England vs India 2014: The blueprint that will deliver an end to India's overseas woes
MS Dhoni’s devils departed to England looking reassured, and energetic about the gargantuan prospect that stands in front of them. Dhoni, in particular, will remind himself that he is immensely fortunate to still be the leader of the pack, after suffering 10 defeats in 15 Test matches that India have played since 2011. He can’t afford to slip up anymore, and still hold on to his captaincy – with due respect to the BCCI, N Srinivasan, and Dhoni’s integrity in itself. From national pride’s perspective, Team India somehow have to put an end to this perennial ignominy that has taken the sheen off the glory Dhoni and Team India have earned by winning the World T20 in 2007, the ICC 50-over World Cup back home in 2011, and the Champions Trophy in England in 2013.
Coming back to this 5-match Test series – first of its kind after India went down 1-2 against West Indies in the Caribbean, we all are of the notion that even if Team India gets off to a slow start, and maybe goes down 0-1, they can wrestle their way back into the series because it’s a long, 5-match Test series. But don’t forget that if we do go down in the 1st Test match in Nottingham, the 2nd Test match is played at the Mecca of cricket, where Team India haven’t won a Test match since the 5-wicket win over the Poms in 1986.
Albeit Lord’s has been a favorite hunting ground for India in limited overs cricket – most conspicuously, the World Cup triumph in 1983 on this day, and the NatWest triangular series win in 2002, Team India have struggled to replicate that form in the Tests they have played at Lord’s. That is something we need to be mindful of, and hence a win in Trent Bridge, or even a draw would be the ideal way to kick-off this crucial series for both sides.
Indian selectors have picked an 18-man squad, which has six genuine fast-medium bowlers, a specialist spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin – if you deem him so, two all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja, and Stuart Binny, two specialist wicket-keeper batsmen in MS Dhoni and Wriddhiman Saha, and 7 specialist batsmen, for the 5-match Test series against England. At this moment I wouldn’t want to delve into the selection policy, and who has made it in place of whom, is their selection justified, and so on and so forth. But, one thing that needs mentioning is the number of medium pacers that have been picked, and the consequent implications of it.
In conditions that hardly favor genuine spin-bowling, I would prefer a 4-man pace attack – wish MS Dhoni thinks that way as well, to go with a genuine all-rounder, and six batsmen. That would be my preferred, and yet an amiable combination, which should render you the desired balance.
In the past though, Indian sides have always fielded three medium pacers, one spinner, and seven specialist batsmen. It intrigues me whether MS Dhoni sticks with it, or he goes in with four medium pacers for the 1st Test match in Nottingham. With Ashwin’s capability to render you crucial runs lower down the order, I’d use him as a batting all-rounder, who bats at No.7, after Dhoni, and in that case Jadeja might not find a place in the side. No disrespect to Ashwin and his trade, but in overseas conditions, if he can give me 30s and 40s lower down the order, I’d take that option, and make optimum use of his batting capability.
My four medium pacers for the 1st Test match would be Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, and Varun Aaron – this quartet picks itself – based on the amount of time they have been involved with the national side, lately.
Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma/Ajinkya Rahane, and MS Dhoni would make my six specialist batsmen, who would do good to deliver 400 runs in an innings on an average.
As we all know, its easy to outline a blueprint, put out the task for everyone, and even keep a target to work towards, but its inexplicably difficult to get things done – more so when you’ve got to be consistent over a 5-match Test series.
Also, when it comes to assigning a role to everybody in the play XI, MS Dhoni has to be proactive – something that he has been shy of during India’s dismal overseas run since 2011.