5 thoughts after 4-0

I

The pleasure of winning a series 4-0 is singular, something I have never experienced in the three decades I have followed the game. For all its travails, Australia is a better team than New Zealand or West Indies, and they are not a team that loses 4-0 very often to anyone, anywhere. Australia’s media seems to think they are a third rate team, but they are not – it is a team that beat us black and blue at home, and that has, other than a narrow defeat to South Africa, done well at home since then. Equally, however, this win does not make us a world champion team, and even after a 4-0 win, it would be good to temper celebrations and seriously consider what we need to do to improve. After all, India’s trajectory is not that different to the Aussies’: we have beaten Australia black and blue at home, but lost narrowly to England at home, and have struggled abroad over the last two years. In other words, these are two teams that are developing along very similar planes. Both are teams in transition. Both are teams that are going to be competitive at home in the immediate future. But both are going to struggle abroad.

The difference is this. India seems quite happy to struggle abroad. Dhoni seems quite happy with the home wins, and all his selections indicate a desire for home gain without concern for what happens abroad. This is, indeed, the big difference between Dhoni and Ganguly, and the reason why, for me, Ganguly will always be the greater captain. Dhoni is happy with dominance at home and abjectness abroad – after all, for him, the 2007 World Cup exit was more painful than 0-8. But I think that a 0-4 defeat will hurt more for Michael Clarke, which is why Australia’s long term prospects as a Test side look better in my opinion.

The real test of our quality as a cricket team will come in South Africa this winter. With that in mind, we need slightly different priorities and strategies to what we saw in this series. So here are my thoughts, looking forward 9 months.

II

All of Dhoni’s flaws as captain remain. In this series, he has shown in one innings that he can bat in home conditions at no. 6. hats off to him for that. But he hasn’t followed it up with a significant innings in the subsequent games. The question marks about his batting ability abroad remain as I think of his embarrassing performances in Australia. And that means his long-term viability as captain on the strength of his batting remains questionable.

Meanwhile, some of the major shortcomings of his captaincy still remain. The big difference in this series compared to some previous ones is that he looks a little more agitated in the field, and is yelling at his players more. But that is hardly the hallmark of genius. His mindset is still fundamentally defensive, as indicated in his field placements when Mitchell Starc, a no. 9, got going in Mohali; and as indicated even more starkly in his comments after the Mohali win that he had considered shutting shop and playing for the draw. Clarke would never have thought that way. And Dhoni’s selections are still nepotistic. Keeping Ojha out for Harbhajan and the mistreatment of Ajinkya Rahane across all formats are two examples. Hence, in spite of this result, I am still convinced that Virat Kohli is the best man to lead India forward, both in South Africa and towards the next World Cup. Of course, this won’t happen – if there is one thing this series has done, it is to cement Dhoni’s power in India’s cricket structure. But at the very least, it is time to formally appoint Kohli as Dhoni’s deputy, and groom him as a future captain in the medium term.

III

We do now have the nucleus of a good side, but the question is whether the players who have succeeded in the series against Australia are likely to be as successful in South Africa. The two who are, in my opinion, are Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Murali Vijay. Bhuvnesh has been the find of this home season for India, and he will be a handful in South African conditions. He still needs to be used better by Dhoni, who seems to think of him only as a new-ball bowler – even though, in domestic cricket, he has picked up a lot of his wickets with old-ball reverse swing. But he is one for the long haul. Meanwhile, Vijay – 2.0 looks a far better bet than the original version. What has changed, primarily, is shot selection. Earlier, he would just go after the bowling willy-nilly, without a second thought, and get out to poor shots even when set. In his two 150s, it is his discernment that has stood out more than anything else.

Ravindra Jadeja has also done enough to get on the plane to South Africa as the second spinner. But unless he starts showing an ability to bat at 7 in Test matches, he cannot be a certainty in the starting 11. I think Jadeja needs to be persisted with because he is a good batsman and he showed some indications of that under pressure in Delhi. But the transition from Rajkot to Durban will be a steep one, and he will have to prove himself afresh.

It is Shikhar Dhawan that I am most skeptical of. his debut innings was brilliant, but it almost had a hint of insanity about it. It is hard to drop someone after an innings like that, but I am still not convinced that he has what it takes to succeed against Steyn, Philander and co in South African conditions. I think that one of the problems we will face in South Africa is what Australia has faced here – inexperience in playing abroad – and this is why, for me, Wasim Jaffer still remains the best man to open when we travel abroad, and his continued exclusion is just stupid. Technically, he is the best opener in the country today; his form has been exceptional; and his experience playing around the world will make him invaluable in SA, New Zealand and England. “Youth policy” is all very well, but the future direction of our cricket will be determined by how well we do on our next three tours abroad, and how well we do will depend largely on whether we have an opening combination that can give us starts. For me, Jaffer and Vijay represent the best pair we have in the country at the moment.

IV

The other question concerns our fast bowling. Bhuvnesh has bowled some telling spells in this series, and that bodes well. but we have won on the strength of our spin. Our spinners won’t get so much purchase in South Africa, and we will need our seamers to play a major role in picking 20 wickets. This will probably be our first full series abroad in a number of years without Zaheer Khan leading the attack; so it is going to be a real challenge for a young seam attack against a quality South African batting line-up.

Hopefully Umesh Yadav will be fit to lead the attack in Bhuvnesh’s company, though on the evidence of the past few months that is not something to be taken for granted. And even if he is fit, we will need a good third seamer. While India’s travails abroad in the 1990s were largely because of poor starts with the bat, the absence of a good third seamer to back up Srinath and Prabhakar (initially) and Srinath and Prasad (later) really hurt us.

So the big question is – is Ishant Sharma good enough to be trusted as India’s third seamer? I think the evidence is mixed, but I remain a strong supporter. His effort is always 100%, and even in this series he has bowled a couple of telling spells. It is hard to give up on someone in whom selectors have invested so much, especially knowing how much potential there is. But like Jadeja, he is someone who is going to be on trial, and who is going to need to start translating potential and effort into wickets sooner rather than later.

On paper, then, a seam trio of Umesh, Bhuvnesh and Ishant is a fine young attack, three bowlers who do different things and who supplement each other. But Bhuvnesh is inexperienced abroad, Umesh is injury-prone, and Ishant is still on trial. So having good back-up to these three will be essential. Here, the one personal I would most definitely throw in to the mix would be Praveen Kumar.

Praveen has had a rough couple of years – injured, left out of the side, issues with his anger, and so on. But the failure to manage him and bring the best out of him is entirely the BCCI’s. What we do know is that if Bhuvnesh can trouble international batsmen with his swing, then so too can his mentor Praveen. What we do know is that PK has proven himself as a match-winning Test bowler in England, where everyone else was being taken to the cleaners’. Indeed, PK’s bowling in that series shone as strongly as Rahul Dravid’s batting. Quality swing bowling troubles the best of batsmen, and certainly the South Africans play pace and seam better than they play swing. I think it is essential to get PK back into the mix, though he too is going to have to prove himself all over again after a disastrous 18 months.

V

Finally – I think there are a couple of players who are at the crossroads of their careers; four more who are in a liminal space; and two or three who are real talents who now deserve a look-in. Those who are at the crossroads, of course, are Sehwag and Gambhir. Both have given us much in the past on tours abroad; but both their exclusions are justified, based on their recent returns. Further, neither has much 4- or 5-day cricket to look forward to before we tour South Africa, so it is not going to be easy for them to make a claim to that tour on the basis of strong domestic form. This is why it would be important to select both for the India A team that will tour South Africa over the summer. A strong showing there could put them in the fray for a full tour. A weak showing could spell the end of Viru’s career, and will mean that Gambhir will have to pile on the runs in domestic cricket to make a comeback. Either way, I think the road back for both of them is going to be a hard one.

The four in a liminal space are Rahane, Pragyan Ojha, Manoj Tiwary and Ashok Dinda. All four have been treated badly in the current dispensation, and all have had their share of bad luck to compound their bad treatment. All four are amongst the most talented, and temperamentally sound, young cricketers in the country today. But none of them can take their place in the side for South Africa for granted, given the performances of those who have played against Australia, and some other youngsters who are coming through the ranks and who will squeeze them from below as well.

Rahane and Dinda have spent most of the season on the bench carrying drinks; Tiwary has spent most of the season injured; Ojha, after leading the attack against England, was made to sit out for the miserably ineffective Harbhajan Singh for half the series against Australia. Further, Rahane has now been officially deemed to be a middle order batsman, and the middle order is crowded. Assuming full fitness, Pujara, Tendulkar and Kohli are certainties at 3, 4 and 5. If Dhoni decides to stick to Jadeja and 5 bowlers, then that is pretty much that. If an extra batsman is played, then Rahane should be competing for that spot with Tiwary, but also possibly with Viru, especially if he can make runs over the summer. The other person who has to be in the fray now is the man who will push Rahane and Tiwary from below, Ambati Rayudu. In terms of sheer talent, Rayudu is every bit as good a batsman as his contemporaries like Rahane and Tiwary, and streets ahead of Raina and Rohit Sharma. Early in his career, the problem was his temperament. But the post-ICL Rayudu, having moved to Baroda, has just been phenomenally consistent. For me, the innings that really showed his readiness for the big stage was a 105 he made for India A on a seaming wicket in New Zealand last summer. There really is a case for him to jump the queue. This means that Rahane, Sehwag, Tiwary and Rayudu are all fighting for that last batting spot on tour – and as long as Jadeja continues to succeed, the best they can still hope for is a place on the bench. It would be worthwhile giving them all a chance on the A tour to South Africa in the summer, to see who stakes the strongest claim.

Meanwhile, Ojha too is being pushed. As long as Ashwin was struggling, Ojha looked like he would be India’s lead spinner. But with Ashwin getting back amongst the wickets, he has reassumed his role as lead spinner, even though he still needs to show a strong performance abroad. Ojha is unlikely to displace Jadeja in the playing 11, since Ashwin is unlikely to be risked at 7 in South Africa. So the best he can hope for is a place on the bench, to back Ashwin up in case of injury or poor form. However, he is going to be pushed even for that role by young Harmeet Singh, who is one of the most exciting spin bowlers I have seen in years. Only injury has prevented Harmeet from staking a claim to the senior team this year. If he if fit, then he will be perhaps the person most worth watching this coming year, and a senior call-up could come sooner rather than later.

Dinda, meanwhile, has been Rahane’s bowling equivalent – in the 15 because of sensational domestic performances, but made to sit on the bench all season. Like Rahane, he has been given the odd one-day game, but there too, he has never been selected for more than 3 or 4 games at a stretch, once being dropped immediately after picking up a 4-wicket haul. But he too is going to be pushed from below, as I think the young fast bowler most worth taking a look at is Dhawal Kulkarni.

Kulkarni is only 25, but he has already had a number of successful seasons for Mumbai, and he was absolutely outstanding this past season. He is a bowler in the mold of Ramakant Desai – slightly built, nippy, capable of coming at the batsman all the time, and moving it around just enough to create problems. There is another, more contemporary, bowler that he resembles, and that is Vernon Philander. I think he could be a handful in South Africa, and he is definitely the youngster most worth looking at. There are others who have done well this season – especially Ishwar Pandey, Siddharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma – but there are many fast bowlers who have done well in a single season early in their first class careers only to fall away later (remember Abhimanyu Mithun, Sudeep Tyagi, Manpreet Gony, Deepak Chahar, Rituraj Singh, Harshal Patel? If not, then you get my point). Kulkarni, meanwhile, has consistently performed, season after season.

So, my end-of-season teams for the coming season:

India A to South Africa (July 2013)

1. Wasim Jaffer
2. Gautam Gambhir ©
3. Ajinkya Rahane
4. Virender Sehwag (V)
5. Manoj Tiwary
6. Ambati Rayudu
7. Parthiv Patel (W)
8. Praveen Kumar
9. Dhawal Kulkarni
10. Pragyan Ojha
11. Ashok Dinda

Reserves:

12. Abhinav Mukund
13. Abhisekh Nayar
14. Pankaj Singh
15. Harmeet Singh

India senior team to South Africa (November 2013)

1. Wasim Jaffer
2. Murali Vijay
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Virat Kohli (V)
6. Mahendra Dhoni © (W)
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Umesh Yadav

Reserves:

12. Shikhar Dhawan
13. Virender Sehwag / Ajinkya Rahane / Manoj Tiwary / Ambati Rayudu
14. Parthiv Patel (W)
15. Praveen Kumar
16. Ashok Dinda / Dhawal Kulkarni
17. Pragyan Ojha / Harmeet Singh

Postscript

I watched the Delhi Test from Sydney. It is my first time in Australia. I have grown up watching Sydney Tests sitting in Delhi; doing this the other way round was a real pleasure. I also made a pilgrimage to the SCG – a ground that has such India-Australia history, a ground that Tendulkar and Laxman have owned. I went into the visitors’ dressing room. The visitors’ attendant, Rocky Harris, started a list on the cupboard in the dressing room, where every visitor, whether first-class or international, who made a 100 at the SCG would have his name and score inscribed. There are tens of names there, but a name that appears thrice is V.V.S. Laxman’s. Each time, after the inscription, Laxman has scribbled, in his hand, a note of thanks to Rocky. It is the essence of a fine man, one who is thoughtful enough to think of and care about others before himself or his own achievements. Having Laxman in the commentary box was one of the highlights of the series against Australia; but how I miss having him wield the willow for India.

2nd Test preview

I have the following five thoughts before the Hyderabad Test:

I

Hats off to Dhoni. I didn’t think he had it in him to play the way he did at 6. when he came in, the game was more or less evenly poised over 3 days. Lyon had just dismissed Tendulkar, and was troubling Kohli. Pattinson was bowling outstandingly. At that point, 325 looked a par score – which would have meant chasing 300 in the 4^th innings, and almost certain defeat. So it wasn’t just the runs that Dhoni scored that mattered. It was the stage at which he made them, and the manner in which he made them – flawless and brutal. I think, therefore, that his is one of the 10 greatest innings played by an Indian in the 30 years I have watched the game. For me, it is just behind Ganguly’s 144 in Brisbane in 2003, which was a similarly series-defining innings. Ganguly’s innings ranks higher because it was made abroad, and against a better bowling attack. But this was a pretty awesome innings nonetheless. After harping on about how Dhoni is not good enough to bat at 6, I now have to eat humble pie. But boy, it tastes good.

Having said this, my concerns about Dhoni’s captaincy remain. When Henriques was going well, Dhoni reverted to his defensive mindset. And the double-standards he applies to team selection, with Rahane (yet again) and Ojha the victims of it in Chennai, remains a serious concern. If Australia come back and take this series like England did, then the captaincy debate will remain very much alive. But for the moment, Dhoni has silenced a lot of critics.

II

I don’t think Australia will come back like England did, for two reasons. One is something I had mentioned in my preview to the First Test – which is that this Australian attack just doesn’t have the skills to take 20 wickets in these conditions. James Pattinson was outstanding in Chennai, and looks like a great bowler in the making if he can stay fit. But the support he received was ordinary, and their real problems lie in the mediocrity of their spin attack. Xavier Doherty may come into the side in the hope that he can do a Monty, but he is a far inferior bowler to Monty; so that “solution” would be as effective as playing Vinay Kumar in Perth was. More than anything else, India’s batting performance in Chennai suggests that we have the confidence as a batting unit, again, to make 500+ scores in home conditions. Skeptics will say that these are just home conditions and the real test will come abroad, and I agree. But the fact of the matter is that we had fallen to a point where we weren’t even making runs at home – let alone against England, we even struggled against a Tim Southee-led New Zealand attack in Bangalore at the start of the season. I think those struggles are behind us, and the batting attack is showing some signs of a collective coming into form.

The second reason is that this Indian line-up is just so much more balanced now that we have Jadeja playing at 7 as an all-rounder. Even if he is not the kind of bowler who will run through sides himself, his ability to bowl 30 overs in these conditions and not concede more than 2 an over really allows some breathing room for the rest of the attack. Yes, we’ll have to still see if he can be this effective abroad, and indeed for all conditions it might be that Ashwin is the better man to play the all-rounder’s role at 7. and yes, he still has to prove his worth as a batsman (though I think he has the ability to make runs in Tests, and shouldn’t be judged on the basis of just 2 innings). But he has certainly earned himself the rest of this series, and the team balance as a whole looks much better for it.

III

For me, the key to India’s batting success for the rest of the series is not Dhoni as much as it is Sachin Tendulkar. Dhoni’s innings was a blinder, and it will give him the form and confidence to be a factor with the bat in coming games. But it is Sachin’s return to form that is more significant for me. Even in the context of the game, I think that Sachin’s 81 was as important as Dhoni’s knock, because he came in at 12 for 2, with Pattinson on fire. Had he continued to struggle as he did against England, the stuffing would have been knocked out of us. Not only did he make runs, but he made them with flawless self-assurance. He deserved a 100 in Chennai, and I still think that 100 is around the corner. An in-form Sachin is the one thing the Aussies would really fear, because he is, along with Sehwag, one of the two proven match-winners in this line-up over time. But even an in-form Sehwag, while a terrifying prospect, is always one ball away from getting out. An in-form Sachin can just shut out an opposition for an entire series. Even though he made less than Kohli and Dhoni, for me, Sachin’s was the innings that provided the foundation for our score; and if we are to press home our advantage in this series, I think that it will be because of the foundation that he will continue to provide.

IV

This doesn’t mean there weren’t problems. For me, they were two, and the first one, especially, is huge, because it is right at the top of the order. There was no reason for Murali Vijay to have been picked in the side (in my team selection for the series, I had suggested that there are at least 5 more qualified candidates to open with Sehwag). And he confirmed his ineptitude, looking utterly clueless against Pattinson in both innings. Even if he manages to eke out 20s and 30s in the remaining Tests, how is this the way to identify the right person to open the batting against Steyn, Philander and Morkel in South Africa?

On no count does Vijay meet the bill as a Test match opener. He doesn’t have the technique to play good pace bowling, and he showed that in the West Indies, against decent but not outstanding bowling, on fast but not venomous pitches. He doesn’t have the temperament to play long innings, as he has shown throughout his career – even when he gets starts, he throws it away, and his shot selection is as poor as Rohit Sharma’s. And he has been in no sort of form, with a highest score of 42 in this past Ranji season and an even more mediocre record last year. All he has to show is the 116 he made in the game before the team was selected, against a second-string Mumbai attack that was missing Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar.

Meanwhile, the best opening prospect in India continues to warm the bench. I don’t know how and why the selectors labeled Ajinkya Rahane a middle-order bat – the very same game where Vijay made 116, Rahane made 83, against a better bowling attack, opening the innings. Technically, he is the best opener in India today, along with Wasim Jaffer (another worthy candidate overlooked for Vijay). He has been a domestic run-machine. He and Jaffer are the only two openers in India who have a semblance of a chance of succeeding in South Africa, New Zealand and England, our next three destinations. Yet, he has now virtually joined the coaching staff as official water boy. For two full seasons, Rahane has been taken along on the bench, not even getting consistent first-class cricket. His treatment, in this regard, has been ever worse than that meted out to consistent performers like Subramaniam Badrinath, who were overlooked, but were at least allowed to get on with it and make runs for their state sides. First Rahane sat out for Dravid and Laxman – fair enough. Then he sat out for Raina. Then he sat out for Yuvraj. Now he’s sitting out for Vijay. These are three people who are not, ever, going to be Test batsmen. What we are seeing is an abject lesson in how to destroy a talented individual’s career.

At the other end, Vijay is no spring chicken. He made his debut 4.5 years ago. Within 4.5 years of a debut, Ganguly was India’s captain; Dravid was the bedrock of India’s batting; Laxman had played one of the great innings of all time; Tendulkar was a legend; and Viru had made a triple hundred. Vijay’s contribution to Indian cricket, so far, has been to end Aakash Chopra’s career. (When Vijay was first selected, Chopra, then just 29, was in the form of his life, having made more than 1000 runs in Delhi’s 2007-08 Ranji Trophy win, and having just made 200 against a touring South Africa A side). Now, Vijay is contributing to the end of Jaffer’s career, also while the man is in peak form, and is destroying Rahane’s. Rahane has to play in Hyderabad, and Vijay has to be dropped; but alas, I don’t see that happening. We will suffer for this when we tour abroad, but possibly even earlier, in this series.

V

The final problem concerns the exclusion of Pragyan Ojha, who still remains, for me, the best all-condition spin bowler in India today. He must be brought back to play on his home ground.

If the wicket looks as spin-friendly as Chennai did, then he should come in place of one of the seamers. Bhuvneshwar deserves more than one game, and his batting was impressive; Ishant meanwhile continued to disappoint, rarely going above 130 kph, and getting neither bounce nor movement off the pitch. The time might have come to cut the cord there. I still think that if he can get it together, he has skills that no other seam bowler in India has; and he would still be on my list for South Africa. But he is worryingly going the R.P. Singh route at a time when he should be stepping up to the plate as our lead seamer, and it might be that what he needs is a long stint in domestic cricket, or perhaps even a summer of county cricket. he is at the same stage of his career, after all, that Zaheer Khan was at when he had his transformative season at Worcestershire.

Having said this, there is something to be said for two seamers, especially if the wicket is not a rank turner like Chennai was. In that case, it is Harbhajan Singh who needs to make way for Ojha. Bhaj showed glimpses of form in Chennai; but on the whole, in his 100^th Test, against his favorite opposition, on his favorite ground, on a pitch that favored him and against batsmen who are vulnerable against spin, 3 wickets in 50+ overs is a woeful return. I don’t mind giving him another chance if the conditions suit, but there is no way he should be picked ahead of Ojha, who is a far superior bowler than him. So – either Ishant goes or Bhajji goes, depending on the conditions. But Ojha must play.

1st Test preview

I have 5 thoughts ahead of the 1^st Test between India and Australia at Chennai.

First – this is a series between two ordinary teams. Over the past decade, few series would generate as much interest in world cricket as India-Australia, both for the intensity of rivalry and for the quality of cricket on display. But this series feels a lot like business as usual. Some of it is just because too much cricket has been played between the two sides over the past few years, and arch rivals have become familiar and comfortable with each other – a process further facilitated by the IPL. But some of it, simply, is because these are two sides that have slipped over the past few years from being exceptional sides to being distinctly ordinary ones. Of course, both sides have had to contend with the retirements of great players who are not easy to replace. But much of the decline also has to do with the way T20 cricket has taken pole position in both countries and has affected the pipeline of talent coming through to replace those greats.

It might seem a bit much to call Australia “ordinary”, given that they beat us 4-0 in Australia last year. But I think much of their cricket since then has been pretty ordinary, and the retirements of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey – especially Hussey – will hit them hard, because their replacements are not obvious. The success of the Aussies against us at home was based on outstanding swing bowling; but the Aussie pace attack, while deep and full of talent, has been extremely injury prone, and they have not really built a consistent attack out of the enormous potential they have. Many of the bowlers who will play in this series don’t have too much experience in India, and the Aussies will rely heavily on the fortitude of Peter Siddle. Siddle is an admirable fighter and a lion-hearted cricketer; but he is not the sort of bowler who can crack open a game like Jimmy Anderson, Dale Steyn or Vernon Philander can. Since Craig McDermott stepped down as bowling coach, in any case, even the Aussie pace attack hasn’t looked as potent as it did against India last year.

This means, second – I am willing to stick my neck out and suggest that the Indian batsmen are going to prosper more easily against this Aussie attack than they did against England. Both Anderson and Graeme Swann are two bowlers who do not have counterparts of comparable quality in the Australian attack; and the surprise packet of that series, Monty Panesar, also has no adequate counterpart. While there is talent in the Aussie seam attack, the real impoverishment is in the spin department. Australia is probably the one country in the world whose spin department is more barren than ours, and Nathan Lyon, their lead spinner, would struggle to get in to a strong Ranji Trophy side. That this should come to pass in a land that produced Shane Warne is shocking, as shocking as our own lack of quality spinners; but this is again a consequence of the consolidation of T20 cricket in both countries.

While playing to one’s strengths is a good idea, there is something really telling when a touring team picks four frontline spinners in its touring party, and then goes into the 1^st Test match with a four-pronged seam attack. It indicates how little faith the team management itself has in the spinners that have been brought on tour. However talented the seamers might be, I think it is going to be hard for any team to win a series in India without a significant contribution from spin – unless their pace attack has the quality of South Africa’s current attack, which this Australian side doesn’t. They could still win a Test or two – there is a real difference in the quality of leadership, as Michael Clarke is the best captain in the world and M.S. Dhoni is the worst – but I think they will find it hard to do so with the bowling resources they have in hand.

Third – this doesn’t mean that we will win this series instead, because we have the same problem that Australia does – the absence of an attack that can take 20 wickets. Much can be made of the struggles of the Aussie batsmen in the warm-up games, but I wouldn’t read too much into that. For one thing, their best batsman, Clarke, didn’t play those games; for another, in the process of those struggles, a number of their batsmen have gotten some important preparation for playing in these conditions, with Shane Watson in particular looking ominous. I also predict a strong series for Ed Cowan: he is not the most attractive of batsmen, but he has lots of patience and a strong temperament, two qualities that will stand him in good stead in India. He’s no Alastair Cook, but he has some of Cook’s attributes, most of all knowledge of his limitations as a batsman and a willingness to play within those limitations. And all the Australian batsmen will be helped by the fact that they are up against Dhoni’s notoriously defensive captaincy. Some of their struggles, especially against India A, were facilitated by attacking captaincy, especially by Gautam Gambhir. (Oh, how I wish his form had been better over the past year, as then he could unquestioningly have taken over the reins from Dhoni). But Dhoni is the master of releasing pressure at the earliest opportunity. This will help the Aussies no end. We saw against England that the entire batting line-up doesn’t need to fire – all England needed was consistency from Cook throughout the series, and occasional brilliance from Kevin Pietersen at key moments – and our attack was made to look ordinary. Even if just Cowan, Watson and Clarke come good, and no one else does, then given the (lack of) quality in our attack and our leadership, it will be good enough for consistent 400+ scores.

And so, fourth – the only chance we have of winning this series is if we play 5 bowlers. Regardless of who is in or out of the side, we have to start by getting this piece of team balance right. The only way we can deal with the lack of quality in our bowling attack is to substitute it with quantity. There are two reasonable ways to do this.

The safe option is to persist with Ravindra Jadeja as an all-rounder, either at 7 or even at 6. This makes sense in a lot of ways – he has been picked on the basis of strong domestic performances; he has carried his form into the one-day games we have played; and he deserves a full series to show what he is capable of in the longer version of the game. But the fact remains that he is not really a wicket-taking bowler. What we can expect from him is a consistent 15-20 overs, and perhaps 2-3 wickets. That is much more than we can expect from Sehwag, who would be the only real fifth bowling option if we went in with just four bowlers; but it is still not quite what one would expect from a genuine all-rounder.

The bolder option is to have Ashwin bat at 7, and play Harbhajan Singh as a full-fledged third spinner. There are some who might balk at this, given that Bhajji has hardly set even the domestic game on fire in the last 18 months. But we know that Bhajji can give us 30-40 overs an innings, and if he gets going can give us match-winning performances; and he is no mug with the bat, so having Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar and Bhaj at 7, 8 and 9 still makes for a pretty deep batting line-up. It also gives us a chance to see if Ashwin can be the all-rounder we are looking for. In the long run, unless he really improves his bowling, he is going to struggle to stay in the side on the strength of his bowling alone; but if his batting looks good enough for 7, then it could be a direct competition between Jadeja as batting all-rounder and Ashwin as bowling all-rounder when we next tour abroad. And those would not be bad options for a touring captain to choose between.

The reason I am slightly inclined to this latter option is because the only chance there is of Bhajji doing something of note is if he gets into the series, and the game, early. He was terrible against England in Calcutta; but he was also used in the worst possible way. He sat on the bench for two Tests; when he did play, he was held back as the 5^th bowler until England were already well under way; and he was given less than half the overs that Ashwin was given, even though Ashwin was awful in that game. Contrast that to the way England used Monty. While they made a mistake in not playing him in Ahmedabad (a mistake they paid for), when they did play him, Cook made sure he gave Monty the confidence he needed – bringing him into the game early (ahead of Swann), giving him lots of bowling, and giving him attacking fields. Bhaj, like Monty, is a confidence bowler – the sooner he can get into a game, the more confidence he gets from a captain, the more dangerous he is. If he is kept on the margins, one can be assured he will fail. While one reason he was so much more successful early in his career than now no doubt has to do with the presence of Anil Kumble at the other end, another reason undoubtedly has to do with the fact that Ganguly and Dravid, as captains, knew how to get the best out of Bhajji, and Dhoni doesn’t.

I don’t mind if Jadeja is picked ahead of Bhajji in Chennai. But a proactive, out-of-the-box captain (which Dhoni isn’t) might say – if I want to get the best out of this guy, who I know can be a match-winner on his day, then the way to do it is to play him in the 1^st Test against his favorite opposition, on a ground where he has turned in some of his finest performances, and to bring him on 1^st change, as the lead spinner. If he still fails, we know where he stands, and Jadeja can still get three Tests to prove his worth. But if he succeeds, then the Aussies are pretty much toast for the rest of the series.

Fifth – two neck-sticking predictions, one a confident one and the other an anxious one. The confident prediction is that all those losers who have been harping on about Sachin are going to be proven gloriously wrong. I think that Sachin has been on the verge of a big comeback in terms of form for some time, and I believe that his century in the Ranji final is a precursor of things to come. He reserves his best for the Aussies, and Chennai is absolutely his favorite ground, along with Sydney. I predict not just a 100, but a big 100.

The anxiety for me is around Ishant Sharma. I have been one of his firmest supporters, and think that he deserves the long rope he has been given. But that rope must surely not be that long anymore. For the leader of the attack to have an average of 75 in the last calendar year is seriously worrying; and he has really only retained his place because of the spate of injuries affecting our other seam bowling contenders. He has always been a game trier, but at some point effort needs to translate into results. If Bhuvnesh carries his domestic and ODI form into Tests, as I suspect he will, then we have a potential alternate to lead the attack; and there is a case for Ashok Dinda to finally get two or three games to show what he can do. So – the one man who is really on trial is Ishant. I’ll give him Chennai; but if he doesn’t perform, then Dinda needs to be brought in to the side in Hyderabad. This really is last chance salon for Ishant.

All in all, then, I predict a high-scoring draw in Chennai, simply because I don’t think either side has the bowling attack to win. Australia’s inexperience, and the fact that Chennai is probably India’s best ground in the world gives us a slight advantage; but that is nullified by Clarke’s genius as captain, and the huge gulf between his leadership and Dhoni’s. All things considered, however, it is going to take some extremely inept batting by one side or another to yield a result. Both sides are capable of inept batting; but if they play to their abilities, then it is hard to look beyond a draw as the likely outcome.

India team for Australia Tests

The selectors meet to pick the team for the Tests against Australia tomorrow. This is a bit odd, since both warm-up games against the tourists, which feature a number of aspirants, are yet to be played. It seems like the selectors have already made up their minds, even though there are a number of open spots that should be contentious, and that the warm-ups are more for giving the tourists practice than for figuring out our own combination. In any case, these are some of the things I have to say about what the composition of the team should be.

I

I have said enough about the need to remove M.S. Dhoni from the captaincy and from the Test side. The fact that he decided to skip a premier domestic game in order to play one-day games in the Corporate Trophy should be the final nail in the coffin – except that he is playing for N. Srinivasan’s team, so it won’t. How is two months of one-day cricket going to prepare him for a tough Test series, especially given his already mediocre Test match abilities? Of course, this just indicates how unimportant even big Test series are to him, or to his bosses. Even two years ago, a series against Australia could be looked forward to with anticipation, as in some ways the ultimate test of skill and character for Indian cricketers, one where they would prove their mettle as cricketers. Now, thanks to the attitude of Dhoni and the BCCI, it is being prepared for as just another run of the mill event. If we lose again – as we most certainly will – Dhoni will just shrug his shoulders and blame his pitches and bowlers, and find some new scapegoat to axe.

What I want to emphasize however is not just a criticism, but the fact that there is an active case for Virat Kohli to take over as captain. Even as Dhoni faced his worst criticisms after the England Tests, the argument made by many even sane voices was that Kohli had to be “groomed” for the captaincy, as if he is some kind of pedigree dog. But this belies a simple empirical fact that only Sourav Ganguly has had the sense to point out – which is that one doesn’t need to groom a captain for him to be successful. One just needs a good captain. Exhibit A in this regard, of course, is Ganguly himself. But if one looks at the past three decades of Indian cricket, all the “groomed” captains – Vengsarkar, Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag – have been failures. All those who were just made captains because they were the right people at the right time – Kapil Dev, Srikkanth, Azharuddin, Ganguly, Dhoni – were successes. So the “grooming” argument is nothing but an excuse to stay in the rut that we are in. In any case, “grooming” would involve appointing Kohli as vice-captain at least, but the selectors have pointedly avoided naming a vice-captain. This is further indication that protecting Dhoni’s seat has become the big priority, more than keeping the interests of Indian cricket at heart.

So the first and most important necessity: drop Dhoni, make Kohli captain, and make Cheteshwar Pujara his deputy. It is time.

II

I would much rather lose a series while trying to win it, than lose it after playing uninspired and defensive cricket. One of the things that has hurt most about the losses of the last 18 months is just how defensive our mindset has become – it is like we shut up shop at the toss (even if we win the toss) and hope that the other side will make enough mistakes, or lack the quality, to beat us. So, let us pick our team with the starting assumption that we should try and win. This might seem like a banal thing to say to a sporting team, but this is the pass that Indian cricket has come to.

Just a reminder to the selectors about the rules of the game: in order to win a Test match, one has to get 20 wickets. Given the quality of our bowling attack, there is just no way we can get 20 wickets with 4 bowlers. (Dhoni thought the solution to that was to prepare under-prepared wickets, and we saw how that backfired in Mumbai). So, we have to replace the lack of quality with quantity, and play 5 bowlers. The only way we can do that is by playing Ravindra Jadeja as all-rounder at no. 6. A lot of people like to dislike Jadeja, and have written him off already. But he deserves 4 Test matches to show what he can do. Certainly, he is the best all-rounder in Indian cricket today, and even if he turns out to be a useful player like Ravi Shastri, he will solve a lot of problems for us going forward.

So – Jadeja may not be one of the 11 most talented cricketers in India today, but he is one of the first names I will pencil into the playing 11.

III

In addition to Dhoni, the other person who must be dropped now is Gautam Gambhir. He has now gone three years without a Test century, the failures are starting to mount up in one-day cricket as well, and he has kept Ajinkya Rahane on the bench for months. His time is up, and it is high time that Rahane was given the assurance of a full series to prove his worth. With three tough tours coming up in the next 18 months, this is one of the most important moves that must be made.

IV

This means that 5 of the 6 batting slots are certain – Rahane, and a middle order of Pujara, Tendulkar, Kohli and Jadeja. I would still stick to Virender Sehwag at the top of the order as Rahane’s partner, though his long rope is fraying too. However, Viru remains the batsman with the X-factor to change a game single-handedly – I still think that no one in world cricket other than Kevin Pietersen has such ability. He is the one batsman (other than the waning Tendulkar) whom the Aussies fear; he has just made a 100 three Tests ago; and Chennai is one of his favorite grounds. He’s going to need to perform to retain his place, because his returns of the last two years have been too thin. But I would not go into the start of a series without him, especially if my other opener is a debutant.

Wriddhiman Saha is the obvious replacement for Dhoni as keeper, so this means a batting line-up of Rahane, Sehwag, Pujara, Tendulkar, Kohli, Jadeja and Saha.

V

Pragyan Ojha selects himself as the one bowler who is assured of his spot, and I think there is little question that Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin need to be retained. There are question marks about both of them, and a lot of people have suggested they should be dropped. (Indeed, a lot of these people are the same people who have been clamoring for the early exit of the seniors, saying that we should be patient with the youngsters who replace them. Well, in that case, let’s be patient). Certainly, Ashwin remains the best off-spinner in Indian cricket today – an indictment of his competition as much as it is praise for him. And the number of injured fast bowlers in India could form a XI themselves: those who are unavailable due to injury include Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Varun Aaron, Munaf Patel and R.P. Singh.

Ishant’s new ball partner should undoubtedly be Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He has shown his ability as a swing bowler in one-day cricket, but this comes on the back of two-three years of strong 4-day performances in the Ranji Trophy. The Aussies are vulnerable against good swing bowling. Bhuvnesh is not just someone who moves the new ball (like Praveen Kumar), but is also a very capable reverse swing bowler with the old ball. And – something we haven’t seen yet in the ODIs – he is a highly accomplished batsman. He is not just a slogger like Praveen is, but is close to being a genuine all-rounder: I would even bat him higher than Ashwin. This means that in spite of having 5 bowlers, we have four people in this side with all-round abilities, as in bringing two distinct skills to the team: Jadeja, Saha, Bhuvnesh and Ashwin (Jadeja, with his fielding, brings three). And we would have a no. 9 (Ashwin) who has two Test centuries to his name.

VI

The reserves that we select are important, because they will indicate what the selectors are thinking in terms of who is likely to go to South Africa this winter. And I think the reserve opener must be Wasim Jaffer.

Most of all, it must not by Murali Vijay. I think having him in the 15 against England was a mistake, and I worry that his Irani Trophy 100 might keep him in the squad. But the way he played in the West Indies convinces me that he is not someone with the ability to open the batting abroad. The bowlers he faced in the West Indies are weaker than Australia’s, South Africa’s or England’s attacks; the pitches he faced there were easier than those we will encounter in South Africa, New Zealand or England. If he couldn’t deal with that, he can’t deal with the challenges ahead, and to my mind, he needs to prove himself on an A tour abroad in seam-friendly conditions before he can stake his claim to an India spot again. It is not even as if he has made runs in domestic cricket – he has book-ended this season with a 100 in each Irani Trophy game, but in between that, failed to reach 50 even once in the Ranji Trophy. (This was preceded by a disastrous 2011-12 season last year). Even setting Sehwag and Gambhir aside, there are at least 5 openers who have stronger claims than Vijay on technique, temperament, form or potential: Rahane and Jaffer (who both need to be in the squad); Mukund (who has a tighter technique and more patience); Shikhar Dhawan (who has been in outstanding form this season); and Jiwanjot Singh (early days yet, but he has had a phenomenal first season for Punjab). For Vijay to be selected ahead of all of these aspirants would be scandalous.

Jaffer has been treated badly these past 4 years, and needs to be given another chance. At 34, he is no older than Sehwag – and, in spite of missing half the domestic season because of Hajj, he has made twice as many runs as Vijay. Even if Jaffer’s career ends in 18 months, he would have served his purpose. Australia at home is one of the toughest challenges possible, and the series abroad against South Africa, New Zealand and England will show whether we can remain a competitive Test match side, or whether our future is going to go the way of the West Indies and New Zealand, into rubble. So there is no point denying Jaffer his chance with the cliché of “building for the future”. Jaffer is one of the best openers in Indian cricket, he is in form, he has proven himself abroad, Rahane is still untried and Sehwag is fading. So – the future is now, and Jaffer needs to be back in the mix.

VII

My reserve middle-order batsman will be Parthiv Patel (though again, I fear it will be Suresh Raina on the strength of his Irani 100, even though he too has shown himself incapable as a Test batsman and has done next to nothing through the rest of the domestic season). Parthiv gets in because Saha’s spot is the most vulnerable amongst the middle-order batsmen – indeed, if one was more sure of Parthiv’s keeping abilities, there is no doubt he would be the best bet to replace Dhoni in the 11. But more than that, Parthiv provides all the qualities of a good reserve, because he is good enough to play as a specialist batsman anywhere in the top 6. We’ll need two keepers when we tour, and even if Saha comes good against Australia and remains the first pick, Parthiv has to go along as the second. He has been in fine batting form this year as well. So on form, balance, utility and temperament, I’d bring him back into the fold.

My reserve seamer will be Ashok Dinda – his performances over the past few years in domestic cricket make this a no-brainer, and only Bhuvesh’s far superior batting and strong bowling form keep Dinda out of the 11. Dinda has been treated badly in the one-day side, never being given more than a game before being dropped; but I do think his forte is in the longer versions, which is the format in which he has enjoyed most success.

VIII

The trickiest choice for the bench concerns the reserve spinner, and I have to select someone who has done absolutely nothing to deserve it, Harbhajan Singh. This is, simply, because there are no alternatives. Let’s take a look inside this bare cupboard.

One line of thinking, of late, is that we should have a leg-spinner in the 15, but the three candidates in Indian cricket are a joke. Rahul Sharma is so bad that he lost his place in the Punjab starting 11 by the end of the Ranji Trophy. Piyush Chawla’s bowling average in domestic cricket is higher than his (pretty useful) batting average. Amit Mishra is the best of the lot, but he has had a lot of chances and has shown that he is not a Test class bowler. The most successful spinners in domestic cricket have all been left-arm spinners. But there are already two left-arm spinners in the side in Ojha and Jadeja, and it’s Ashwin’s spot that is most vulnerable. I have no problem with two left-arm spinners in the side, but I think a bowling attack with three left-arm spinners makes no sense, and becomes too one-dimensional. In any case, the best left-arm spinner in domestic cricket this year, Shahbaz Nadeem, has not been selected for either the Irani Trophy, or for either of the warm up games against Australia – an indication of how much the selectors value domestic performances.

So, the back-up spinner needs to be an offie. And, other than Bhaj, there just is no off-spinner in Indian cricket who can be considered a legitimate Test match prospect (let alone knocking at the door of selection). So Bhaj it must be.

This speaks to a larger structural conundrum. The fact remains that the best bowlers coming through the ranks in India today are all seamers – even with 7 frontline seamers injured, we can still put together a pretty decent seam attack. So in terms of where our bowling strengths lie, we really need to perhaps start playing a three-man seam attack even at home. However, our pitches in domestic cricket are still flat slow turners, which means that our batsmen are still uncomfortable against seam bowling. So – if we prepare turners, then our spinners get out-bowled, as happened against England. If we prepare tracks that will suit our seam bowling strengths, then our batsmen will be sitting ducks – they couldn’t handle Tim Southee and co on a slightly helpful pitch, so there is no way they can handle Siddle, Starc, Pattinson and Johnson.

This is the second impossible conundrum facing Indian cricket today. But we’ll face it when we get past the first one – the fact that no one is willing to look beyond Dhoni as captain. The day that problem is solved, others can be addressed.

My team against Australia:

Playing XI:

1. Ajinkya Rahane
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Cheteshwar Pujara (V)
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Virat Kohli ©
6. Ravindra Jadeja
7. Wriddhiman Saha (W)
8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
9. Ravichandran Ashwin
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Pragyan Ojha

Reserves:

12. Wasim Jaffer
13. Parthiv Patel (W)
14. Ashok Dinda
15. Harbhajan Singh

Thoughts after England ODIs

Apparently, India’s 3-2 win in the one-day series against England is something to cheer about. This “cheer” is supposed to pervade in spite of the fact that England is an ordinary team; that they were playing this series without Anderson, Broad or Swann; that it was being played in India, where they had only won one game in their previous 20; and that the 3 games that we did when were when we won the toss, losing both times we lost the toss. In other words, this was another utterly mediocre performance that is being spun by the media as something significant. Indeed, the best spinners in India today do seem to be in the press – there is little evidence of that talent anymore on the cricket field.

I think that the most significant event however has not happened in our win – however you read it. It happened in a far more important off-the-field moment.

This concerns the selection and subsequent benching of Cheteshwar Pujara. There is a tale that lies in this, and it is sordid. The selectors did the right thing in initially picking him – without a doubt, Pujara is one of our best one-day prospects. He has shown that he can bat quickly in his recent Ranji Trophy exploits, but there is actually a larger pedigree to this. He was one of the stars of the Challenger Trophy this year, and a couple of years ago, made lots of runs in England in limited overs games as part of an India A team. Technically, he provides the kind of stability and quality that is essential to negotiating good bowling attacks in seam-friendly conditions, in a way that no other Indian batsman has provided since Rahul Dravid in his one-day heyday in the mid-2000s. (Does anyone remember that Dravid, at the time, was the best one-day batsman in world cricket?). In other words, Pujara is just the sort of person we need in our starting line-up if we have any thoughts of defending our World Cup title in 2015. He is one of the few Indian bats who can succeed in Australia, and is indeed one of the few who can deal with South African and Pakistani quicks in the Champions Trophy in England this June (two teams we will have to deal with at the group stage). Yet, the minute the selectors picked him, Dhoni made clear that he will not get a look-in. Dhoni didn’t even give him a look-in in Dharamsala, when the series was won. Meanwhile, Saurashtra reached their first Ranji Trophy finals, and the selectors and the BCCI – knowing full well that Pujara wouldn’t play for India – decided that it was a better use of his time to carry drinks than to play cricket, and did not release him.

How is this of any good to anyone? For India’s one-day team – does anyone seriously believe that Rohit Sharma really is a better prospect to succeed as opener in England and Australia than Pujara is? (Or is Pujara going to be treated like Dravid was, called in for the tough assignments in England and Australia, but benched as a “Test match specialist” for games in the sub-continent so that flat-track bullies like Rohit and Raina can inflate their averages?). For Pujara himself – before a big series against Australia, how has it benefited him to carry drinks for three weeks instead of playing the Ranji Trophy semi-finals and finals? For India’s Test side – by ensuring that Pujara doesn’t have cricket at a time when he is in peak form, have we not risked the form of the one batsman who has looked competent to take on international bowlers at Test level? And for the Ranji Trophy – what does it say about the value the BCCI places on our premier domestic tournament if they prefer to have players sitting on a bench for India in a dead rubber rather than have the best players from both sides available for the finals? This would never have happened to a County Championship decider in England, or to a Sheffield Shield final in Australia. And then we lament the fact that domestic cricket doesn’t throw up quality players.

The treatment of Pujara, therefore, has been scandalous on multiple counts, and everyone from the board to Dhoni must be held accountable. Instead, we are celebrating. It is disgusting.

But the malaise is not restricted to Pujara’s treatment – Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary have been treated in the same way. At least Rahane got the courtesy of three games before being unceremoniously booted out (and no, he wasn’t allowed to get cricket in the Ranji Trophy final either). Dhoni informed us that Rohit Sharma was selected because he has “god-given talent”. So what – Rahane’s talent was given to him by a buffalo? Or is Dhoni just saying that Rahane has no talent? Poor Tiwary, meanwhile, hasn’t played a game since a match-winning all-round performance in Sri Lanka in the summer (67 runs + 4 wickets). Before that, his previous one-day game was 6 months previously, when he made a 100 and was promptly benched thereafter. Some of this absence, recently, has been due to injury – but there are long stretches when Tiwary has been fit and has been consistently excluded. Yet no doubt, Rohit’s 87 will be an excuse to give him an uninterrupted run of 15-20 games, regardless of whether he makes runs or not.

This is why Dhoni *must* be sacked as captain now. The problem is not just that he is a mediocre tactician; or that his batting and keeping are not Test class. The big problem is that he is instilling a culture of nepotism in the side, where some people are inherently more equal than others. Rahane, Pujara and Tiwary know that no matter how well they perform, the axe is one game away. Rohit and Raina know that no matter how much they fail, they will be given a long rope. This creates a culture of insecurity on one side and entitlement on the other. The pernicious effects of this will last for a long time after Dhoni. One of the things that Ganguly and Wright started was to undo this culture of nepotism and double standards that had long pervaded Indian cricket; Dhoni has brought it back with a vengeance.

The selectors must end his tenure now, otherwise they are doing Indian cricket a grave disservice.

Team for England ODIs

Let me be clear – it doesn’t matter who we select unless the leadership of Indian cricket is changed NOW. The post-2011 Dhoni / Fletcher run has seen some of the worst performances in the history of Indian cricket, consistently, over a period of time. We have lost 0-8 in England and Australia, so any reputation we built as a competitive team abroad has been shredded. We have then proceeded to lose to England at home, a feat we haven’t managed since 1984-85 (in which time, we defeated the English in their lair twice, including under the much-maligned captaincy of Rahul Dravid). Our “pundits” take solace in the fact that we are World Cup champions, but even there our performance provides little cheer. We came third out of three in the CB series, not even managing to better a Sri Lankan side that is also on the decline. Bangladesh beat us in the Asia Cup, in conditions that supposedly suit us. We are facing a whitewash in an ill-conceived ODI series to Pakistan – even if we eke out a win in Delhi, it is clear that Pakistan, which has hardly played any international cricket since the last World Cup, is a far better one-day side than we are. Forget defending our World Cup title – if 2012 is an indication, we are the fourth best ODI team in South Asia at the moment, even in home conditions. T20s are little better. It is the format that initially allowed for Dhoni’s rise to captaincy, and that allowed for N. Srinivasan’s rise to power in Indian and world cricket, through the IPL. But since our 2007 World Cup triumph, we have failed to reach the semi-finals even once – even in 2012, in sub-continental conditions.

So – what are we waiting for? Why is Dhoni being given more chances at the helm? He has indicated that he wants to quit Test cricket at the end of this year – so why hold off on a new Test captain till then, rather than blooding him in the Test series against Australia? If we are looking forward to the 2015 World Cup as well, we are much more likely to be competitive under new leadership – in which case, the time to appoint a new captain is now, so that he has two years to build a team under him with a view to defending the title.

There really is only one candidate now to replace Dhoni as captain, and that is Virat Kohli. Gautam Gambhir’s poor run has extended for too long, and is now extending into the shorter formats as well. I don’t mind giving him a long rope as a batsman – he has achieved a lot, especially as a one-day batsman – but to have someone who is not sure of his place in the side in any format as captain makes no sense. Even thinking of Sehwag as Dhoni’s successor is a joke. His batting has been little better than Gambhir’s of late; and while I still see him playing a role in the Test side, there’s no way he’s going to be a part of our World Cup plans in 2015. He should have been axed from the limited overs side a long time ago; and even if he is to play, he has never looked a good captain. Kohli is ready. He is one of the very few (perhaps only?) players who has unquestionably earned his place in all three formats; he will bring freshness and aggression to the leadership; and he has been an active part of this side for more than 4 years now. Ganguly was leading India within 4 years of being a regular member of the side; Dhoni, within 3. The idea that Kohli needs more time is ridiculous. Finally, many former Indian cricketers are saying this as well – Gavaskar, Srikkanth (yes, even Srikkanth!), Amarnath, Bedi and Ganguly have all explicitly or implicitly said that it is time for Kohli to be handed the reins. It is time for Sandip Patil and co. to heed the obvious, and do the right thing. Make Kohli captain. Now. For this series.

So, for the ODIs against England – we need Kohli to replace Dhoni as captain. And we need anyone to replace Fletcher. Yes, anyone. Even a washing machine would make a better coach.

Otherwise, much of the team selected against Pakistan is actually a pretty good team, and just needs some tweaks (but they are important tweaks to make). Irfan Pathan and Manoj Tiwary are two people who should be integral to our 2015 plans, but both are injured. Sehwag needs to follow Tendulkar into the one-day sunset – if he doesn’t, he should be shown the door. Ajinkya Rahane at the top of the order has to be a no-brainer: he finally got some cricket in the T20s, where he was easily our best batsman, and yet found himself on the bench again for the ODIs. Against bowling of Pakistan’s quality (and really, against any bowling in non-sub-continental conditions), we need batsmen who can ride out good spells of aggressive bowling. Rahane is one of the two batsmen in Indian cricket who has the technique to do that. The other is Cheteshwar Pujara. I had said that Pujara should be selected for the Pakistan ODIs, and his absence has proved telling. Without Rahane and Pujara, our batting line-up just doesn’t have the technical ability to play a bowling attack of Pakistan’s caliber. England’s attack won’t be as good as Pakistan’s, but it’s still pretty useful. Rahane and Pujara are both essential. I don’t mind Rohit and Raina being a part of the 15 – all things considered, they are amongst the better limited overs batsmen in India today, on their day they can both be devastating, and so much has been invested in them that we need to give them a long rope. But there is no way, under any conditions, that they are better bets in the starting 11 than Rahane and Pujara.

Other than that, the major tweak I would make is getting Pragyan Ojha into the 15. This too should have been a no-brainer – he is by some distance the best spinner in Indian cricket today, so his exclusion, especially after being the only bowler to come out of the England Test series with some respect intact, is utterly baffling. I can understand if Ojha is not an automatic selection in the 11 – someone like Ravindra Jadeja, in limited overs, adds more value with the bat and in the field. But how on earth is Amit Mishra more deserving of a spot in the 15 than Ojha? Mishra is no all-rounder, and he really is no fielder either. It’s true that he is a better bowler than the two other pathetic (so-called) leg-spinners, Chawla and Rahul Sharma, who have gotten chances in recent times. But he is not someone who will have any role to play in Australia in 2015: on those pitches, his bowling will stand up to be clobbered. There is no rule that says we must have a leg-spinner in the 15 – so why this obsession with having one, especially when it is clear that there is no leggie of international quality in Indian cricket today? (The best recent performance by a leg-spinner was in fact by Manoj Tiwary, who took 4 wickets against Sri Lanka before promptly being dropped – he hasn’t played a game for India since). So – forget this pretense that we have a leg-spinner worth the salt, and get Ojha in. Especially against England, playing three spinners in an ODI can be a real option, so having Ojha in the mix is essential.

The final change I would make is to the reserve seamer. I like the trio of Ishant, Dinda and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – they are a useful line-up, and even though cricinfo continues to malign our seam attack, it is actually our strongest suit (and indeed, our seamers have performed far better than our spinners or our batsmen in this series). Our current reserves, Parwinder Awana and Shami Ahmed, are talented bowlers – but I think that Sandeep Sharma really is the future of Indian bowling. In the past, we have made the mistake of bringing in youngsters too soon. But there is also the danger of not bringing them in when they are ready. Sandeep has transitioned from under-19 cricket to first-class cricket seamlessly. He is ready to play with the big boys. He is a quality swing bowler, and someone whose attitude and temperament I really like. He basically combines Sreesanth’s ability to move the ball with Praveen Kumar’s unflappable aggression. It’s a great combination that bodes well for the long term. Bring him in – he is ready for the big stage.

My team against England:

1. Ajinkya Rahane
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Cheteshwar Pujara (V)
4. Virat Kohli ©
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. Mahendra Dhoni (W)
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Ashok Dinda / Pragyan Ojha

Reserves:

12. Rohit Sharma
13. Suresh Raina
14. Sandeep Sharma
15. Pragyan Ojha / Ashok Dinda

ODI team

I don’t have time to write this post at length, so I just want to include my selections for the ODI team against Pakistan and England, which will be announced tomorrow. Some of these points are obvious and I have already made them; but there are a couple of fresh selections I’d like to make.

1. It is time to get rid of Dhoni as captain. Now the chorus has actually begun, with Gavaskar, Srikkanth (yes, even Srikkanth!) and Amarnath calling for his removal. That’s the top 3 in the batting order of the World Cup winning side of ’83! Sandip Patil was no. 5 in that order – the time has come for him to stand up and heed the call of his teammates.
2. The question of his replacement is a tricky one. In the normal course, Gautam Gambhir would have been the man to replace him. Gambhir has continued to be an outstanding ODI batsman, and he did better than many in the Tests against England. But his Test batting still does not assure confidence, and for an opener to go 3 years without a Test hundred is a worry. Can we really give someone the captaincy if he is not a certainty in the Test 11? I think not.
3. This is why Virat Kohli must be made the captain now. Whether he is made the captain in all formats or just one is something we can talk about closer to the time the Australians arrive. At the moment, he is the man to lead us in defense of our World Cup title in 2015, and he is certainly ready to be our ODI captain. It is more than 4 years since he made his international debut. Ganguly was leading the side in about the same time as that; Dhoni was leading the side within 3 years of making his debut. Give Kohli the reins, and we can hope to look up.
4. We need to be thinking of batsmen who have the technique to succeed in ODI’s in Australia in 2015. Rohit and Raina are good ODI specialists in sub-continental conditions, and they have the talent to be part of the mix. But Rahane and Pujara, simply, are better. Rahane is already a part of our limited overs side; Pujara can play the role in ODIs that Rahul Dravid played in the early 2000s, when he was one of the best ODI batsmen in the world. Pujara will have a big role to play in Australia, and he needs to be in the mix. He also has the temperament to be a Dravid-like vice-captain to Kohli.
5. No more Sehwag, Tendulkar or Zaheer for ODIs. None of them are going to be playing in 2015, so selecting them is a backward move.
6. Lots of injuries at the moment – so no possibilities for Manoj Tiwary (poor fellow), Irfan Pathan or Umesh Yadav. This means that the seam attack at least has to be a young one. There is no point turning to Ishant, who is a good Test bowler but has always struggled in limited overs. And going back to Sreesanth on the back of one good bowling performance in Ranji Trophy is a joke. Instead, let’s go with a young seam attack. They may get hit, but they will learn, and it will help us build bench strength. Ashok Dinda and Parwinder Awana need a proper run – stick to them as lead seamers.
7. It is time for two youngsters to be blooded. One is Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is an outstanding young seam bowling all-rounder from UP. He has been a fine performer with the ball, and as a lower-order batsman, for a number of years. He was excellent on the India A tour to New Zealand earlier this year; and he has now made it in to the T20 side. He will add depth to the batting, and it is worth trying him with the ball. He is a good replacement for Irfan Pathan. I would also include Sandeep Sharma. While Unmukt Chand and Harmeet Singh made all the headlines in the U-19 World Cup, it was Sandeep who kept getting us the early breakthroughs. And he is the one U-19 player who has transitioned seamlessly to first-class cricket. He is currently the highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy this year. I saw him bowl in the U-19 World Cup, and he can bend the ball like Beckham – he is a serious, serious swing bowling talent. Bring him into the big league – he has what it takes to be a quality bowler for India in years to come. You heard this here first!
8. Finally, NO PIYUSH CHAWLA. He is a joke as a cricketer, and would struggle to make it into the Zimbabwean second XI on merit.

My team:

1. Ajinkya Rahane
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Cheteshwar Pujara (V)
4. Virat Kohli ©
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. Mahendra Dhoni (W)
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
10. Parwinder Awana
11. Ashok Dinda

Reserves:

12. Rohit Sharma
13. Suresh Raina
14. Sandeep Sharma
15. Pragyan Ojha