country’s domestic industries from foreign competition by taxing imports.” The economy might have opened up but Indian cricket is suffering from a culture of protectionism that is not likely to end well.
The Indian team narrowly managed to avoid losing to Bangladesh in a Test for the first time, thanks to timely intervention from Shreyas Iyer and R Ashwin in a nervy chase of 145. In no five-day encounter in the past have
Bangladesh even run India close. What is worrying is that there aren’t one or two issues to point to, which would then open up a route to looking for solutions.
Let’s start with the top order.
With Rohit Sharma missing, KL Rahul was in charge. In four Test matches this year, Rahul has scored 137 runs at an average of 17.12, not crossing 25 in his last seven innings. What’s more, his approach has been so defensive and diffident that it spooks batsmen padded up in the dressing-room.
Then there is Virat Kohli. Criticising him is treated as an act of treason. But, the facts speak quite loudly. While he ended a run of 1000-plus days without an international century in the T20 World Cup, his returns in Test cricket in
the last three years have been nonexistent. Since 2020, Kohli has scored 917 runs in 20 Tests, at an average of 26.2. He’s crossed 50 six times in his last 36 innings and not made it to 80 once in this period.
When you drill-down the stats a bit more, it becomes almost embarrassing: In 2020, Kohli averaged 19.33, in 2021 it was 28.21 and in 2022 it is 26.5. No Test No. 4 should be an automatic starter with these numbers over three years.
Unfortunately, the prevalent sense in Indian cricket seems to be that some players are irreplaceable.
Rahul Dravid, the coach, believes in giving players a long rope, to the extent of thinking that those youngsters who
have been given chances have not done enough to replace incumbents. But, these chances have been few and
far between, and there must come a time when players cannot keep their places on past glory. While each of these players are special, and have achieved great things, there must be a price to be paid for non-performance.
If Kohli and Rahul can keep their places despite repeated lack of runs, how can Kuldeep Yadav be dropped after being player of the match? Did the Indian thinktank misread the pitch for the second Test? Does the management
think they picked the right eleven for the Test?
The buck usually stops with the captain, but Rahul is a stand-in for Rohit Sharma. At a time when Rahul’s place in the team under the scanner it is inconceivable that he, inexperienced a captain as he is, made those calls himself.
What does this tell us about Dravid as coach? Equally, why are there so many questions and no answers.
The BCCI effectively sacked the entire selection committee after India’s exit in the T20 World Cup in Australia. Almost a month later, we are no closer to having a selection panel in place. When you have independent selectors, there is a semblance of checks and balances being in place, even if captain and coach run the show. The culture of protectionism, whether from coach to players, or from board to coaches, is problematic. When you don’t put merit, performance and results front and centre, process and intent can only get you that far.
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