India in Test Cricket: Same Issues in Different Year

The final of the World Test Championship (WTC) was always going to be a tough assignment, even the most optimistic fan would have been a bit apprehensive in the lead up to the match at the oval, especially coming of the back of a grueling Indian Premier League (IPL), however the repetitive meek surrender of the team, especially the much-vaunted batting line up left a lot to be desired. On the one hand, some might call it a positive that the team has reached a second consecutive final and that we have been to at least the last 4 in all major ICC tournaments in the recent past, I respectfully disagree. Success at the international sporting level must be looked in proportion to the resources available, such a record might be appreciable for a team like New Zealand but not for India, it was not too long ago that the Indian team was playing a test match in India and at the same time winning an ODI series in Sri Lanka. It is obvious that wining a knockout tournament in any sports needs a certain amount of luck, but it also needs careful and meticulous planning and bold decision making, both of which have been lacking in recent years.

Firstly, lets look at the team sheets for India in the past 2 finals, it almost identical expect for a few omissions on account of injuries; the batting line up which collapsed on day 5 in 2023 is the same as the one which collapsed in the second innings in 2021 apart from injury enforced absence of Rishabh Pant. In the last 24 to 36 months, the two best batsmen are Pant and Jadeja, which is great from the prism of depth, but neither are top 4 batsmen. The top 4 batsmen along with K.L Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have hardly performed in the last WTC cycle, the reason for India even making it to the final has been the bowlers and the lower middle order bailing them out repeatedly e.g., Axar and Shardul. In this match, the bowlers clearly messed up on the first morning, however India would not been in Oval without them. We need to take 20 wickets to win a test match, but we need the batsmen get the big runs for the bowlers to defend. In short none of the batsmen in top order have delivered and as a result we have not batted well as a team (except for the odd great innings), so it was really wishful to expect them to deliver in a one-off test match at the Oval against the world class bowling attack.

Secondly, the elephant in the room: IPL. There seems to be a group of some commentators who always seem hell bent to discredit it and as such it will always remain a convenient scapegoat, however logistically it impossible to reschedule the IPL or also the WTC final or venue. People like Cameron Green and David Warner also played the entire tournament, but the seamers like Cummins and Starc did not play so as Ravi Shastri mentioned it must be an individual choice. This is not the time to discuss benefits of IPL, but in short, its immense from making cricket a viable career for livelihood for even non-national team players, retirement benefits for former domestic and mostly forgotten players, women’s cricket, investment in cricketing infrastructure etc. The IPL is the cash cow which makes it all possible and ironically helps sustain test cricket.

What we really need is an honest assessment by all the Indian cricket stakeholders. We need former players in important decision-making positions, selectors being empowered and the administrators helping to facilitate this change. We also need broadcasters to have proper debates and stop being bandwagons (as much as I love Kohli, it serves no purpose to see one-hour specials on him before game), we need the media to stop eulogizing the cricketers as individuals as demi-gods and start talking about the team (Dhoni, Kohli or Rohit is as important as a Pujara, Rahane or Ashwin). We also need players honestly assessing their abilities and taking a call on their futures, not pedaling excuses like poor umpiring decisions and lack of 3 test series etc.

On a more sporting level, create a ready-made pipeline of talent ready to step in, irrespective of the conditions. Its an opportune time during the upcoming WTC cycle to introduce the next slot of cricketers, we can’t just bring them in from the cold and expect them to perform in a major ICC event. Despite the emergence of the best fast bowling talent pool in our history, we had to fall back on Umesh Yadav (who has a better record at home than away). It is important to create a pool and manage injuries as so many bowlers have just fallen off the radar due to injuries in the last 24 months, (Prasidh Krishna, Deepak Chahar, Avesh Khan etc.), similarly if Rahane had not found form, we would have scrapping around for a replacement for Iyer. K.S. Bharat has a lot of convincing to do with the bat to be considered a viable keeper-batsmen in the modern game. At the heart of it, lies the significance of performance in the Ranji trophy. Talent without adequate opportunities is useless; be it in life or sports.

The successful implementation of these measures will not guarantee a major trophy, but it will increase the probability and increase the margin for error as sports at the highest level is all about the increasing the probabilities for success.