Throwing wool over the eyes than real deal

There are some things in Indian cricket people will never come to know. They will never really know whether the decisions taken on the field by India during their five-match series against England were skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s or it had inputs from coach Duncan Fletcher as well.

India failed miserably with the bat and were horrendous in the field. But some of the decisions on and off the field weren’t mind blowing either. Selection, bowling changes, field settings and with it the tendency to give a bowler a particular field and dictating him to bowl a particular line and length, irrespective of where the bowler’s strengths lay, are all now part and parcel of India’s ‘field’ day.

STILL A MYSTERY

And people will also never know to whom Ishant Sharma’s “aachhi khasi bowling ka ma **** raha hein, b ******* (something on the lines of ‘completely messing up the bowling’ laced with a few expletives),” which was picked up by the stump mike during the Wellington Test in February and went viral on Youtube, was really directed.

And instead of critically taking these issues into account, the BCCI is again looking to pacify the growing voices of disgruntlement, which is simply eye wash. Once again, it’s Ravi Shastri, just like he was given a stopgap role for a tour to Bangladesh immediately after the 2007 World Cup debacle. That marked the exit of Greg Chappell and the appointment of Gary Kirsten.

A similar move from the BCCI had seen Sunil Gavaskar appointed as batting consultant to hasten the departure of John Wright. So, signs are pretty clear that Fletcher and his support staff Trevor Penney and Joe Dawes might have to go, sooner or later.

However, every time Dhoni has been asked about Fletcher’s contribution during media conferences, the answer has been ‘he is working on the batsmen, with their technique’.

So it may be safe to assume that on-field decisions were Dhoni’s and Dhoni’s alone whether or not he takes responsibility or ‘coolly’ picks failures by batsmen or fielders to pin the blame on.

DEFYING LOGIC

Over the years, the India captain’s decisions, which sometimes defied cricketing logic, have worked like magic in the shorter formats but fallen flat in the more conventional and traditional Test format. The weirdest of them during the England series was to play two spinners in Southampton and then, as if to justify that, begin the third day’s proceedings with Ravindra Jadeja.

Following India’s series of humiliating performances away from home, especially in Tests, very few will really question even if Fletcher was sacked, probably strong exit clauses in the contract coming in the way.

But will Shastri really bring something to the table? The limited-overs series is due to begin next and that is India’s forte to a certain extent. India play Tests against West Indies at home next and will be looking at it as a confidence-booster before going to Australia.

So, whether sending over Shastri will really have an impact, and make India or Dhoni really good enough to break the overseas Test code, people will never know. The exit clause hear will be ‘you cannot judge someone in a stopgap role.’ LONDON: With his wings clipped, it remains to be seen how long Duncan Fletcher will fly. On paper, the Zimbabwean continues as coach but a situation has been created where he is unlikely to have any role to play in the India dressing room.

The Indian cricket board has finally wielded the axe on the coaching staff. The second innings capitulation at The Oval, in 29 overs, was the last straw though things became clear about Fletcher after the first morning at Old Trafford.

On a fast and bouncy track, in pace perfect conditions, the decision to bat first was inexplicable. As the man with the best knowledge of English conditions, Fletcher was supposed to be providing the inputs.

It was a poor call. And James Anderson and Stuart Broad wreaked havoc. The team never recovered from the first half an hour of play. With Fletcher a former England coach, India should have held all the aces. But planning was poor in the last three series against his former team. In nine Tests under Fletcher in England, MS Dhoni’s team has lost seven. India lost 2-1 at home too.

CHANGES BREWING

Dhoni is not known to be keen to stay after next year’s World Cup, so the Board may continue to give him a long rope, otherwise an entirely new set-up to run the team is being put in place. By the looks of it, Ravi Shastri will be mainly there to keep Fletcher in check, if he doesn’t resign by then that is. Bangar is the likely candidate to be handed the reins.

For the fielding coach, the penny seemed to have dropped when India failed to establish a strong slip cordon. Under Trevor Penney, India’s catching and fielding was guaranteed to improve with the exit of the ageing players. But it didn’t happen. Catches were put down at crucial times, costing India matches. The most crucial let-off in this series came in the third Test at Southampton, when Ravindra Jadeja dropped embattled rival skipper Alastair Cook on 15. He went on to make 95, turning the series on its head.

Experiments in the slip cordon continued. Shikhar Dhawan was at first slip at the start, Murali Vijay came in at Old Trafford. It didn’t make any difference as Cook was dropped twice at first slip in the fifth Test, by Vijay and Rahane. NO CLUE

Even more glaring was how out of position Penney’s slip fielders were, as pointed out by VVS Laxman. Too many catches fell short because the first slip was too deep.

The other factor that could have gone against Penney was his total submission to Dhoni. While the England fielding coach spends a lot of time training his ‘keeper, Penney was rarely seen putting Dhoni through his paces. And he missed a number of chances.

Though the bowlers fared a bit better, overall under Joe Dawes there’s been little to shout about the bowling. It was for the performances in South Africa and New Zealand that Dawes has paid the price. India should have won Tests in both the series, but the bowlers couldn’t get wickets in the second innings. Winning positions were spurned, in Johannesburg, and then in the second Test in Wellington.

DECLINING FORM

In England too, the pace bowling tapered off after the first two Tests and fitness and form were issues.

Mohammed Shami was unable to hit any rhythm, kept bowling aimlessly in the nets, and in fact was over bowling himself on the eve of the Tests and then looked ragged in the match.

The performance of Umesh Yadav too is a case in point. He lost his edge when he was with the India team. But with KKR, under Wasim Akram, he came roaring back. Whether the changed set-up works for India, it remains to be seen. But it is a warning to the other non-performers, players or the captain. It means the axe is not far away.