The lackluster performance of ‘Team India’ against Australia in the ICC Test Championship final is indicative of the poor state of Indian cricket for which cricketers and officials should be equally blamed. It appears lately that both officials and cricketers are only interested in the Indian Premier League (IPL) rather than earning laurels for the country at the international level. This is why the Indian team took to the field for the championship battle within days of participating in IPL, without any rest or proper conditioning required for the longer version of the game. It may be noted here that in the post-match press meet, Indian captain Rohit Sharma stressed on the need for a preparatory camp before such a crucial match. This view has been echoed by experts, who have termed lack of preparedness for India’s defeat in the final that too by losing seven wickets in the very first session of the last day, when the match could have been saved by simply staying at the wicket. In such a situation, the Indian batters including big guns like Viral Kohli, Ajinka Rahane and Rabindra Jadeja threw away their wickets by playing non-cricketing shots, provoking cricket legends like Sunil Gavaskar to question their commitment towards the team. Without mincing words, Gavaskar claimed that the Indian batters were playing for personal milestones rather than saving the Test match.
If the cricketers are guilty of putting self-interest ahead of the team’s interest, the officials too are no different. In this regard, along with cricketers, officials should also be put on the dock for not showing enough cricketing knowledge while fixing the match. It is for the second consecutive time that the Indian team had to take the field for the finals without playing a longer version game for more than three months, while their opponents got adequate time to prepare for the Test matches. For example, two years ago India faced New Zealand without any match practice, while the Kiwis just finished a Test series against England. This time also, while key Australian cricketers took a break from IPL to prepare for the Test championship, all Indian cricketers had to go through a hard two-month period for franchise cricket.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]It is now clear that as long as franchise cricket gets preferential treatment by the Indian cricket board, the standard of cricket in the country will continue to fall. The cash-rich cricket tournament may attract revenue, but it will never be able to replace Test cricket. Test cricket is altogether different from shorter versions of the game as it requires true quality, strong resolve and real grit. A batter can prosper in shorter versions of the game by hitting the ball hard, but that quality alone is not enough to achieve success in Test cricket, where a cricketer has to exhibit full potential, skill and determination. This is why many nations are now picking different teams for different formats of the game. India will have to follow the same method. Otherwise, the wait to grab the ICC trophy will become even longer.