India's never-ending all-rounder obsession!

India’s 16 that were picked for the Sri Lankan tour originally, didn’t have an ‘all-rounder’; a few eyebrows rose as a consequence. When a fast bowler got injured, an all-rounder was drafted into the mix as the replacement! Indian team selections or replacements have never been flawless, neither in terms of reasoning or justification nor according to logic at times!

The debate around Irfan getting a chance at international cricket is a different topic altogether. The bigger picture is the obsession surrounding the word ‘all-rounder’ in and around India’s cricketing circles. How would you define an all-rounder in cricket? It is such a subjective question to answer and more so when we have a habit of analyzing the game so much that we demand a certain set of numbers to qualify a player as an all-rounder.

The legacy of the all-rounder community is pretty rich – Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Imran Khan et al. The modern day generation has names like Flintoff, Kallis, Cairns, Harris, Razzaq and currently Shakib Al Hasan, Watson, Hafeez etc. What knit these names together are their performances in 50-over or the impact their dual armory (fielding not included as it may or may not be an attribute) has had in ODI cricket. Test cricket and test teams are generally chosen with specialists forming the core and the all-rounder, if any, is expected to chip in. In 50-over cricket the all-rounder is the go-to man for the captain; can expect him to deliver as a floater in the batting order or throw the ball to him to break a partnership. In T20 cricket you don’t need a ‘genuine’ all-rounder to constitute your line-up, for part-time bowlers or pinch-hitters can satiate that requirement.

50-over cricket is thus the ideal format for an all-rounder to display and maximize his dual skills. If statistics are the basis, India has had in its history only 20 all-rounders (min. 500 runs and 25 wickets in ODI cricket); 20 out of 193 that have played ODI cricket for India! India’s obsession (fans, media, team, critics included) for a genuine all-rounder have never been fictitious but have never had an answer. Robin Singh, Ravi Shastri, Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Jadeja were a few names that contested for the role of the allrounder. Recently we have had Agarkar, Irfan, Ravindra Jadeja, and Yusuf Pathan featuring in that role. Indian cricket followers have never been satisfied with the execution of the role of any player in the shoes of ‘all-rounder’; either the player is forced to squeeze one attribute of his arsenal or expected to be infallible in both!

It is a fact that India has never managed to produce ‘the-genuine’ all-rounder after Kapil Dev (the one and only instance for India); there could be a few reasons for that. Indian culture hasn’t produced too many physically strong cricket players. School cricket and domestic cricket doesn’t encourage dual skilled players, as subsequent promotion is based more on numbers. Selectors aren’t clear with what they expect the all-rounder to deliver, consequently creeping in confusion. India won the world cup last year without major contributions from the ‘genuine’ all-rounder but rather from a batsman who could fill in 10 overs with success. The all-rounder puzzle continues to remain an unsolved mystery in Indian cricket and the search to find the missing link doesn’t cease. Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan is back in the fold. He will have an opportunity to prove a point, but he himself remains a bit of a puzzle! MS Dhoni may or may not be satisfied with Irfan’s inclusion but for an Indian fan’s sake, the inclusion of a genuine ‘all-rounder’ is a reassuring move!