India’s tour of England - a disaster in waiting?
Well, the IPL is gradually heading towards its final stages. Certain unexpected developments did take place, such as the fall of champions Mumbai Indians and favorites Royal Challengers Bangalore. We also saw the rise of Kings XI Punjab, which has given us a touch of thrill and excitement. But the overall picture pertaining to the performance of Indian national team players is not a rosy one. This is a matter of grave concern for one and all.
It seems that the below par performance of Team India in the T20 World Cup final and the Asia cup is not likely to improve on the bouncy pitches of England. First of all, the so called strength and backbone of team India’s batting line has failed to impress in the ongoing IPL. Be it Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh or all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja - everyone has been inconsistent. In fact, the end result of any match being played by team India outside the country always depends on the basis of the batting skills displayed by our star batsmen. England also has a balanced bowling attack led by Anderson and Broad. They could prove quite lethal in favourable conditions.
It is an established fact that our bowling attack is not very effective and the onus of winning the match always lies on our batsmen. Whatever hopes were generated by Mohammad Shami have been washed away after seeing his performances on Indian soil in the ongoing IPL season 7. R Ashwin has also become a bowler who strikes only under suitable conditions. Sir Jadeja’s magic has not worked during last one year.
To face a team like England, that too on the pitches of Leeds, Lords and Old Trafford, will prove to be an uphill task for our out of form batsmen. Also, in the absence of a solid and trustworthy pace attack, the bowling looks toothless. Bowlers like Mohit Sharma or Amit Mishra can prove fruitful only when the team gets a couple of early wickets. Otherwise, the English batsmen like Ian Bell and Alastair Cook will be striking as per their wish and whims.
Overall, the tour of England will prove to be a disaster if the management do not take few bold decisions. We need to include young and capable players like Sanju Samson, Manan Vohra and Sandeep Sharma. Many of the fans strongly believe that this is high time that seniority should no more be a criterion for inclusion in the team. India is changing rapidly, and so are the expectations of young Indian supporters.