Indian Batting Order - Lack of experience or mental strength?
4th Test, Day 4 - After 3 days of riveting Test cricket, with fortunes changing in every session, the Indian batsmen took the field for the final round of play. India was once again hurt by the English lower-middle order, with the hosts setting a 245-run target for them to keep the series alive.
What followed was a lamentable exhibit, in a similar fashion as the previous occasions in the series. The openers failed to survive against the new ball, with Anderson and Broad all over them.
India were breathing in the run chase with a gritty 101-run stand between Kohli and Rahane, but for the umpteenth time, Virat's dismissal triggered a collapse, as the visitors lost the remaining six wickets in a space of 61 runs, giving England an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Traditionally, it has been the Indian bowling line up that has been taking the chiding for failing to step up on crucial junctures.
However, of late, it has been the bowlers who have been on the grind, thriving under foreign conditions and consistently picking 20 wickets. The bowlers dominated the scenario in the tour of South Africa, and the ongoing series against England, with the fast bowlers, especially showing a lot of promise.
The fact of the matter is that the Indian batting order is plagued with lack of intent, application and insecurity, Baring Virat Kohli and on some instances, Cheteshwar Pujara, none of the batsmen have shown the perseverance to hang around in the middle, let alone scoring big.
Is it the same batting order that has scored 600-plus continuously in subcontinental conditions? Has the retirement of Fab Five created a void in the batting order? Is Moeen Ali really unplayable or the pitch is doing too much? Do the Indian batsmen really lack experience, or is it the lack of mental strength?
" Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer ." These words of American professor Randy Pausch hold downright relevance as there is no substitute for experience.
The swing on English turf, the pace and bounce on the pitches Down Under, and the turn on the subcontinental track require multiple encounters to evaluate and execute.
However, more than anything else, it is the belief, patience, tenacity and forbearance that equips a player to succeed at the highest level.
The likes of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly did benefit from their experience towards the latter half of their career, but it was their perennial endurance that established them on a pedestal in world cricket.
Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly made their Test debuts together on the Home of Cricket, The Lord's.
Daunted neither by the magnitude of the opposition nor the rich legacy of the ground, the two steered their team out of troubled waters, hitting vital knocks of 95 and 131 in the process. Ganguly scored another century in the successive match at Nottingham, while Dravid followed his impressive debut by adding another 84 runs.
A parallel tale was that of maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who thwarted the English and Australian pace attacks with his valiant efforts on their own backyards.
His hundreds at Manchester, Sydney and Perth during the early phase of his career have borne testimonies to his spellbinding talent.
Another such case was of erstwhile captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who saved Tests against Pakistan and England at their own backyards, playing in a manner opposed to his usual self. In fact, his effort at The Lord's against England turned out to be decisive, as India upstaged the hosts by 1-0 in the series.
The plight of the present batting order can be considered by the fact that Indians, who are famed to be good players of spin and tackled the likes of Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, have succumbed to the likes of Moeen Ali and Nathan Lyon.
The opening slots and lower middle order are the areas of maximum concern, as the middle order looks settled with the likes of Kohli, Pujara and Rahane.
There have been only two 50+ opening stands in the previous seven Tests played overseas, while the lower middle order has also lacked promise, save two knocks of Hardik Pandya.
With Down Under duties approaching near, it is only prudent for the Indian batsmen to bring about a change in their intent and mindset.
The best person to look up to for this is skipper Kohli, who has established himself in a league of his own, with his rigorous training, pristine technique and unerring concentration.
With the bowlers delivering consistently, it is the perfect time for the batsmen to step up and compliment them, to engrave the current Indian unit as one of the most invincible sides in the history of Test cricket.