What next? Agenda for Dravid and India

By John Cheeran
What happens to Pakistan should not necessarily happen to India.
Pakistan, for the second consecutive time, are chucked out of the World Cup.
The defeat to Ireland has led most unfortunately to the death of Pakistan’s South African coach Bob Woolmer. Obviously, even a seasoned campaigner like Woolmer found incapable of handling the pressures of non-performing Pakistan too much to handle.
Now, what fate awaits India’s Aussie coach Greg Chappell?
India are ever more closer to Pakistan, much more than mere neighbours, having lost to a nation which they actively carved out of Pakistan in 1971. Bangladeshis have paid back India in gratitude.
Chappell came in as India’s coach with a specific objective of winning the World Cup. Now Rahul Dravid’s boys are standing on the cliff with little room for manoeuvres. Too many lessons, too little gains.
Failure to reach the Super Eight (and that looks like to be the most realistic scenario) would be utter disgrace for Chappell as coach. The sensible thing, in such an event, for Chappell would be to pack his bags and say a big thank you to the BCCI.
The Indian team, in the forefront, those chosen 15 cricketers, deserve to be ostracized by television watching cricket fans and turnstile lovers. And advertising executives are likely to be chastened by the bitter experience of the 2007 World Cup.
Today Dravid’s boys play Bermuda. It’s a game they should win with ease. And that was the belief I had when India played Bangladesh on Saturday too.
A few wins at home against a Sri Lanka without their crafty bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Muttaiah Muralitharan were not the ideal preparation for India. Well, it’s not lack of preparation that upended Indians against Bangladesh.
Few in the Indian team have the ability to do quick thinking whether at the bowling or batting crease.
It’s one thing to lose a few early wickets against a disciplined but hardly menacing attack. All teams are bound to suffer such setbacks.
But a professional team should be able to rebuild the innings even with in the short span of 50 overs on a track such as the one at Port of Spain, one among the many re-laid wickets in the West Indies.
Significantly, on the eve of the match, captain Dravid had said wickets are like a mystery in the West Indies. But he had quickly added before the match against Bangladesh that his side had the flexibility to adapt to any challenge offered by the mysterious nature of the wickets in the West Indies.
But Indian batting did not show quick thinking to wriggle out of the tight spot the Bangladeshis dragged them into after the early ambush of Virender Sehwag and Robin Uthappa. Sachin Tendulkar was nothing but a billboard that carried a defunct brand.
Instinct for self-preservation kept Sourav Ganguly alive till the 44th over, but that was hardly for the Indian cause.
In situations such as these it does not matter the margin of your defeat, it only matters whether you win or lose.
It was ridiculous to see Ganguly running for a totally uncalled for single off the very first legitimate ball of the innings and in the process, running into the Bangladesh bowler and thereby, almost setting up the run out of Virender Sehwag.
It was impossible, then, to miss the writing on the body language of Ganguly.
And Ganguly’s crawl at the wicket was not what India required at that stage.
Before the tournament started it has been pointed out the need for the set batsman to fine tune the innings and deliver the hammer blows on the enemy in the final overs.
But Ganguly’s pusillanimity, who had the luxury of opening the innings, left the lower order batsmen with little time to play themselves in.
It can be said that Dravid erred in batting first after winning the toss. But then Indian captain was apparently swayed by the fact that Sri Lanka had larruped a 300-plus total against Bermuda in the first match of the Group. Also, Dravid would not have wanted to repeat Sourav Ganguly’s stupid mistake of not batting first in the 2003 final against Australia.
Dravid would be quite right, if he asked himself, was it mistake to rely on the strength of the side, which everyone says is its batting.
Yes, to have trust in men such as Sehwag is a crime indeed.
I had considered Dravid as a realist and the Indian captain has all along said that his boys can only give their best and the country would be satisfied with it.
Yes, Dravid has not promised India the World Cup, but even he will not dare to counter if I say India was hardly at their best against Bangladesh, along with a billion souls.