Sri Lanka and India- Batting Poorly

Sri Lanka suffered a shocking 258 run defeat at the hands of South Africa at Paarl yesterday. The way the wickets were falling in the Sri Lankan innings, it was hard to believe that the team was Sri Lanka indeed and not Canada. Sri Lanka were all out for just 43 in reply to South Africa's 301. This was Sri Lnaka's lowest ever ODI score and their captain admitted it was his career's worst game. Sri Lanka have not fared well under the captaincy of Dilshan and batting has been a big failure in recent times. While it was said earlier that Sri Lanka have not recovered from retirement of Muralitharan but its actually the batting that has disappointed. India too have been losing matches due to dismal batting performance over the past year. India and Sri Lanka were known as strong batting powerhouses but that seems to be a thing of the past.

Batting performance overseas-  Sri Lanka over the past year played 6 tests overseas winning 1 and losing 3. They crossed 400 in only 2 of them. In 4 tests they got out under 200. India over the last year played 9 tests away losing 6 and winning just 1, that too in West Indies. India crossed 400 in only 1 game during this period which was in Sydney recently. And in as many as 4 tests they failed to cross 200. Lets come to ODI's now. Sri Lanka played 8 ODI's overseas winning 3 and losing 5. They failed to cross 200 in 3 of those matches thereby losing all 3 of them. India in the last year played 16 away ODI's winning 6 of them and losing 8. They failed to cross 200 in 6 matches winning 2 out of them. It is clear that batting for both the countries has struggled away from home.

Kings at home-The story changes dramatically at home. At least for India. Sri Lanka over the past year played just 3 tests at home losing only 1 and winning none. The solitary loss was against Australia. They crossed 400 once while failure to cross 200 happened in all the matches. India in this period played 3 tests at home winning 2 of them and losing none. They crossed 400 twice while did n't fail to cross 200 in any game. Sri lanka played 16 ODI's at home winning 9 and losing 4. They could not cross 200 in 6 games out of which 2 were non-result games and 2 were won by them. India played 18 ODI's at home last year winning 15 and losing just 2. India failed to cross 200 just 1 time and they won that match too. Sri Lanka in ODI's and India in both formats were pretty comfortable playing at home. That shows the difference between home games and overseas for the 2 nations.

Seamophobia- The trick to beat India and Sri Lanka in 2011 has been very simple. Prepare a seaming wicket. A wicket with movement, a wicket with life. Indian and Sri Lankan batsmen would perish very easily. Both India and Sri Lanka have become bad bullies at home but are chicken overseas. Bowling was always blamed whenever both the teams lost matches. But this year surprisingly their batting which was considered as their "strength" has been the bane. Yesterday all the 5 top Sri Lankan batsmen gave their wickets when the bowlers put pressure by pitching the ball short and cramping the batsmen for room. Short ball at off stump has been the nemesis for Indian and Sri Lankan batsmen this year. They are addicted with facing balls knee height on slow pitches back home. Whenever the conditions changed, the batting has let down.

The problem with both India and Sri Lanka has been over dependence on the experienced middle order. In India its Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman while in Sri Lanka its Sangakkara and Jayawardene. If these experienced pros don't score runs then the younger players surrender soon after. Both the teams have to make the transition and get their younger players to perform. Both need to groom younger players well for international cricket 'Overseas". Considerations on dropping or resting a senior player should only begin when an able younger replacement is well equipped to bat well "overseas". Meanwhile its India and Sri Lanka who continue to surprise the cricket world with awful batting performances.

What Should India do now before the Perth Test?

With India losing the first 2 tests against Australia comprehensively with a collective batting and bowling failure, swords are already out. Heads are being counted and are being asked to slash. Everybody is giving his own opinion as to whom to drop, whom to pick ahead of the 3rd test. Whether India can actually do something to revive itself and comeback strongly into the series. So what Should India do now before the Perth test?

Bring in Rohit Sharma- Yes, that is the need of the hour. Batting has miserably failed in the first 2 tests and shockingly even on the good batting strip of Sydney. Rohit Sharma is a talented youngster who needs to be picked in the team. He is a technically sound player who has exceptional balance and good temperament to suceed. Plus he is in good form. I always preffered Rohit Sharma over Virat Kohli but still Virat is also a good player and there was not much fuss regarding his selection over Rohit. But after Virat's failure to cope with the moving ball, Rohit's selection becomes all the more important. Add to that he is in exceptional form considering performances at home against the West Indies.

Whom to Drop?- The real question is if Rohit is to be brought in then who should be dropped. I don't think Kohli should be dropped. He is a young player who needs backing for a long time to feel secure of his place and play freely. We all know his talent and he will definitely learn to adjust to these conditions. Tendulkar is in good form and Dhoni for obvious reasons cannot be dropped. So that leaves us with only 2 choices. Either Laxman or Dravid. I would prefer Laxman being dropped because Dravid would be better equipped to play at Perth than Laxman. Laxman has a tendency to hang on the back foot when the ball is moving and with it his feet too stop moving. He needs a spinner to get his feet to move and with a 4 pronged pace attack expected to be fielded by the Aussies, its Dravid who would be better off playing the pace bowlers at Perth.

A Bowling Change- Bowling has also flopped barring the decent performance at the MCG. Apart from Zaheer nobody else has looked menacing. Ishant is bowling well but somehow does n't get wickets. Though we don't have much choice in the pace department we certainly have a choice in the spin department. Ashwin has not been able to pick wickets in the series. I feel India needs to do something different and what would be better than fielding the left arm spinner, Pragyan Ojha. Many would argue saying Ashwin bowled on non-spin friendly tracks and that he bats well too. But for India to win matches top 7 need to bat well. A lone 50 from no. 8 cannot take India to victory. As the Perth pitch would again be a pace friendly wicket there is no harm in changing the spin bowler.  And maybe the right handed in form duo of Clarke and Ponting might just struggle against the left armer. Ojha is bowling well and showed good signs in the test series at home against the West Indies.

While drastic changes must only be made after the series gets over, these kind of short term changes do need to be implemented to at least give India a chance of leveling the series. Mickey Arthur, the coach of Australia has said that Rohit should not be played straightaway at Perth. But I feel that Rohit needs backing and even if he fails at Perth he should not be dropped and must be given a long chance. That way he would be more confident and would play freely without fear of losing his place.

I can only hope that India fights back in the Perth test the way they did 4 years back. Fingers Crossed.

India- Back to the 90's

India succumbed to another massive defeat within just 4 days against Australia at Sydney in the 2nd test. The innings and 68 run defeat was their 6th straight loss overseas and ends India's dream of winning a series in Australia. India was said to be a bad team overseas until 2002-03. But things quickly changed as India started winning overseas. Over the last decade under Ganguly, Dravid, Kumble and then Dhoni, India have won tests in England, South Africa, Australia, West Indies and New Zealand as well. That means we have defeated all non-subcontinent countries in their backyards. But 2011 has projected a completely different picture as first we lost the no. 1 throne and then even the hard earned tag of good overseas players. Be it bounce. seam or swing, India have struggled.

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The way India lost matches against England and Australia where they literally seemed to surrender reminds one of India's overseas performances of the 90's where switching on the television in the morning brought up scenes of India tottering at 50-5 or 80-6 in Australia. Those horrors have came back after 2 "successful" tours down under. All the respect that India earned in the last decade has been lost very quickly by India. In a period where teams are rebuilding and looking towards a bright future, India seems to be going back in time to their struggling days.

Another notable feature of Indian team of the 90's was the team's over dependence on Sachin. Be it the Chennai test against Pakistan in 1999 or the 1996 semi final against Sri Lanka, the team lost as soon as Sachin got out, it was clear that the team was heavily dependent on Sachin to perform. But with rise of players like Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly and Yuvraj, things changed and India had match winners other than Sachin. Those times it seems have come back. In the 2011 world cup when Sachin was batting well against England and South Africa everything seemed so well but as soon as he got out the team collapsed. In the first test at the MCG, India were looking well placed at 214-2 with Tendulkar and Dravid looking set. But then Tendulkar got out and India folded for only 282. In the 2nd test at the SCG in the 2nd innings, India was in a decent position with Sachin and Laxman batting on a 100 run partnership and India looking good at 271-3. Just then Sachin got out and India were suddenly struggling at 286-7 with all the top 7 batsmen back in the hut.

One man cannot win you matches. The team has to step up. The problem with India in 2011 has been a lack of team effort. Only one man is performing at a time while the rest simply don't click. In England it was Dravid, here it is Tendulkar. Even in bowling, India's bowlers are bowling well in patches but they are not bowling well together in tandem to put pressure. Someday its Zaheer, while on the other day its Ishant but they are not bowling well together. That has been the problem. When the team was number 1, 2-3 players performed together in any situation and thats why the team was winning matches.

Serious measures have to be taken before the Perth test. If that involves making tough decisions, then they have to be made. Otherwise India is staring at another nightmare, similar to the one they faced in England last year.