About turn

It would be a foolish person who reads too much into the result of a single Test match and makes sweeping generalisations, far less, unfair criticism of champion players. India’s capitulation in Colombo must be a cause for concern of course but the ‘Greats’ of Indian batting (and surely Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag and Ganguly must rank in that list) will no doubt turn things around in Galle. Their history tells us that they almost certainly will score big runs soon. Reading a bit more into an Indian post-mortem however warrants a few questions that only those more familiar with the Indian scene can really answer.

First question: is India moving away from being a team that relies on spin-friendly conditions? Perhaps the fruits of the MRF Pace Academy and a steady production line of bigger-framed fast bowlers are giving India a hint of what their future looks like.

Their relatively poor performance on spinning tracks (Colombo 2008 v Sri Lanka, Adelaide 2008 v Australia, Mumbai 2006 v England) is actually in contrast to some wonderful performances away from home on more fast-bowler friendly surfaces. Perth 2008 v Australia, Johannesburg 2006 v South Africa and their series win in England in 2007 are cases in point where India’s fast bowlers dominated more fancied opposition and their batsmen coped admirably with those pitches.

Even in ODI cricket, their VB series victory in Australia and various other good performances away from home (World Cup 2003) contrast sharply with some poor performances in spin-friendly conditions. The Champions Trophy in 2006 and Australia’s ODI series win in 2007 rank amongst the home disappointments.

Is this a sign that India is moving away from a long tradition and now becoming more of a threat on pitches that do a bit more for the quickies? In a perfect world, they would develop this strength whilst still defending ‘Fortress India’. Australia have certainly shown that winning away doesn’t need to come at the expense of domination at home. That is partly because recent Australian teams have wonderful balance and they are very adaptable in all conditions. Can the same be said of India?

Next question: is it about time to start looking at blooding the next generation? Class and pedigree are good things but perhaps the time draws nigh to look to the future. India’s next generation is chock-full of talent and perhaps, there needs to be a slow phasing in process so that there is no massive hole when the aforementioned ‘greats’ all exit the game within a short space of time. It’s an age-old question – do you pick the best XI on any given day or do you also start planning for the future? Is Test cricket meant to be for the best 11 cricketers in the country on that day? If you are the best today, should it matter how old you are? Is it the Best XI or the Best Future XI?

Last question: what are India’s spin bowling stocks looking like? I ask the question with a genuine lack of inside knowledge. It’s clear that Kumble and Harbajhan are no longer as effective as they once were – in Kumble’s case, he has nothing to apologise for.

I daresay it’s not just India’s worry though. Mendis apart, who else in the world is showing signs of becoming a future star of the game? Panesar is steady, Vettori is no spring chicken and Kaneria is by no means the guaranteed match winner that Pakistan was looking for after Mushtaq and Saqlain. Is India well covered in this area or is that a question that’s still up in the air?

India may well be the new superpower of cricket in the administrative sense but I’m not convinced that they’re quite ready (yet) to assume that mantle on the field. One poor performance is not the end of the world but one wonders about the next few years after the senior ‘legends’ move on. Is there any need to worry or is the production line working efficiently with fresh young talent waiting impatiently to carry India forward?