The Ashes
Can India script a turnaround in Perth?
Given the way India is performing against Australia in the four-match Test series, I will not be surprised if the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) actually reschedules the Perth and Adelaide Test back in Chennai and in Bengaluru. Jokes apart, I have never understood the logic behind harping about individual brilliance regardless of the collective failure of the team.
Agreed, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid have over the years scripted sensational knocks across the world, but one can count on the number of the victories India secured during the period. Be it the one in Perth in 2007-08 series against Australia, the one against the same opponents in Adelaide in 2003-04 series or against the Proteas in Durban last year have all won on the backdrops of individual brilliance.
Now, when these stalwarts have not made significant contributions with the willow in the ongoing series and even in the Tests against England, fingers are being pointed out at them. Not at the team? Well, that’s the way it works in Indian cricket.
One wonders how the big three of Indian batting will be taking the loss in the first two Tests. It is not as if they have not tried, but their performances haven’t met the expectations of anyone.
When the series against Australia began, the discussions centered on how it was a good chance for India to win their maiden series Down Under. With the dreams being put to rest, the team must be in a huddle to salvage their backs now.
The talk of a few big names asked to sit out, and young guns like Rohit Sharma being drafted in sounds good on paper, not on practice. For starters, the need of the hour is to showcase patience and arrest the slide quickly. While Australia asked tough questions, Indians were left searching for solutions. As of now, it has proven to be a one-sided affair barring those few moments in the Melbourne Test.
Worse, the Indian team’s decision to stay away from the game despite being 0-2 down in the series has had the pundits fuming. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team went for go-karting on Monday instead of nets, which surely has not gone well with former greats such as Sunil Gavaskar.
“There is no attitude to go there. You have to go there and practice cricket. Should not a two-day game have been organised in Perth because that’s the fastest pitch in Australia,” Gavaskar told a news channel.
That’s not all. It has been reported that pacer Ishant Sharma did a Virat Kohli on Monday at the same go-karting event. Ishant showed his middle finger to assembled cricket fans at the go-karting do angering many.
With everyone knowing that a bouncy wicket await India in Perth, it would have been wise for the team to have put in more hours in practice than shopping, sight-seeing or worse, garnering the ire of the fans. But that’s not how Dhoni’s team planned. With the third Test scheduled to start from Friday, the result of the series seems to be a foregone conclusion for many, unless India script a turnaround. Will they do it? Watch this space for more.
