DISEQUILIBRIUM

When or why not, is the big question that has dominated mind space
ever since the rag tag bobtail Indian cricket side has been getting a
thrashing in Oz. The big four have flopped miserably in Australia,
their slowing, even maladroit reflexes being caught out by young
muscular Australian fast bowlers. Though the highest wicket taker, I
must confess was an older swing bowler called Ben Hilfenhaus, but this
too threw into stark relief the fact that our aging batters were found
short in terms of technical exactitude. After the ignominy of getting
bowled repeatedly in Australia, I actually thought that Rahul Dravid
who is probably the smartest of the big four – Sachin Tendulkar, VVS
Laxman, Virender Sehwag and himself – would chuck it up at the end of
the final Test. But he chose not to and this was most baffling.

Dravid had given up on the Indian captaincy most abruptly after
winning the series in England when we toured in 2007. I was certain
that he and probably Laxman would call it quits because they had
dominated the game over time, made a name for themselves and would not
like to hang on to the last vestiges of fame and glory. They have
nothing to prove to anyone. Their defining stand at the Eden against
the Aussies in 2001 is part of cricketing folklore. Seen as the
cricketing version of the gunfight at OK Corral, they enacted the
roles of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday with great distinction.

Unfortunately Sachin Tendulkar, a great servant to Indian cricket, may
also be overstaying his welcome. The world and I believe that he is
one innings away from regaining form and more importantly scoring his
100th international century. Alas, we are still waiting. The wait is
now getting excruciatingly painful. He has two more shots at doing it,
if Dhonis’s rotation policy doesn’t scupper it, that is. Logic
suggests that Tendulkar should smash a breath taking century and then
announce his retirement from one day cricket. The Sydney Cricket
Ground also known as Sachin Cricket Ground will be a fitting venue for
such an event. In fact, Sachin should do what Dravid and Laxman could
not get themselves to do – call it quits.

It pains all us cricket junkies to watch the Fab Four making mockery
of their collective ability by coming out again and again and then
playing from memory, pale shadows of great cricketers from the not so
distant past. It hurts all us junkies to watch the perplexed
expressions on their faces when they are bowled or given out leg
before. The expression is one of wonderment. What they should realize
is that time stops for no one and cricket at the end of the day also
involves physicality. In Viru’s case this is most apparent – a typical
hand-eye coordination player with no foot movement whatsoever - he has
proved to be the most destructive batsman of his generation. But
something is clearly amiss. The famed hand-eye coordination and the
innate ability to pick the length and smash the ball to any part of
the field with his customary derring do is missing. Maybe even
forgotten.

India does not play Test cricket for a long time this year. I think
the next series is against Sri Lanka in the Emerald Isle around the
time the T 20 World Cup is played there. Of course, India has a full
home season with the English playing a four Tests on a longish tour
after a long time, followed by the Kiwis over next winter. The big
three will certainly be closer to 40, their skills they would like to
believe undiminished, but flesh on the whole much weaker. Many great
players have understood the need to go at the peak. Some cases in
point in India are Vijay Merchant and Sunny Gavaskar. On a bunsen in
Bangalore against Iqbal Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed, Gavaskar battled all
alone only to be adjudged caught off his elbow virtually on the
periphery of one of his greatest centuries. There and then at 37 with
at least another year left in the tank, he decided it was time to go.
He did play the 1987 World Cup after that, but quit the longer format
with that amazing innings replete with perfectitude.

Tendulkar has had a glittering career, some say that despite the
mountain of runs, he may have underachieved personally. Say in
comparison to Brian Charles Lara, there are those who believe that he
may have shown longevity, but in terms of quality of runs, it is not
the same thing. This is not to belittle ‘tiny ten’, but there may be
the odd demon that the little big fella must be wrestling with at
night in the solitude of his room. Winning causes is arguably the
single biggest bugbear, just as consistency has been. If my memory
serves me right and if I am not wrong, Tendulkar has never scored 500
runs in a Test series. Tendulkar can walk on water for all us fans and
nobody dare take potshots at him. But the time has come to assess
whether the fab four with Sachin at the vanguard has to make way for
the young turks and newbies. India plays Sri Lanka, England and New
Zealand in Test cricket, all in the sub continent later this year. We
needed to groom the next lot of batters here and now. The crop looks
promising, more so if we are playing at home. Gautam Gambhir can be
the new fulcrum around whom the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma,
Manoj Tiwary, Maneesh Pandey and Cheteshwar Pujara will have to form
the nucleus of a young India.

It is clear that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is obviously uncomfortably with
Sachin and Viru in the one day side. He wanted to invest in youth just
as he has done in the past and succeed. The selectors, I hear didn’t
allow him that leeway. He wanted both Viru and Sachin out, but they
were foisted on him in Oz. A combination of abject performances and
disquiet in the dressing is not welcome. On the last tour of Oz, India
won the tri series against the same opposition and did so in style.
The team for most part was youthful though Tendulkar played two great
innings in the two finals against Oz. Five years later it is
imperative that Sachin gets the monkey off his back. And then walks
into the sunset. You have given us much enjoyment, transported us into
an unknown orbit of delight and we have lived the game with you, but
score the hundred and quit. No cricketer is bigger than the game, this
is the game that we love and adore. The time is here and now, go when
you want to not when a group of former cricketers, lesser mortals than
you – also called selectors – want you to. Otherwise the old comment
of the there being an elephant in the room and nobody wanting to
acknowledge its presence will come crawling back to haunt one and all.
Learn from Sunny, play the game and go at the top.

-MAIL TODAY,26TH FEB,2012