ML Jaisimha: Indian think tank doesn't think (18 Sep 1996)

Sachin Tendulkar`s baptism as captain was a stern test indeed

18-Sep-1996

18 Sep 1996

Indian think tank doesn`t think

M L Jaisimha

Sachin Tendulkar`s baptism as captain was a stern test indeed. Taking over from Mohammed Azharuddin, India`s most successful captain in one-day internationals and Tests, was not an easy assignment anyway. Sri Lanka and Australia are the world`s best all-round sides, and taking them on while making your debut as captain of your country is undoubtedly a challenging task.

Sachin, in fact, not only took on the challenge but even began in superb style, scoring a century against Sri Lanka in his first outing as captain. But the rest of the team just did not play to potential. In the case of the match against Sri Lanka, "Ranatunga`s Rhinos", especially opener Sanath Jayasuriya, once again showed his class and ability to score quickly in the first 15 overs, taking advantage of the fact that in that period there are only two fielders patrolling the boundary.

India`s young skipper must first learn to relax. At times he appeared tense, and over-anxious to do everything on his own. Cricket is a team game, and every member of the side has to pull his weight for the team to become a winning combination - Sachin`s job is not to win games single-handed, but to ensure that every single player does his bit for the side.

The crucial game against Australia was taken too casually by the Indian players. Australia won because it played to a plan. That the Indian team management lacked cricketing thinking was very much evident from the match. Whether it was in the case of Anil Kumble throwing away his wicket when just hanging in there would have made Australia`s task harder, or the way Srinath got himself run out, signs of a total absence of thought was evident.

The team manager should have instructed the lower order to just hang around, play out the allotted 45 overs. Thus, they would have added a good 20, 30 runs to the Indian total, and also forced Australia to reach the target in less overs. Instead, sad to say, the Indian batsmen committed cricketing suicide.

One area where the Australians proved better was in chalking out their batting strategy. In modern cricket, one not only has to assess his team`s own potentials, but also chalk out strategies to exploit the weak points of the rival side. That is where the Sri Lankans and Australians scored. On such slow wickets, Indian could have opted to play at least two spinners, besides the nonregular bowlers Sachin and Ajay Jadeja.

Instead, our opening bowlers tried spraying the ball around with venom against an aggressive run-machine like Jayasuriya. That is what our two medium pacers, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad were doing - a foolish thing to do for any medium pacer. Had either Tendulkar or Jadeja opened the bowling with one of the medium pacers at the other end, bowling at gentle speed keeping the ball on the stumps on the slower wickets of Sri Lanka, it would have changed the complexion of the games we played against both the hosts Lanka and against the strong Australians.

Look at Sri Lanka, which chose to play with a regular medium pacer in Vaas. Slow bowlers - either Aravinda D`Silva or Gurusinghe, shared the new ball. Similarly, Australia`s acting skipper Ian Healy preferred the same strategy, opening with Steve Waugh and, later, either Mark Waugh or Michael Bevan. Also, I feel a bowler like Venkatapathy Raju would have helped the Indian team to a considerable extent.

Another great disappointment was the fielding. That the team management failed to groom the boys for such situations, despite holding conditioning camps, was evident from the way three players - including skipper Tendulkar himslef - ran for a simple catch at mid on. Technically it was Rahul Dravid`s catch, he could have held it with no problems - only, none of the three fielders called for the catch, and therefore all three were confused. Calling for a catch when more than one fielder is in the area is basic technique, it is surprising that the boys are not drilled in it.

Vinod Kambli was another disappointment in the field - even a difficult chance dropped affects the team`s chances, but Kambli dropped a sitter, and we effectively lost the game against Australia from that point.

Overall, I would say Sachin, on his first outing as skipper, performed well enough under pressure. His field placement using Azhar and Jadeja to stop the single was especially good. I am confident that the young Indian captain would do even better once he learns to relax a bit on the field. And he needs a good thinking manager who can support him from the dressing room, help him formulate changing strategies to deal with changing situations. After all, it is ridiculous to expect one man to do it all!

Source :: Rediffusion on the Net (https://www.redifindia.com/)