Winds of change

Amit Varma

On first sight, it would seem like nothing's really changed in Indian cricket. Oh yes, you have a glimmer of youth coming in, a couple of good wins, but at the bottom of the ninth (to sacrilegiously borrow a phrase!), it would appear that the destiny of this team seems to be to end up losers.

Last year you had Vijay Bhardawaj performing brilliantly in Kenya (man-of-the-series, no less), yet where is he today? A couple of years back, Debashish Mohanty was supposed to be India's new pace hope, whatever happened to him? This year there's Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan. Same story, different faces? I would argue not.

Despite the thrashing India received against Sri Lanka at the Coca-Cola Cup last weekend, I would argue that the Indian team is going through a very seminal period of change. This is the darkest hour before dawn, and much like Australia, when Border took over as captain, and Sri Lanka, when Jayasuriya took over, we're at a turning point. And as in those cases, there are really two things that will see us out of this morass. One, our captain. And two, a whole new generation of players that is now ready to take its place in the sun. Let's talk about the captain first.

Saurav Ganguly captains the side like he lives his cricketing life; with a vengeance, and a point to prove. Consider how he started; a tour of Australia while still in his teens, only the single one-day match during the tour, and vilification in the media of his attitude, and the fact that he was a quota choice, and would never have made it in the team on merit. His career could be considered as good as over, even before he had acquired a driving license. Even when he made his comeback, years later, the same whispers ran through the media and fans alike; 'Yeh tho quota choice hai. England mein iski lagegi.'

Obviously, as hindsight would reveal, he had been burning with an inner fire ever since his humiliating baptism. He played like a man possessed in England, and subsequently, to cement his place in the side. In the Test matches, at least. And when his one-day career didn't really seem to be going places ('got those lower-middle-order blues again, dada'), he got a chance to open, and never looked back. He had paid his dues, and he was hungry to prove himself.

That hunger as a batsman never went, what with Sachin's always overshadowing him, and Saurav's recent controversies in county cricket, being motivators enough, but the heartening thing for India is, that hunger has now shifted focus. He's the captain now. Leading a team which critics say 'always chokes'. 'Does not have killer instinct.' 'Is inconsistent, is all talent and no discipline.' And, most galling of all, 'throws matches.' Saurav as always has a point to prove; only this time, it's a much bigger point, on a much bigger stage.

And look at how he's been handling it. In Nairobi, the Indian attitude was 'aggressive', they saved (in at least a couple of matches) 'at least 20 runs each innings with their fielding', and 'they went in for the kill when it mattered' and boy, don't these phrases sound familiar when we talk about Australia and South Africa! In its first three matches, India played like a team possessed, and Ganguly led from the front. Yes, their fielding defied superlatives against Australia, and wasn't that 'lazy' little Ganguly there, pulling off two fine catches and a stunning run-out? Yes, they bowled brilliantly against South Africa, and batted really well in the final overs, and wasn't that 'selfish' Ganguly there, lecturing Yuvraj and urging him on, when he almost threw his wicket away?!

More than Australia and South Africa, what India was shattering was preconceptions. Ganguly was standing up and saying, and inspiring the rest of his guys as well to say, 'look, we're not taking any more shit. We mean business.' Nothing new to Ganguly, only he'd used the singular pronoun before, not the collective one.

India losing to New Zealand in that final brought a sense of perspective back into the jubilant Indian fans. And disappointment morphed into outright depression when Sri Lanka mauled India thrice in a row, bowling them out for 54 in the finals. (Geoff Boycott's mother could make more than that, as we would surely see him exclaim if he wasn't signed on to ESPN/STAR!) But despite his team letting him down (and himself; out thrice in a row to a short ball from Vaas), Ganguly's captaincy was positive enough.

When the middle-order showed signs of being brittle (an oh-so-familiar sight), Ganguly took it upon himself to shore up the middle order, and demoted himself to #4. Strategically misguided, perhaps, but the heart was in the right place. (if nobody else can do it, I will do it.) Similarly, when Jayasurya was decimating the rest of the Indian bowlers, Ganguly chose to bring himself on to bowl, in the 49th over of the match, and got his wicket.

A captain, at the end of the day, can only be as good as his team. And while his team may not quite have performed upto his expectations here, expect it to only get better as time goes on. Because the players are there.

Winds of change are blowing through the Indian team, and these winds of change are not just the three new faces into the side, (Yuvraj, Zaheer and Dahiya) as most media commentators seem to be crowing. Instead, it's the introduction of a new breed of cricketers to Indian cricket. The kind who is a hardened cool professional much before he makes his international debut.

See, it's like this: cricket today has changed drastically from what it was a decade and a half ago. It's no longer a laid-back gentleman's game, it's a ruthless professional sport, where nerves of steel often count for more than silken grace, and to make the grade, a player often has to be good in all the facets of the game. Bat a bit, bowl a bit, and field bloody well. And go for the kill every time.

Naturally, the Aussies and the South Africans were the quickest to adapt to this kind of cricket, and the Indians lagged behind. Look at it this way, if you were a schoolboy cricketer in the mid 80s to early 90s, the Indians you'd have for role models in the national team would be, let's not take any names here, phenomenally talented players who often had paunches, weren't the best of fielders (by today's standards) and lacked the kind of discipline needed in modern day cricket. India's victories in '83 and '85 were aberrations; the team had no consistency, because the players had no discipline. And if you were a cricketer growing up in those days, there would be no specific reason for you to believe that you had to be an awesome fielder, that playing the ball with soft hands and running well between the wickets was an important skill to learn, that bowlers always had to bowl full at the death and learn to bat a bit.

In the 90s, all of that changed. The satellite television boom in India happened simultaneously with (and perhaps even contributed to causing) the proliferation of one-day matches worldwide, and an entire generation of wide-eyed young cricket lovers began to see match after match after match, and understand, through the eyes of insightful commentators like Gavaskar, Boycott and Bhogle (as compared to Narottam Puri and gang!) the finer nuances of the game. That talent wasn't everything, but attitude was, discipline was, desire was, consistency was, fitness was, winning was. This is the generation that has grown up today.

These guys, almost all of them, field well, run between the wickets superbly, know the importance of circulating the strike in one-dayers, and have developed nerves of steel, some of them. Take the colour of their skin away, and they almost seem Aussie in their approach. And yes, they've got -- and they've proved, in the under 19 World Cup recently, in numerous India 'A' outings -- that much touted quality the Indians somehow never had; killer instinct.

Let's take a look at some of the stars of the future now. First, of course, there's Reetinder Singh Sodhi. Sodhi was the captain of the Indian under-16 team that won the under-16 World Cup a few years back, and a star of India's recent under-19 World Cup victory (man of the match in the final). If the future of Indian cricket could be encapsulated into one single ebullient sardar, this would be the man. A percentage batsman who has a Miandad-like ability of finding the gaps and rotating the strike, he can also hit out when required, the last two words being key here: 'when required'. Not just when the blood goes to his head and he gets into bravado mode. This man is sensible. This man thinks.

As a bowler, he's effective, somewhat like Ganguly (or in the Steve Waugh mode when Waugh still bowled). But it's in his fielding and his attitude that his calibre comes through. Indian commentators often like to say that Indians don't dive in the field because Indian grounds are hard, so diving does not come reflexively. Nonsense.

In the under-19 World Cup, played on the hard grounds of Sri Lanka, one memorable moment in the finals came when Sodhi, at point, dived full length to stop a ball, and bruised his elbow on the (naturally) hard ground, and it began bleeding. His entire forearm was covered in blood, but he continued playing and fielding as before, cheering the bowler on. This is not a generation that will make excuses. These guys play to win.

Sodhi's skipper in the under-19 World Cup was Mohammed Kaif. When Sodhi was asked (provocatively, since many believed Sodhi should have been captain) about Kaif's captaincy, Sodhi described him in one phrase. 'Cool,' he said, 'Kaif is a very cool captain.' A perfect description, as even at his young age (captain of the under-19s last year, now you calculate!), Kaif keeps his head about him. As a batsman, people in the know have compared his style to Azhar's graceful style, but the young Kaif is far less likely to throw his wicket away playing an impetuous shot in the heat of the moment. He's technically sound, and would be a perfect anchor for any side, the #3 around whom the team can revolve. Mohammed 'The Wall' Kaif, anyone?!

While last year's under-19s had an abundance of talent, (Ravneet Ricky, Manish Sharma, Ajay Ratra and, of course, Yuvraj) let's round off this column by looking for a moment at a man who also came through the under-19s a couple of years back, and is finally getting a much deserved break in the senior side; Shiv Sunder Das. Das is an opener for Orissa, and why he hasn't opened yet for India is a mystery. He's got the domestic performances to back him up, played excellently in the Wills trophy last year, and though he made a duck and an unbeaten (and impressive) 30 in his last match (Rest of India vs. Mumbai), he's clearly got all the makings of a fine Test player. Short, with superb footwork, he's a terrific accumulator of runs, always rotating the strike, quick to pounce on a loose ball, hates getting out. (He almost resembles Gavaskar when you see him bat, sacrilegious as that statement may seem!)

India has a long season at home now, against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and Das couldn't really have asked for a better opportunity to establish himself in the Test side.

After years of inconsistency, thereng season at home now, against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and Das couldn't really have asked for a better opportunity to establish himself in the Test side.

After years of inconsistency, there seems to finally be a light at the end of the tunnel. Let's hope it's not just the torch of a serial killer!

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