India will have to do some soul searching in the next few months as they come to the realisation that their much vaunted middle order reaches its use by date.
As Australia has been forced to find replacements for the genius of Warne and McGrath, India will have a near future without Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar. This should not be a time of despair but one of hope as the next potential stars of this world are unearthed.
I won’t play on Indian board and selection politics because to be quite frank I don’t know enough about it. There are players vying for selection and the selectors need to consider if their team is beginning to age too much.
One of the great selection conundrums of the past few years has been that of Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh. Both have been hailed as immensely talented players, and both have made starts and then failures at test level.
Having watched Yuvraj play, I am totally convinced he is not test class. He was completely destroyed by Australia’s pace attack in Australia after he had previously flattered to deceive by scoring a return century against Pakistan, hardly the most dangerous of opposition. He remains a danger in one day and 20/20 cricket, but the shorter form is a far cry from the five day game.
Mohammad Kaif is in a slightly better position, having gone back to the first class game and become a consistent run scorer in India. He charmed with a 94 against Australia A and is showing signs of more determination and willing to apply himself. However, he may find himself overtaken by some more prodigious talent.
He faces the likes of S Badrinath, Suresh Reina, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for a chance to take over from the ‘Fab Four’, and against the competition, he isn’t likely to play test cricket for India again. Badrinath is on the fringes of selection and looks the goods. He comes across determined and professional, and is not likely to let his chance go easily.
But who to drop? The obvious answer is Ganguly, who has been living on borrowed time for a while now. A fierce competitor, Ganguly’s weakness against Australia will count against him and it he is likely to be a major weak link in the Indian team if he plays.
Another player in the gun sights is Rahul Dravid. Although he has made some runs in the Irani Cup match, Dravid’s problem is his inability to score at rates needed to win test matches, particularly in recent times and against good teams like Australia, which have deep batting lineups.
For a player so technically equipped, he is frustratingly unable to turn the strike over on a regular basis to keep pressure on the bowlers, which leads to him getting bogged down as he famously did during the Sydney test earlier this year. I was there and joined the crowd as it mock cheered him for his first single in about an hour and a half’s batting.
He will probably be retained for the Australia series, but if he fails he will find himself dropped. The only players I can see retained for the next 12 months will be Laxman, who for some reason has been constantly scrabbling for his spot despite being a far superior player to Ganguly, and Tendulkar, who probably will nominate when he wants to retire before being pushed.
The decision needs to be made, as India cannot afford to stay strong while their old guard scrabbles to hold on.
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