Time to Rebuild!

Greatest Indian Test captain resigned as he conceded that Indian batting is a problem. Why and how did it reach here?

That’s the thing about good times. While they last, they make you ignore the warning signs and delay the necessary course-correcting actions — ‘if it’s not broken, why try to fix it?’ In the last five years, Indian men’s Test cricket team has seen a lot of success and a few failures. They won every Test series at home. Away, they won in Australia (twice), Sri Lanka, England (leading the unfinished series 2-1) and West Indies.

However something was rotting in the system and the team management headed by Mr. Ravi Shastri simply ignored it. That was the batting.

“In God I believe, for everything else bring Data”.  So let us look at the data. We shall look at the data from roughly 25 years. That was the last time India had gone through a big churn. 

 The data below shows India’s batting and bowling averages over different time spans. It is not rocket science to realise that more the difference between the batting and bowling averages, the better the Win/ loss ratio gets.

Clearly the golden period of Indian cricket was from 2016 to 2019 where Indian batsmen were scoring 16 runs per wicket more than what Indian bowlers were taking wickets. No wonder the Win to loss ratio for the period was 3.75. Highest it ever has been. In fact most of us will be surprised by the fact as that was the era where Indian team was doing better than the legendary West Indies of 1975-1985 and Australian team of 1996-2004. Here are their Stats of their high  period 

 

However the period under contention for India is from 1^st Jan 2020 till date. Here, there is a dramatic drop in the batting average. The bowling average is almost the same. What has happened as a result is for us to see. The Win to loss ratio has come down to 1.13 which is even worse than  the decade of 2006-2015.

So, the obvious question is how did the batting average of the Indian team fell to such astonishing lows. The answer lies in the middle order. The number 3, 4 and 5 of the Indian team have to be singled out for the same. Let me try and illustrate the same

To give some perspective below are the averages of the greatest batting line up of all times in India i.e. the era from 1996 to 2005

Now let us face some facts.

• Over all test batting average of Virat is 50.39, Pujara is 43 and Rahane stands at 38.42.
• Clearly Rahane and Pujara  would have found it difficult to be even in the team with those overall career numbers. Ask VVS Laxman and S Ganguly who always came under the scrutiny and were rarely assured place in the team. 
• Virat would have drowned under the weight of R Dravid, S Tendulkar and V Shewag. He wouldn’t be called as great as he is considered today. Frankly speaking, the numbers say he is not. It is just that his peers make him look good.

For the last 2 years Virat, Pujara and Rahane have average of 28 ,26 and 24 respectively. India’s overall batting average is 25.4. Technically speaking they are scoring on an average equal to a number 10 and 11. These are numbers not of a series but for last 2 years! Ideally they should not be picked even in a Zimbabwe side leave aside top Test playing nation.  

Hence during these two years we saw : 

• India team has defeated Australia  2-1. Heavy lifting in that series was done by R Pant who scored 274 runs at an average of 68. V Kohli averaged 14, C Pujara 33 and A Rahane 38. Incidentally S Gill scored 259 runs at a whopping average of 51
• India is leading unfinished Pataudi Trophy 2-1. Here R Sharma has 368 runs with avg of 52. KL is 315 at 42, Pujara 227 at 32 and Kohli as 218 and 31.
• India has two scores of below 100. Batting collapses are a common sight in Indian cricket for last 2 years 
• India lost WTC Finals and now the South African Series 2-1 

However, it is interesting to understand what R Shastri, the former coach was doing. Didn’t he see it coming. It is well known that R Shastri was not selected by expert panel which comprised of VVS, S Tendulkar and S Ganguly. He was hand picked by  V Kohli. The then court appointed administrators did not show any spine. They gave in to whims and fancies of the star, V Kohli.  A dog cannot bite the master that feeds him. Can it? R Shastri saw that the last coach was removed by the captain. How could he stand upto the star! He had no incentives to take on the captain, if the captain is wrong. How could one expect Ravi Shastri give a feedback to V Kohli. Result was that R Shastri was no more than a cheerleader without a skirt in the period. 

During this period as far as V Kohli goes, he had no choice but to defend C Pujara and A Rahane. When all the 3 were performing at the same pathetic levels, how could he drop the other two and continue. By keeping them in the team he looks better than them and people dont question his place in the team. That is precisely what happened in the last 2 years. 

Now, V Kohli’s captaincy was untenable. To his credit, he did not let the slump of his bad form affect the chances of the team. However, his numbers are now adversely affecting the team. With R Shastri gone, it is clear  R Dravid would not allow this to continue any further. He had no choice but to give up his captaincy. His poor form for 2 years costed him his captaincy! 

V Kohli will now be expected to concentrate on his batting and give us those crucial 40-50 more runs per match that he is capable of giving. He was a world class act at one point in time. He has fitness that many can only be jealous off. He has already given up captaincy of IPL and Indian team. He has to become No. 1 Test batsman.   

Also now it is time that C Pujara and A Rahane be thanked for their services  and India moves on to the next generation. The likes of Vihari, S Iyer, S Gill, P Shaw, R Gaikwad are available. Indian Team management has to show faith in the young talent and move on. Yes an era has ended with resignation of V Kohli but that also serves as an opportunity.

For India, it is time to rebuild. It is plain good luck that such job always comes to the likes of Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly. They again have to pick Indian cricket from its lows and take it to its rightful place which is at the top. 

It is time to rebuild! 

Jai Hind!