The Hindu : Sport : No drastic changes likely, says Rajput

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 31, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport

No drastic changes likely, says Rajput

S. Ram Mahesh

India struggles to come to terms with a chastening defeat

Admits the ground fielding lacked intensity
Dravid is going through a lean patch and has to overcome it in the mind

— Photo: AP

TOUGH TIMES: Despite struggling in the first Test against Australia as an opener, Rahul Dravid may continue to do the job in the second Test in Sydney.

Melbourne: It’s emboldening to know that India’s team management is keeping its collective head even if most around are losing theirs.

To be fair, the shrill voices of reproach have a case. Defeat provokes extreme reactions; when the margin is 337 runs and the losing side isn’t seen to fight to the end, it’s only to be expected that the hounds of hell will be slipped from their leashes.

But, such hurling of blame does little good; especially in back-to-back Test matches. With just three days between Melbourne and Sydney — two scheduled days and one bonus, for want of a better word — India can’t afford to dwell on the failures of the first Test. They must be addressed no doubt, but with reason and within the tenets of cricket sense.

A day after captain Anil Kumble allowed the world an insight into why he has achieved so much in cricket, radiating a sense that he saw the game for it was, India’s assistant coach Lalchand Rajput said there were no grounds for drastic change.

“Once you lose, it isn’t necessary to make drastic changes,” said Rajput, here at the indoor nets in the Melbourne Cricket Ground on what could have been the Test’s final day. “Obviously, our options are open, and we’ll decide on our combination after seeing the wicket at Sydney. But, we need to work on our aggression on the field, our intensity and our approach.”

The trouble, as ever, with such pronouncements is they are apt to ring hollow. Few sportspersons can articulate their thoughts with any degree of clarity; often they aren’t quite sure themselves why a particular day brings success and another failure.

As Shane Warne said, the essential unpredictability of sport is what makes it so fascinating — V.V.S. Laxman, for instance, felt a great need to turn things around before he made the series-breaking 281 in Kolkata in 2001. But, he might have experienced similar sentiments since without the same success in translation.

The touchstone for selection then is skill. It’s a cloudy term covering a great many things from ball sense to balance, including among others, temperament. And the means of arriving at whether a cricketer has the requisite skill is subjective, hostage to bias and the human eye.

Mental adjustment

But, that’s the question Kumble is confronted with. Does his side have the skill to defeat Australia in Australia? He certainly believes it does — Kumble said on Saturday that his batsmen had proved in the past their quality of skill; it was now a matter of mental adjustment. They needed to relax, to loosen up. The bowlers, on the other hand, showed in Melbourne that they could dismiss Australia.

Rajput, asked the same question, said, “I don’t think there are any technical deficiencies among the younger lot (Yuvraj, Dhoni). They didn’t get much time in the practice game. They will need to apply themselves. In the end, it comes down to self-belief. You can adapt to any conditions if you believe in yourself. Rahul (Dravid) is going through a lean patch, and he has to overcome it in the mind. But, he’s tremendous and I’m sure he will.”

Lost opportunity

India will take heart from the fact that it battled Australia as an equal during several periods in the first Test; ironically, the realisation will cause some despair, for it was an opportunity lost.

Australia got the better of India in the contest with the new ball over the first two days. This ensured that India’s fight with the ball on day three, which went almost unnoticed, was staged in retreat.

“The start was crucial, and we didn’t get it in the first innings,” said Rajput. “When we started we could have been more positive. Everyone is aware of the need to rotate the strike, and we’ll come back strongly.”

Rajput admitted the ground fielding lacked intensity, but, was practical. “It’s one aspect that (is exposed) on big grounds,” he said, “but we need to bat well. We have done well in Test cricket over the last two years, we have batted well (to cover for the fielding).”

The Indian team was given Sunday off — a day of introspection, as the team management put it. The side will fly out to Sydney on Monday, ahead of the second Test starting on Wednesday.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport