Can India beat England?

The one day series between India and England is due to start in 2 days time with India as hosts this time. The series is being touted as a "Revenge" series by all the Indian cricket fans. Before this series, India toured England where they lost all the matches they played in all the formats and were humiliated by the English team. Indians lost the no. 1 ranking in tests and were displaced from the no. 2 ranking in ODI's. So this series becomes all the more important to the Indian players and fans alike. The 5 match one day series starts on 14 October at Hyderabad. But can India actually take revenge from the English and beat them? Which factors favor them and which do not?

Venue- This is the biggest favorable factor for the Indian team and the reason why most people believe India can beat England in the series. The Indian team becomes an all-together different team when India is the venue. They have been playing non-stop cricket at home for the past 2 years. They played the ODI world cup in 2011(which they won), the IPL and the Champions league T20. Grounds in India are small and the boundaries even smaller with slow and low pitches. These are conditions tailor-made for Indian batsmen who simply love playing here. Also the bowlers have become habitual in bowling in these conditions and Indian spinners will come into play. On the other hand the English batsmen will find it a little difficult to adjust to these slow pitches from the seaming and lively pitches in England. Their bowlers are expected to struggle in India's "non bowler friendly" pitches.

Team- India's team is still not full strength and as many as 5-6 top choice players are facing injuries. Thus this might prove to be India's undoing in the upcoming series. This was the same reason why India lost the ODI series in England. India will miss Tendulkar, Sehwag, Zaheer, Rohit, Yuvraj and others. The young replacements look good but do not seem to be capable of taking India to victory. They play well in patches but certainly the lack of experience makes them throw the matches at crunch situations which was clearly visible in England. The pitches and conditions might favor the Indians but what can they do when the team itself is not at full strength.

Dhoni- It seems Dhoni has lost the Midas touch he had until a few months ago. Before the disastrous England series, Dhoni won almost every tournament he played in, be it the World cup, no. 1 test ranking, IPL or the champions league. But since 3 months, he has lost the no. 1 test ranking, no. 2 ODI ranking, succumbed to first test series loss and failed to make even the semis in the CLT20 with his dear Chennai Super Kings.. He looks badly fatigued and out of form. His body and mind clearly need rest. He was given rest for just the ODI series in West indies and before and after that he has been playing non-stop cricket. Even the luck seems to be turning its face away from him. Nowadays his keeping skills and his decisions on the field are also being criticized. In such a situation how can a team do well. Dhoni definitely needs rest and in this condition an Indian win looks highly unlikely.

5 things India needs to do

After the humiliating 4-0 drubbing of India at the hands of the English cricket team, Players, support staff and board members are running helter skelter to hide their faces. Nobody knows exactly what happened to the no. 1 team with champion players in a month. Everybody is keen to know what steps India should undertake to regain their position and repair their system to build a champion team once again. I hereby list 5 things India must do to be a good test team again.

1.  Remove politicians from BCCI- Board of control for cricket in India, this essentially should be a cricket body run by people involved with cricket at present or in the past but what we get is a business firm run by money-hungry politicians treating its cricketers like mere machines. I mean how can people who know nothing about cricket decide what is good for players and what is not. They have no knowledge of what goes on in a cricket field, how tired a player feels after a tournament, how matches must be scheduled to give rest to players and how the National cricket academy must be run. They only know how to make money out of everything. Its time the BCCI is run by former players or coaches who have played cricket and know what is actually good for a player. they are the ones who know what goes on in a cricketer's life. they would then be able to take efficient decisions about cricket. Until then Indian players would keep playing series after series and India would continue getting whitewashed again and again.

2. Quality Coaches and Physios- This is one area where India needs to improve in both domestic as well as international cricket. Players these days hide injuries and play far too many matches than their capacity and aggravate injuries. Quality Physios are required that look after a player and provide rest to the player as soon as even a minor niggle comes along. BCCI has got more than enough money so its not a problem to hire quality physios. Coaches are required at the various academies that cater to a particular type of players and help nurture their talent. Like a bowler should be treated like a bowler and should not be asked to bat or cut down on pace or anything like that. Those things can be done once he is ready for the international team. This can be done only if quality coaches are available in every state cricket team. there should be different coaches for batting, bowling and even fielding. The national Cricket academy has become a joke and money has to be spent to ensure it actually looks like a cricket school where you can learn techniques and start from the scratch. Once again money is no problem so this can be done easily.

3. County stints- In the series against England our top choice players like RP Singh, Sreesanth, Raina, Mukund were found wanting against conditions different from home. Bowlers did n't know how to bowl in bowling friendly conditions while the batsmen were clueless against seam and swing with a little bit of bounce. They all need a stint at county in the free time when they are busy in the IPL or silly reality shows. We all know what a county stint did to Zaheer Khan. these players can gain invaluable experience in the testing conditions and would be fresh and ready to cope with the top international teams. Bowlers specially Sreesanth and RP need to learn how to bowl properly in conditions where there is swing and seam. They would learn to bowl in proper areas while the batsmen like Raina need to  learn to play short balls and the moving balls as quickly as possible. The talent would be wasted if they fail to cope with different conditions. Instead of our faulty domestic cricket or the national cricket academy these players should look to go to county or Australian domestic cricket to fine tune themselves.

4. Rotation of players- Now this is the first thing team management has to learn before they can dream of becoming no. 1 again. Players were injured because the same players were required in all the formats continuously by the Indian team. Add to it the IPL and the ill timed tours like West Indies and what we get is a fatigued team which surrenders meekly to a strong team. India have significant amount of young players who can take each other's position in different series. Every series some or the other player is injured and new selections are made. But the new players keep warming the bench. One chance and a failure and they are gone for years in the waiting. New players need to be given a chance for atleast 1 or 2 series. Regular rotation of fast bowlers and other players would ensure everybody is fit for big series like the one against England.

5. Revamp Domestic Cricket- India's domestic cricket is one of the silliest and boring things ever made. I mean pointless 4 day matches on wickets where keeper gets the ball after 3 bounces, batsmen score 700 runs while the bowlers look on and the team wins on 1st inning leads. This needs immediate attention. Wickets have to be improved considerably and the system needs reforms. Teams winning on first innings lead is unjustified. That makes it a batsman's game and the result is we don't get quality bowlers. Instead points must be awarded according to the team's chances of winning and losing. Whether they can actually chase down a target or take 10 wickets depending on the situation. Money has to be spent on quality soil from abroad so that some pitches become genuinely bouncing and seaming. That will ensure fast bowlers enjoy bowling rather than throwing balls to let batsmen pile on runs. And more than fast bowlers, I think India now lacks quality spinners too. On these wickets they might take wickets but on true pitches abroad, they look like lambs. These wickets make sure neither the batsmen nor the bowlers get enough confidence for international cricket. Domestic cricket experience in India does n't count much for youngsters in international cricket as we have seen players putting up stellar performances in Ranji look clueless in international cricket.

Would England dominate cricket for long?

England has clinched the top spot from India in tests in style sparking off the debate whether they would be the long time dominators like Australia and West Indies or the 4 month dominators like South Africa or maybe the India like dominators, who just manage to dominate for 2 years and are then buried off. Seeing England's recent performance against the previously no. 1 ranked side particularly beating them 3-0 in 3 tests with 1 to go(going England's way again). Their recent ruthless performance in the past 2 years make them look like serious contenders to be the world beaters. But would England really be the same force for a long time?

Well there is no reason as to why they won't be one. They have all their players in their late 20's, at the peak of their forms and apt replacements ready at all time. Players like Cook, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Morgan and Prior are in top form and look set to decimate bowling attacks for atleast 5-6 years without cries of old age retirement. Their bowlers look fresh and are devastating the best batting orders with ease. Its very hard to find a team that can field 5-6 top priority fast bowlers at the same time. They have Tremlett, Anderson, Broad, Bresnan, Finn and Onions who all are international quality fast bowlers. It was exceptional to see a replacement (Bresnan) for Tremlett troubling the Indians to the same extent if not more than Tremlett would have. They have a top class spinner in their ranks and they bat deep until almost no. 10 and sometimes even 11 considering Anderson is their nightwatchman. You get their batsmen out but still there is no respit as the tail wags everytime. England have got a new found professional attitude where they go around and beat teams ruthlessly. they always try to win the match be it by bold declarations, quick scoring rates or clever field placements. They are this well planned bunch of players who know how to play in almost every situation. They seem to have a nice skipper-coach co-ordination which is doing wonders for the team and most importantly their players know what role they have to perform.

But England have got challengers who would be desperate to bring them down. The first and foremost challenger would be South Africa who are always up there in the ranking but lose important games to remain at no. 2 or 3 only. They were no. 1 for a short period of 4 months in 2009 but were toppled by India. They too have a nice bunch of players with players like De Villiers and Amla the forever performers with the experienced and sublime Kallis. they have the perfect combination of young and old players who back each other well.Their bowling attack is 2nd to none with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel among the world's best. Steyn is up there in the list of current crop of best fast bowlers. South Africa have this habit of losing out on important opportunities. They have been the statistical no. 1 but its time when they should look to win all their games and storm to the top of the rankings. They have got the team, they have got the charisma, i don't know what separates them from glory.

Australia can also be never looked down with a strong domestic system and fast bowling talent. But they have been seriously bruised by the sudden retirement of all those players who were world beaters for over a decade. they have not quite recovered and apt replacement batters have not yet come. The team depends on Ponting, Hussey and Clarke with Watson at the top. Rest all players are uncertain and the fact that they have not yet found a good spinner after Warne remains their biggest problem. Their fast bowling unit is decent but not of the quality it used to be. But they still have got the armour to challenge the English. After all you can never count out the bruised old lion.

Another challenger I feel would be India. Inspite of what all has happened to them in this series, I think this might act as a wake up call to the players.I mean after tasting 20 months of leadership, it does n't feel good to be second to someone. The players cannot forget how to play in just a month. They were plagued with injuries and they did play badly but they can come back. And it all can start from a great home series. The team despite its aging and injury woes can still be the world beater at full strength. But they might not do it for long as replacements for the Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman have not been found yet.

So again would England be no. 1 for a long time? i would say YES but I feel that this time the no.1 position might be juggled between 2-3 teams unlike the Australia and West Indies era. England are great but they have some great challengers who can topple them any time. And well England have not yet proved their mettle in the sub-continent yet. So till then the debate continues.