The Good, The Bad & The Ugly side of Indian Cricket

The Good:

1. Ishant Sharma was called up as a reserve fast bowler in case the only two available seamers got injured at the 11th hour of the first Test match against Pakistan in Ferozshah Kotla, Delhi. When he was not selected, he was released and sent back to play for his Ranji state team. I have never seen such a dynamic move from the Indian Cricket Board and if any, it is just another welcome sign that the things are moving forward. Note - the same plan is already in place for the second Test match against Pakistan to be played on the Eden Gardens in Kolkatta.

2. Anil Kumble was named as the captain for the Indian Test team. Positives - He has a relentless attitude while bowling, which will rub off very well on the other team members. Secondly, he has a great work ethic - unlike the Prince Of Kolkatta, who was a good leader but not the best example for the youngsters when it came down to discipline. Thirdly, its a long awaited recognition of the pivotal role Anil Kumble has played in most of the Test match wins for India. He is undoubtedly one of the world's most under-rated cricketers. His actions speak more than his words.

3. Saurav Ganguly was not underutilized as a seamer. Its very well known that under his own captaincy, he was reluctant to play the role of the third seamer. Now that he has been pressurized for a place in the team, he has responded brilliantly. It adds the much needed all-rounder angle which has been missing in the Indian Test team ever since players like Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri and Manoj Prabhakar retired.

The Bad:


1. No coach since the past so many months.
2. No media manager.
3. No grooming at the Test level for a young and promising all-rounder. Examples - Pravin Kumar, Sanjay Bangar, etc. Lack of vision.

The Ugly:

All 4 middle order batsmen are old. The selection panel is looking only at the short term while completely ignoring the long term - this is very dangerous. The least they can do is - Make it a rule that in any Test match, only the 3 of these four should be in the playing eleven - Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman. The lack of such creative strategies means that after a few years, Indian middle order will be inexperienced, and very vulnerable especially outside the sub-continent. Poor planning.

Cheers,
- Tosh