The problem with loyalty

From Brendan Layton, Australia
Since their impressive and strong showing against Australia during the 07-08 summer, India have faltered in consecutive test series and have generally looked frail. The question on everyone's lips is why?

The selection table is my bet, though others may disagree. But it seems that India are in a period that Australia is currently in themselves, a time of transition in which the golden age must pave way for a new generation to have a influence on the game. India have been blessed during the 90's and the Noughties with some of the finest batsmen in history; the defiant wall Rahul Dravid; sanguine Sourav Ganguly; aggressive Virender Sehwag; the steely resolved Australian killer VVS Laxman; and of course the greatest batsman since Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar.

In the bowling stocks they have been supported by two solid spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbajan Singh, and have unearthed several impressive young pacemen who will take the burden up from Zaheer Khan. India's problem has been their reliance on what is known as the 'fab four', numbers 3 to 6 in their batting order, the youngest of which, Laxman, is approaching 34. While I concede it is difficult to replace players of that calibre in any line-up, India need to look to consider several factors.

Firstly, only one of the fab four have reached a century since the tour of Australia; Dravid, who made 111 against South Africa in what was his only score above 50 for the series. Only Laxman made passed 50 in the Sri Lanka series, and he made two out of the three made by a middle order batsman from India. Secondly, consider the young talent currently waiting in the wings. Rohit Sharma, S Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary and Virat Kohli are all making big impressions in the domestic scene.

Badrinath's non-selection is baffling, considering his dominant record in recent years.

Thirdly, look at India's next opponent; Australia, currently the number one team in the world despite some protestations from South Africa and India to the contrary. While Australia may look weak following the multiple retirements over the years, they are still a class ahead of anyone else. In the hotly contested (and intensely scrutinised) series during the Australian summer, only Laxman and Tendulkar scored centuries. Tendulkar clearly dominated in what was probably his final tour of Australia, and that is a good sign, but Dravid and Ganguly were shadows of their former selves.

India's only bowling problem that I see is Kumble himself, who appears to have lost his venom. Whilst his record against Australia is good (108 wickets at 28.52), his recent form has been less convincing and his captaincy lacks imagination. Harbajan showed encouraging signs against Sri Lanka and South Africa, and will be bowling on pitches likely to help his turn and bounce. Supporting him will likely be Zaheer, who hasn't had a great deal of success against Australia, and the dangerous Inshant Sharma if fit. Kumble is the weak link.

India needs to take the plunge and pick new faces in their team ahead of this series, and the selectors need to show nerve to pick the players performing. An Indian team that I would like to see on the park would look like this: V. Sehwag, G. Gambhir, VVS Laxman, S. Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma or Suresh Raina, S. Badrinath (Could also bat at 3 in place of Laxman), MS Dhoni © (Sehwag is also a candidate for captaincy), Harbajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, either RP Singh, Munaf Patel, YK Pathan or Piyush Chawla, Inshant Sharma.

This is of course my opinion, and opinions are like bums. Everyone's got one.