England v India - Let the Baptism by fire begin for team India
Cricket in the subcontinent is a funny game, people worship it like no other sport in the region and when the home side is performing well they are praised like anything, however, when the team fails to deliver, all h**l breaks loose.
This has been seen happening in the past with teams from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964.
Before the tournament, no one had even imagined the World Champions to be completely outplayed by England, a side which has not particularly done well against teams from the subcontinent.
Nonetheless, the Indians came to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 carrying the past glories with them and hoping to run over the hosts without hesitation.
Fans were more interested in watching Indian’s master blaster http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Tendulkar-c2556 score his anticipated 100th century against the Poms more than anything else, however, the first match at Lord’s changed everything for India and the fairy tale was over as the champions wokeup to a bitter revelation as they were flabbergasted by the English after conceding a defeat of 196 runs.
The demise in the first match did not sound the alarm bells within the touring squad as there was a general perception that team India would rise to the occasion, however, they were thrown overboard once again in the second Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, where they were handed a beating of 319 runs.
By this time now, the Indians had realized that in order to prevail in England they needed to call-in reinforcements, which resulted in the comeback of ace opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/V-Sehwag-c2739. The Indians had pinned high hopes on the batsman who had been out of action due to an injury.
Nonetheless, expectations were high and turning a blind eye from reality the bigwigs in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) expected a miracle from Sehwag, however, their hopes were shot down quickly in the third Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham, where the opener failed to knock a run off his bat in both innings.
The inclusion of Sehwag is a clear testament to the lack of vision within in the BCCI, who failed to look beyond the inclusion of an out of form player instead of going for a younger guy.
This action is perhaps a proof that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 are not paying any attention towards creating a formidable backup.
India should have taken lead from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 who at their peak during the last decade always had formidable backup players and when the pros took their final bow, the youngsters were always there to fill void.
India have now lost the Test series by 4-0 and also slipped from their number one ranking in Test cricket but before they return home, they still have to face the English in a five-match one-day series, beginning from 3 September, 2011.
While the Indians who have a better record in the limited overs format might beat the hosts, the humiliation in the Test series will be hard to forget.
The English and the Indian media have already pointed their guns towards Mahendra Singh led team and it is only a matter of time before the Indian cricket board also decides to baptise the national squad by introducing indispensable changes.
Time has finally arrived for the cricket authorities in India to take a bold step and sideline the big stars who have gone over-the-hill and are now a liability for the national team than an asset.
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