006	9	2	5	2	22.22%
2007	5	1	2	2	20.00%
2008 (so far)	4	1	1	2	25.00%
Total	44	11	15	18	25.00%

As expected, the latter of the two tables shows a bad picture.

But this changes after 2002. From ’03 to ’08, India’s record actually improves! Seven wins to eight losses gives a clear picture when compared to 10 losses and four wins between 2000 and 2002.

Let’s take another angle. India’s performance in the sub-continent. (Against all nations except Bangladesh.)

Year	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win %
2000	4	1	1	2	25.00%
2001	9	4	2	3	44.44%
2002	5	4	1	0	80.00%
2003	2	0	2	0	0.00%
2004	9	4	2	3	44.44%
2005	6	3	2	1	50.00%
2006	6	1	3	2	16.67%
2007	3	1	2	0	33.33%
2008 (so far)	4	1	1	2	25.00%
Total	48	19	16	13	39.58%

It just gets worse!

So, what is wrong with the Indian team?

I had mentioned the problem of pitches some time ago, and this is indeed one of the basic problems facing the Indian team.

But as a top side in Test cricket, the players are rightly expected to perform on every surface, home and away.

India’s loss to Sri Lanka is just the latest instance of India falling at the hands of a slow, turning wicket.

India lost to Pakistan at Bangalore during John Wright’s farewell series in 2005 in similar fashion, unable to battle out one day to save the Test, falling short by 168 runs.

Sanjay Manjrekar stated right after the defeat that India is no longer the side that throttled the like of Shane Warne not too long ago.

Though his sentiments as a former player and a huge fan of the art of playing spin are understandable, and the fact remains that the Aussies have covered huge ground in this department to give the Indian heavyweights some competition, it is unfair to blame it entirely on the batsmen.

Fielding is one big area where India lets itself down. More so while playing in the sub continent.

The lush outfields in Australia, England and South Africa are often invitation to even the Gangulies, Dravids, Kumbles and Tendulkars to dive around. The sub continent, sadly, is yet to offer that to them and it seems these veterans lack the confidence of the more youthful in the side, and the better fielders around the world, to do the same at home.

The bowlers used to win us games single handedly. That sting has been vastly lacking.

While improvement in the away performances can be attributed to the increased wealth of quality fast bowlers within the Indian ranks, the same has, it seems, hurt the performance at home.

Kumble’s form has noticeably waned in the last few seasons, and Harbhajan is yet to find the form that saw him take thirty two wickets in one series against Australia in 2001.

Coupled with India’s inability to find a third quality spinner has meant that India’s supposed potent spin force is virtually non existent and a non entity to batsmen of quality!

The likes of Matthew Hayden (793 runs at an average of 61.00), Inzamam-ul-Haq (594 at 54.88), Younis Khan (768 at 76.8) and Jacques Kallis (557 at 55.7) have relished batting in India.

New comers like Michael Clarke and Kevin Pietersen, too, have had a ball in the sub-continent.

All this just compounds the task for the batsmen.

If they bat first and set a huge first inning’s total, the game invariably heads for a draw.

Batting second and chasing a huge first inning’s deficit means intolerable pressure on the batsmen resulting in collapses, and a big loss.

So what can India do to solve this problem?

For one, give more chances to younger players like Yuvraj Singh and Piyush Chawla. They may not be a Laxman and Kumble yet, but they may be one day, and for that they need maximum exposure.

To me all this rubbish about T20 destroying India’s Test game is farcical to say the least.

These guys have played four day cricket for most of their careers before breaking into the national squad. To say a few games of T20 have undone all of that is ludicrous.

Another vital decision the team management has to take is regarding the strategy they employ when their backs are against the wall.

The other night, I was watching the highlights of the India-Australia game at Perth. The way Gilchrist and Symonds fought back from 61 for 5 to 161 for 5 is truly remarkable. The runs came at a One Day pace, and the bowlers were left clue less.

Instances like these clarify why exactly those bunch of guys are ranked number one in the world.

India needs to adopt a similar approach. It is absolutely heart wrenching to see some of the most exciting batsmen in the world take a defensive approach while chasing in the last inning of a Test match, or following on.

Apart from Virender Sehwag, the rest of the side seems to get cold feet when put in such a situation. As soon as the maverick opener departs, a chase simply loses initiative.

For one, the batting line up needs some restructuring.

Laxman’s 281, at the Eden Gardens, is oft stated as one of the greatest Test innings of all time. He would have had more had the management given him more freedom, and a permanent slot at number three.

Now is not too late. At 33, he can still be relied upon to give some solid service at that position for a couple of more years.

Sachin Tendulkar is undoubtedly the most brilliant batsman I have ever seen. The fact that the team does not give him enough independence to play his natural game for the fear of loosing his wicket early on is in the vein of self destruction.

If he is allowed to approach the second inning like he approaches the first, India will be winning a lot more matches while chasing 300+ totals than they do now.

Sourav Ganguly, too, needs to be given the incentive to attack the bowling from the word go. His inning of 144 at Brisbane is a lesson in counter attacking batsman-ship, and such innings need to be repeated as often as possible by him before throwing in the towel.

Rahul Dravid needs to be at number six. While his solid technique is perfect for the number three slot when you have a bad pair of openers, once 150 have already been put up on the board at 3.5 an over, he would do a much better job coming in later in the inning.

His ability to absorb the pressure and play with the tail is enough reason to allot Dravid this position. Given the fact that the guy can deposit a few over the ropes as well, you have a perfect number six in Dravid, at least at this stage of his career, with his powers of concentration seemingly waning.

The bowling? It actually looks stronger than the batting does at the moment.

Anil Kumble needs to seriously find his form back or the side will be in grave danger once the ball has lost its shine. He is the spearhead of the attack in every sense of the word, and without him, India’s chances of victory are seriously dented.

Harbhajan Singh needs to be kicked out!

His run of form has been pathetic for longer than I care to remember. He has had bad influence on the rest of the team in recent times, and is definitely not an asset either as a batsman or as a fielder.

Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar have been waiting in the wings for quite some time now, and either one of them, even both of them, should be in the team.

Both are handy batsmen, both can field, although Powar is a suspect in the outfield due to his slowness, and both have seen special form in the domestic circuit off late. Murali Kartik is another name that springs to mind. Some amazing talent is getting wasted due to the persistence with Harbhajan, and this needs severe alterations.

Zaheer Khan was a tad off color, but with time he is sure to recapture his form. Ishant Sharma was in dazzling form, and very unlucky, with catches getting dropped off him.

In the absence of Dhoni, Karthik is the best alternative for the keeper’s slot.

Though a few dropped chances will go against him being selected for the second Test, he is still a better alternative behind the stumps.

He is more agile, dives about, and is definitely more vocal in support of his bowlers than Parthiv Patel, the second keeper.

On the other hand, Patel has had a sensational season as an opening batsman for Gujarat and India A. Nevertheless Gambhir is definitely a better option at the top considering his technical solidity and his ability to play spin. That pretty much rules him out, as Sehwag is not going to be dropped at any cost.

Looking forward to the next Test, and with reports coming in that the Galle (venue for second Test) track will be slower than the one at SSC, India need to make sure they come up with some structural changes and a different approach.

There is definitely no need for any chopping and changing, as this side is good enough to take on any in the world. Maybe Harbhajan needs to be taken off, but that, it seems, is unlikely to happen.

India may need to add another bowler, preferably a spinner.

On the other hand, Sehwag was hugely under utilized in the first Test. He should be bowled more, and he will be more effectual on these tracks, and create more damage than Harbhajan. His simple action, and keenness to float it up, will help him, and this may even relieve the load off Kumble’s shoulders.

What do you think India needs to do to get back to winning ways? Feel free to state your thoughts!