Everything that’s wrong with Indian cricket at the moment

Ever since India returned back to cricket after the Covid-19 outbreak, multiple issues were noted without any proper explanation from the management. In return, a lot of stakeholders were sacked from their position but the result unfortunately hasn’t changed. After almost a decade without any success in ICC tournaments, the Men in Blue has now lost the ODI series to Bangladesh, raising speculations about the quality of the side at the moment. 

On top of that, fitness has become a major reason to worry about. After India’s defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in the second ODI, skipper Rohit Sharma strictly pointed out that the team cannot afford to carry half-fit individuals. To add to that, for a cricket fan in India, it has become really difficult to recall the last time a full-strength squad was available for selection in the men’s team. National Cricket Academy’s role in keeping players fit is currently under the scanner and no one can actually say with surety that their job is safe at the moment. 

When Sourav Ganguly was elected as new BCCI president in 2019, many backed him to put an end to all the drama but the Prince of Kolkata in the end got involved in one of the most controversial chapters in Indian cricket. Roger Binny, when replaced him at the helm of things, made some changes but apparently, the issues still persist.

Chapter 1 - Too many cooks, spoil the broth

As many as eight captains were in charge of the Indian team in the past twelve months. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane and Jasprit Bumrah were seen leading the Test side on multiple occasions while Rohit, along with KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya were in charge in limited overs cricket team from time to time. Thus, the designated skipper never had enough time to establish his authority in the team.

Also, workload management has played a massive factor in the decline of Indian cricket. It is not just a statement but unfortunately is proving to be a hard fact to digest. Former India head coach, Ravi Shastri recently called out Rahul Dravid for taking a break and the same applies to a lot of cricketers. The players aren’t playing enough to gel well and thus, the results are never favouring the Indian team in major tournaments.

Now, when it comes to captaincy, every individual often tries to bring something new to the table. However, in modern times, how far can one go? None of the captains is sure about their future as the leader of the Indian team and thus, it’s playing the role of a speed breaker in the development of Indian cricket.

Chapter 2 - The Elephant’s Teeth

The famous Hindi dialogue of ‘Hathi ke daant khane ke kuch aur, aur dikhane ke kuch aur’ fits appropriately when talking about Indian cricket at the moment. The dialogue reflects exactly how Rohit Sharma and company played in the recently concluded T20 World Cup.

Leading up to the tournament, the captain clearly mentioned playing T20 cricket in an aggressive manner but cometh the marquee event, the plan completely got dropped and India were seen struggling against quality opponents. The openers were very conservative in their approach and that saw the Men in Blue bowing out of the tournament in the semi-final stage. Now, the question pops up regarding the importance of playing an aggressive brand of cricket in bilaterals if you can't carry that for the tournament.

Well, the dialogue isn’t just restricted to cricket. Behind the scenes, there are a lot of reports that unearthed the ill habits of BCCI. Sourav Ganguly, the former president of the board, was blamed to get involved in the selection of the players and that was not taken well among other members. Being at the helm of things, Ganguly was not allowed to take part in these kinds of discussions but reports yet claim of him taking calls including the infamous captaincy change which again divided the Indian cricket fans into two halves.

Chapter 3 - India cap should be earned, not given

Courtesy of the Indian Premier League, too many cricketers are in the spotlight at the moment. On one hand, it’s brilliant that a lot of domestic players are getting opportunities to represent India but on the other, none of them are getting enough chances to solidify their place in the squad.

During the MS Dhoni era, captain cool remained patient and gave Rohit Sharma plenty of opportunities despite the latter kept on failing to perform. Even Virender Sehwag and Mohammed Kaif earlier revealed that Sourav Ganguly supported them enormously in the initial years and that’s the reason behind their success. Can the modern-day cricketers say so?

There are already many supporters who want Rishabh Pant out of the white-ball squad and needless to say that constant chopping and changing is definitely not helping Indian cricket. Out of 28 cricketers, who made their debut for India (across formats) since 2021, only a handful of them are in the scheme of things at the moment. 

Thus, the question arises whether the team management is giving opportunities for fun or there’s actually a vision behind all of this.

Chapter 4 - Excuse me, the women’s team doesn’t have a head coach?

Well, that’s a new problem. With the Women's T20 World Cup set to begin in two months, the women’s team doesn’t have a head coach at the moment. Former coach Ramesh Powar has joined the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and no one has been appointed in the meantime. Hrishikesh Kantikar has been appointed the batting coach and will also serve as the head coach for the next series against Australia but how can one ignore the fact that there’s no designated head coach of the Indian team at the moment? Would it be acceptable in men’s cricket?

Chapter 5 - You are Fired!

After the Sourav Ganguly saga in Indian cricket, the new president Roger Binny along with secretary Jay Shah and other top officials sacked all the members of the All India Senior Men’s Selection Committee. The chief selector Chetan Sharma remained mum throughout his tenure and his team was also blamed for not attending enough domestic and international matches.

Even though it’s a good sign that the authority is stepping in and making a move but it also highlights their failure of appointing quality leaders in the past.