It was a momentous occasion when India won the Cricket World Cup 2011 last April, but I don’t know how many Indians had their fingers crossed: Gary Kirsten was leaving. Those of us who have been a part of a sports team, or have been fortunate enough to coach or captain one, will understand the magnitude of that eventuality.Gary Kirsten set up a system of training and started to build an attitude of a winning team – and unfortunately, the intensity of that system seems to have packed bags with him to South Africa.
When commentator Ian Chappell remarked on Day 3 of the second test between Australia and India that Indian captain M.S. Dhoni was a wonderful ODI captain, but has unfortunately carried his “contain-the-batsman” thought-process into the Tests, I then wondered if that were true even during Kirsten’s stint as India’s coach. And then came Dhoni’s own submission.
“Usually, when you come out of India, there comes a phase where the ball doesn’t do much, and there is not much for the bowlers. That’s the time where we need to improve. Not only as a skipper for me, [but] the plans need to be executed really well. Because you have a few fields in mind, if the bowlers stick to that plan and execute well, it looks very good. But once it starts going wrong, it looks very difficult to manage.
For me, that’s a bit vague. I don’t see the clear-thinking captain, backed by a clear-thinking coach, that has marked India’s improvement and consistency during Kirsten’s stint. What Gary Kirsten brought to the side was a feeling of desperation- not only in a match, but also during training, away from the thousands of fans.
I am not trying to cast aspersions on the current coach Duncan Fletcher, but as an Indian cricket fan, I’d really like to know what exactly the players are doing right now (and going to do) to repair the damage done over the past few months.
“They [the players] have got a fair amount of exposure to the Australian bowlers in the last two Test matches..What is important is to switch off from the game. You don’t really want to overdo it. There may be a few individuals who want to spend a bit more time on the field, but I feel it’s always important to switch off from the cricket. That really helps you reduce some stress, and come back in a positive state of mind. I feel that rather than spending more and more time practising, what we need to do is spend some time off the field with some recreational activity and get some time off cricket.”
It is really shocking to hear from our captain, in the middle of an away series when the team is in a lurch, that they aren’t looking to get the basics and fundamentals right, but are going to take time off from the game. If any Australian team, especially one led by the legendary Steve Waugh, lost a single test match, there would be immediate repercussions – they’d be working double-hard to wipe every little speck away!
I wish that the system under Gary Kirsten remains embedded for a long time, just like the work done by Johann Cryuff for FC Barcelona and Sir Matt Busby for Manchester United. By the end of this series or the next, I really wish that Dhoni’s, and Fletcher’s, tactics are right and I’m proven wrong (and Ian Chappell too!) – and that I be damned for doubting the captain’s and team’s efforts. But for now, my fingers have been, and remain, crossed a long time.
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