Is time ticking fast for the Batch of 1973?

The setback to India in the recently concluded Test series has raised many questions in minds of Indian cricket followers. The 'strong' Indian middle order looked 'muddle order' and failed miserably in the Test Series withSachin, Rahul and Saurav together scoring less than what Virender Sehwag alone did in the entire series. But has the success of the young ODI team in the following ODI series tried to answer few of the questions? I personally thought the collective failure of the Indian middle order as one of those series where they failed to live to their potential but the success of the ODI team has pressed me to give it a second thought.



Traditionally India has had some wonderful batsman right from Ranjit Singhji, Lala Amarnath, Vijay Hazare,Vinoo Mankad, Sunny Gavaskar, Gundappa Vishwanath and Mohd. Azharuddin. But the current middle order has been one of the strongest in the history of Indian Cricket and perhaps world cricket. It has been pleasing to watch the Batch of 1973 donning Indian colours together and giving us some memorable moments in Test cricket and bringing about a turnaround in the fortunes of Indian Cricket. They have been instrumental in changing the perception of the Indian Team from poor travellers to one of the most competitive teams playing away from home. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly along with VVS Laxman have stood firm and delivered consistently over the last decade. I am sure many Indian fans would feel as proud as I do aboutKolkata (2001), Kandy (2001), Leeds (2002), Adelaide (2003), Multan and Rawalpindi (2004), Kolkata (2005),Jamaica (2005), Johannesburg (2006), Trent Bridge (2007) and Perth (2007).

But should we read something in the failure of our strong middle order in the last two series. Probably its time to do a SWOT analysis.

The trio have distinguished records having scored close to 27000 Test runs between them with two (Rahul andSachin) averaging close to 55. Not long back Sachin returned from Down Under as the top scorer with two centuries and maximum runs he ever scored in any Test Series throughout his career. Dravid has seen one of his worst bad patches in the past 2 years but has chipped in with important innings like the one in Perth andChennai. Saurav played an one of his best test innings on a mine field at Kanpur to square the series against South Africa.

There is no doubt about their caliber and their contribution to the Indian team but the threat to the Indian team is they are not getting any younger. The T20 has influenced cricket in a big way and has increased the pace of the game and it has its effect on Tests and ODIs as well. Fitness is extremely important in today's context and fielding standards of the teams across the world increasing by the day, the batch of 1973 are not really the best to have on the field. Dravid has been extremely safe at slips, Sachin energetic at his best. Past couple of years have shown enough to believe that reflexed of Sachin and Dravid are not what they were few years back. Rahulhas spilled some dollies and Sachin is getting injured more often than he has been in the past. One needs to give them the credit for being so fit for more than a decade with so much cricket being played. Saurav has never been a good athelete and his bowling does not offer much variety either. This has made him a one dimensional player. The failure of all three to adapt to spin bowling in the recent series has raised doubts about the future of these stalwarts of Indian Cricket. One needs to give credit to Muthiah Muralitharan and Ajatha Mendis with the latter surprising the Indian middle order with this unconventional varieties. But the Indians with so much experience behind them and considered to be the best players of spin bowling were unable to decipher the puzzle Mendis and Co (not Muralitharan and Co) threw at them. The intent and application seem to be missing. Indians failed to capitalise on the good starts provided by the openers similar to what had happened when Indians last toured Sri Lanka in 2001.

Imagine a situation when the three would leave Test Cricket and India losing on experience of more than 350 test matches put together. It would create a huge void in the evergreen Indian middle order. The situation would be similar to what Australia faced in 1984 with retirement of Greg Chappell, Kim Huges and Dennis Lilllee in January 1984. It took Australia almost a decade to be a force to reckon in World Cricket post 1984. India with its set up can face a much worse situation. Indian cricket administrators with their vision shorter than memory of Indian cricket fans don't seem to look very far. The problem is India would not like a situation where they have to loose so much of experience within a short span of time. ODI is a different ball game than test cricket. Replacing players of calibers of Sachin, Rahul and Saurav can be no easy tasks. Test cricket throws its own set of challenges where a bowler is not tied with limited overs to bowl at a batsman and rules and pitches increasingly favouring batsman. In ODI's players probably have to worry about 10 overs of Ajantha Mendis and can plan to score against the rest of the attack, but in Test cricket a bowlers comes at you as long as he likes.

Has the time arrived to break the 'Fab Four' as it is called and blood youngsters into the rusty middle order? This can be tricky given the next series this winter against the mighty World Champions. Or does these great batsman deserve another chance to redeem themselves as the best middle order in the world. The current Indian team has had a habit to raise their game when pitted against the best. Playing against the mighty Australians should be motivating enough for Sachin, Rahul and Saurav. Sachin and Rahul have extremely good records against the Aussies and have always lived up to the challenge. It was against the same opposition in 2001 thatRahul Dravid emerged out of his self imposed shackles to script an amazing turnaround in the history of the game with VVS Laxman in Kolkata. Sachin has carried a threat with his name and has been a pain forAustralians most of the time (though his second inning performance in tests have been indifferent by his standards). Sachin and Rahul have been two giant pillars of Indian middle order for the past decade. This leavesSaurav who has made an amazing comeback to the Indian team as the weakest link. I believe somebody needs to talk to our senior players and carve out a plan and help shape their future and of Indian team.

A look at the alternatives is necessary before jumping the gun and closing doors on anybody.

• Yuvraj Singh has established himself as a premier ODI player for India but in Test matches he has been patchy. He has his problems against quality spin bowling and bouncy pitches. Off late he speaks more than he scores :)
• M S Dhoni is a very good leader and brilliant ODI player but he still needs to establish himself in Test matches to earn the respect he needs to lead the side.
• Rohit Sharma has shown promise during the ODI series down under but he needs to tighten his technique and show the hunger for runs to replace players of such high quality.
• S Badrinath has shown promise while handling spin in his first ODI and has been consistent in domestic matches
• Suresh Raina has learnt the lesson the harder way and is showing how good a player he is. He has shown the tendency to throw his wicket away after establishing himself at the crease
• Mohd. Kaif though he doesn't feature in the memory of Indian selectors but is a hard working cricketer who has the experience of representing the country

The options India has are good but they need to be nurtured and mentored to really serve Indian Cricket for a long time. I feel its time for the selectors to blood maybe one of the youngsters in the middle order. This should shake the middle order a bit and create a window for a youngster. Rahul (if he overcomes his own apprehensions and comes out being the wall of Indian middle order) and Sachin (as nobody in Indian Cricket has guts to show the door to him) I believe have another year or two of cricket remaining. After all Steve Waugh and Shane Warnewere fit enough to stretch their careers beyond 38. The youngsters will in return learn a lot from our experienced middle order and will be ready by the time our senior batsman decide to call it a day.

The success of the young Indian ODI team I feel is one of the best things to happen to Indian Cricket in recent times. It has put pressure on the Indian middle order to perform or perish. If they push the middle order to redeem themselves as the best middle order in the series against the Australians then they would add another crowning glory to their distinguished careers. That would be another proud moment for Indian Cricket. If the middle order fails then it simply makes the job of the Indian selectors easier. But do they have the guts and the vision to comply, time will be the best judge!!!