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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

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India should treat the defeat as part of the learning curve

India needs to worry about Tests and not lose sleep over the World Cup, which is still eight months away, writes Michael Holding

It's been a long time coming, so I guess being a West Indian, I share the joy of the people of my region. It's a series triumph which nobody had foreseen, certainly not a 4-1 margin.

It adds to the zing if you remember that in the last nine or 10 matches West Indies has won, Brian Lara has contributed only one half century.

For long, people have held that this team cannot do without Lara's hand. Now others too are beginning to make a difference.

I would not rush to say this team is a world-beater yet, but it certainly has men who can perform more than just one role. There is a growing number of all-rounders in the side and senior batsmen are putting up their hands more often. The string of wins is beginning to bring the best out of these guys.

I have watched this Indian team from close quarters for the last few months and I can sense the disappointment of millions of their fans. There is now concern that this may not have been the ideal way to prepare for the World Cup.

I personally feel that looking at the World Cup at this stage could complicate things. India needs to worry about the forthcoming Tests and not lose sleep over a tournament, which is still eight months away.

Focus on the Test side

India needs to look at the balance of its Test side; I worry if it has the right blend of youth and experience and whether it can pull it off. It would be a major cause to celebrate if Rahul Dravid's men emerge victorious in Tests. It still is the cause closest to the cricketers' hearts.

The win in Tests could also restore the sense of well-being in this side.

This is the one-day side, which has been the toast of the nation in the past few months and there is no reason why it cannot do well in the Tests too. But the Indians need to do a few things differently than they have been doing at home.

It is not a major ask. If you are a good cricketer, you should be able to make that sort of adjustment.

Otherwise, perhaps you were not good enough in the first place.

I can understand if the bowlers find themselves at their wits' end in these games because you cannot find an alternative overnight to seam and swing which these conditions do not support. But there is no excuse for the batsmen. These are still slow wickets and they ought to find a way of manoeuvring the ball rather than attack it all the time.

This I think has been the most disappointing aspect of the Indian team on this tour.

Missing the experience

It might be unfair to pick on somebody like Suresh Raina who is young and undeniably talented but for the second game running, he perished trying to play that stupid shot. He came in a situation when just by pushing the singles in the gaps, India could have come closer to victory.

In that sense, even Harbhajan Singh cannot escape the blame. He had brought India to a situation where if the eighth wicket pair had continued to pick its singles till the final two overs, India would have been deemed favourite. Instead, he tried a mighty loft when long-off was perfectly positioned for such indiscretion.

I would say that India has missed the experience of someone like V.V.S. Laxman on this trip. India needed men who could play long innings, and experience is key on such issues. Laxman is the kind of batsman who can work the ball around and consolidate without going for big, indiscreet hitting. He is like Rahul Dravid in this regard.

If India wants to be positive in this defeat, it can look at it as part of the learning curve. Defeats are only terminal if you do not have the mettle and I do not think that is the case with these young Indian boys.

Men with less talent and weak mind can be shattered by setbacks but in the Dhonis, the Rainas, the Sreesanths and the Pathans, hopefully that is not a worry. — PTI

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