Why India can stay No.1 !!

Well..Well..Well.. So finally India have become no.1 in Test cricket rankings.. Test Cricket, the mother of all game forms in cricket. Sachin Tendulkar poignantly put the importance of this achievement in his own dignified manner by saying that he had waited for this moment for a long time. Perhaps 20 years is a long time. Perhaps some cricketers underplay statistics and don’t really believe in rankings, but as Rahul Dravid said, rankings do provide a good and fairly accurate indication of the way a team has been playing. So with the statistics part taken care of, all of us, the whole of India, can be proud of this monumental achievement. Few people, who generally have the inability of savouring any occasion, would like to point out that India is yet to win in “bouncy and hostile pitches” like Australia and South Africa and so being ranked as no.1 isn’t very accurate and appropriate. However, I would say, let us see what happens when India get to Australia and South Africa, for I have a hunch, that India is now ready to embark on a journey that its predecessors wouldn’t have really imagined. What exactly is my opinion based on and what is the source of this confidence, you will ask. Well read on and you will definitely have an idea of what I am talking about here.

Opening Combination:
The marauding West Indian sides of the 70’s and 80’s had the legendary opening pair of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. The pseudo “Invincibles” of Steve Waugh and Australia had the towering Matthew Hayden and the fox-like Justin Langer. India finally seem to have cracked this puzzle as they now have Jai… urr.. Gambhir-Veeru at its helm. They are only 500 runs, 506 to be more precise, behind India’s most successful opening pair ever, that of Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan and have a handy 16 innings in which to get those runs. However even without quoting statistics, I can very comfortably say that the rate at which the former pair scores would take some beating by India’s most successful opening pair. Every partnership needs understanding and trust to develop, and having played for Delhi for such a long time, these two have developed an almost telepathic understanding between them. They frustrate the bowlers by pinching singles at will and can match each other for shot to shot as and when they want. Each of them has a calming influence on the other and like any good pair, also stand up for their partner, when one of them is struggling a little. Also they have the intelligence of letting one partner go hammer and tongs while the other one prepares to slice open the opposition like a rapier. The rate at which they score, generally sets up the match for India and they go a long way in denting the psyche of the bowlers, which is then well exploited by the Fab-Four(Fab-three to be more precise, now that Dada has retired), which brings me to India’s middle order or more famously known as the “Fab-Four”.

Middle-Order:
Talking about the Fab-Four is pretty useless actually, for anyone who has watched cricket or read commentary on cricinfo for even 1 test match, would know who they are. Even then for those who came in late, this term was coined for the Quartet of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly. All of them combined own almost all the batting records, barring a few by Ricky Ponting, in all the relevant forms of cricket, and have the experience of tackling almost anything thrown at them. The more interesting point is that all 4 are totally different in their execution. While Dravid is the obdurate stone-waller, Sachin is the charismatic genius, picking and choosing who he wants to destroy on any given day. Very Very Special Laxman, as the name suggests gets those wonderful wrists into play and generally has more than 3 shots for one single ball. As for Dada, he simply put, was the “GOD” of off-side, though later he did improve his on-side play to a remarkable extent. Although Dada has now retired and the other three are in the twilight of their careers, as long as they play, India’s middle order would continue to be the best in the world, if not the best ever. And since this article is all about the future, I would like to point out that there are suitable replacements in place. Whatever little the world has seen of Murali Vijay, I am pretty convinced that this guy has what it takes to become India’s next wall. Though traditionally an opener, he has a wonderful technique which should allow him to play at one-down with least amount of difficulty. Yuvraj Singh, who has been Sourav Ganguly’s replacement for as long as I can remember, will start performing to his potential in the years to come. Now that he is secure of his place in the test-side, he should be able to express himself more freely. Then we have the Sharmas and Rainas, who need to iron out a few technical faults before they are back on the international circuit again, ready to stake a claim for a place in the side. This brings me to Dhoni, the wicket-keeper.

Wicket-Keeper:
Mahendar Singh Dhoni, is very easily, the best thing to have happened to Indian cricket in the last decade, or more modestly, since the turn of the new millennium. This guy can break plastic chairs with his long hits and can play just like the Wall to grind out a draw with equal ease. Like Laxman’s supple wrists, his bottom hand is a marvel of nature. How they generate so much power will soon become a case-study at some god-forsaken university. His wicket-keeping skills, though not in the league of Kirmani, have improved drastically over the years. Add to that, the genius of a cricketing brain and a heart driven by impulse and intuition and you have the complete captain charisma package. Standing behind the wicket is a help as it allows him to keep tabs on everything that is happening on the field. He is generally cool and composed on the field, but can be violent and raging like the fast bowlers when he wants to. From here, we now move onto India’s fast bowling resources.

Fast Bowlers:
Zak, Ishant, Appam Genius (Chutia no more..), RP, Munaf and the list goes on. Zak aka Zaheer Khan is India’s bowling spear-head and has developed into a wonderful leader of the pack. His expertise with both the new ball and old ball has won India some important matches, both at home and abroad. Ishant, though has dimmed of late, probably due to burn out, is a mighty fine bowler, someone the players respect world-over. Anyone who can make Ponting dance like Rakhi Sawant and that too at his home-turf is no ordinary Turk. Sreesanth has returned and returned with vengeance. His wonderful seam position was never in doubt and with the BCCI not showing the “Laaton ke bhoot baatoin se nahi manten” attitude, his temperament has also improved. RP Singh and Munaf Patel complete the fast-bowling resources and both of them are really good when they want to. However inconsistency continues to plague them and hopefully they will improve and shine for India at the highest stage, sometime in the near future.

Spin Department:
This is the only weak-link in my opinion (how ironic is that. India, the land of Chandrasekhar and Bedi having scarcity in spin department). Though Bhajji has shown good form abroad, which is a welcome sign, he generally needs a wicket early in his spell to impose himself and dominate the batsmen. However if the wicket doesn’t arrive, then his trajectory soon becomes flatter and faster which doesn’t help much. However he is India’s no.1 spin bowler by a distance and should continue to be no.1 in the years to come. Ojha is one for the future as he has good control over his variations and also has the dip and loop which his legendary predecessors had. Amit Mishra, the constant changing and chopping notwithstanding, needs to work on his control and patience. However the pressure of filling Kumble’s boots might be a deterrent.

Coach:
Becoming Indian team’s cricket coach is no mean task as the previous coaches would have found out. The pressure to deliver results is telling and can throttle and cloud an individual’s judgement, thereby causing his downfall. However Gary Kirsten and his support staff have done a tremendous job. He has dealt with the egos of the senior players, having played international cricket with some of them, with comfortable ease, while he has also managed to keep the youngsters grounded amidst all the chaos bought on by IPL and too much money. He knows when to put his foot down and is not afraid of raising his voice on any issue that he feels might affect the team adversely. Having been a top opener of his time, his little insights into batting has helped a lot of players overcome the small technical faults that creep into the game unnoticed and later cause havoc and he also enforced a strict health regime, which keeps the players fit at all times. All in all he is super coach in my opinion, who by staying outside the lime-light performs all the dirty but important work.

So we see that India does really have the fire-power to stay at no.1 if they really put their minds to the task at hand and not look ahead of them. The senior players who have yearned for this position for a long time, would ensure that complacency does not creep in, which would also be looked after by Gary Kirsten and his support staff. While the young legs would ensure that the oldies stay fresh with a different perspective towards any situation (something which wears down with age and experience where you tend to think only in one particular direction). India have a very good blend of youth and experience and with a super coach at the helm of affairs and a super cool captain in charge, I am pretty sure that India can stay no.1 for some-time to come.

P.S. India can lose the no.1 ranking to Australia if they white-wash West Indies or to South Africa if they beat England 2-0.