Part1: The ‘Change the trend’ tour down under
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Part2: The World Cup debacle
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Part3: The Controversial Oz tour.
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Part4: The Sunset, losing streak and what lies ahead.
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Note: A slight change in Part-2:
Only World Cup debacle will be covered as it turned out be a lengthy narrative in itself.
Part2: The World Cup Debacle
I left the last part of this series,
here, (click to see the last part) calling the Australian Tour the start of downfall of Saurav Ganguly’s batting form. With the wins on Australian soil,
against Pakistan in 2004 and a successful 2003 World Cup on his CV, Ganguly was
deemed the best captain India ever had by cricket pundits. But the runs from
the southpaw’s willow dried completely in 2004 and thereupon every single loss
highlighted his dismal batting run even more. Don’t dismiss it as small event;
it was much more than just a drop in a single player’s confidence; it was the
drop in the confidence of a team whose captain had become diffident. As always,
when things go wrong ‘CHANGE’ is the buzzword.
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| Image source: Oulook |
In September 2005, Greg Chappell
took over the coaching reigns and pressed for the urgent need of blooding youngsters
in team with 2007 World Cup in sight. The scapegoats were the non-performing
old legs. Chappell had emailed the Board of
Control for Cricket in India, stating that Ganguly was
"physically and mentally" unfit to lead India. This email was leaked
to the media and resulted in huge recoil from Ganguly's fans. And within a
month, groggy, unathletic, out-of-form Saurav Ganguly was dropped and
out-of-favour. A spate of controversies ensued, with coach making the news for
all the wrong reasons.
One Fab4 member’s decline meant
passing on of the baton, Rahul Dravid
took over the leadership crown and as always, committed himself to a new role
for the team. In an era of mixed wins
and losses and enshrouding controversies, Dravid helped the team to some
memorable wins in West Indies. Under Dravid-Chappell, the ‘report card’ was an
impressive read. India jumped from the 7th ICC spot in ODIs to 3rd
in quick time. The ODI squad saw Raina and Dhoni emerging as responsible young
batters who could chase down targets easily. Yuvraj Singh’s career grew in
stature. Notably, chasing targets was a rarity in Ganguly’s golden era. But as
the World Cup drew near, doubts started to creep in. The young team had a
disastrous Champions Trophy in 2006. It resulted in comeback call of Saurav
Ganguly to the frail ODI side. He justified selection ( like he said in an Ad)
with some good knocks that. though lacked the old touch, but still went down as ‘runs’ on scoreboard.
Some anchoring fifties against Sri Lanka and West Indies in Feb 2007 secured
Ganguly a spot in the World Cup. Ganguly’s success and youngsters’ simultaneous
dip had messed up the Chappell vision. The team that went to Caribbean was
finally a veteran team that featured Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid and Kumble. All
the legends of last decade. But no Laxman.
In an illustrious career that had
seen some classy knocks, Laxman failed to make it to another World Cup. His own
ODI form had dropped after a spate of ODI centuries in 2004 that looked like a
second life to his ODI career. But more than the decline, it was inconsistency
and ‘one-paced game’ as per Chappell that kept him out-of-favour. The focus on
fielding in that period always singled out Laxman .All this was despite his
superb form in Australia and Pakistan in early 2004, when he made four
centuries in 14 games, including three in a week in the VB Series in Australia.
His good close-catching skills weren’t enough and a spate of centuries
sandwiched between some inconsistent series, kept him out of ODI side mostly.
He showcased timely brilliance to silence critics, like in West Indies. But,
that was not enough for the five wise men and Chappell. As a final nail in the
coffin, his dream of featuring in a World Cup seemed over when the World Cup
team couldn’t afford him, with the age too nearing 33.
Sachin Tendulkar
meanwhile was a shadow of its former self. His form was fickle, and his knocks had
‘accumulated singles’ written all over them. The injuries had cut down his
shots especially the hook shot he churned out in 90s. Critics had written him
off. Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis were at the peak of their careers,
and Sachin’s records seemed vulnerable at one point of time.The World Cup
affair of the little master raised hopes from fans, who wished to see him back
among runs. And more than runs, back with that midas touch of old.
The World Cup was a dream that had
eluded India for 20 years. A dream India’s Fabulous Four had not realized.
India had fallen one short in 2003. It seemed a last shot at glory. Time was
running out. Kumble was on the brink of retirement. All the hype of Chappell
always had the keyword of World Cup mentioned in it. Time had come now. They
were one of the favourites on slow Caribbean pitches with an experienced squad
that looked formidable on paper. But they had to deliver on field, which
unfortunately they didn’t.
In the opening match at port-of-Spain,
Bangladesh turned out to be the David who killed the Goliath. All of a sudden,
the same formidable eleven looked brittle, the bowling attack became toothless, the batting
crumbled. India didn’t lose the match; it lost the belief of winning the World
Cup. The formalities of exit were completed in the first round itself. 2007
World Cup was perhaps the most controversial and dragging World Cup, with
stretched schedule, early exit of Asian giants India and Pakistan, the sudden
death of Bob Woolmer and the last three overs of the final being played in
darkness, inter alia. Add to that some retirements, like every edition of this
marquee event has. And finally an expected Australian hat-trick of World Cups
to wind off a World Cup, which most Indians had stopped watching after Indian
exit.. The sole consolation for India was a one-sided game against Bermuda
where Sehwag and Yuvraj showed signs of form. Tendulkar failed for the first
time in a World Cup, the event where his run-making was almost customary till
now. He looked out of sorts and out of runs, so did the team.
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| Image source: SantaBanta |
The image of teary-eyed Dravid in the final moments of Sri
Lanka loss had said it all. Dravid, a thinking captain, had done so much in the
past two years of rebuilding with Chappell. All those series wins, all those
home ground chases, all those strategies, all those controversies, all that
hard work had evaporated with the bottom line of India’s early exit. Unexpected
debacle would be perhaps the only thing linked, when Dravid would be talked of
as Indian Captain. It was clear that effigies will be burnt in protest. Some
heads will roll. Some scapegoats will be singled out. Some inciting stories
will be published in media. One thing was more certain:
Inside that teary eye of Dravid, a
dream of a nation had shattered.
The debacle meant a leeway for
critics. The voices that were murmuring till now about Sachin’s retirement
found strength. Rahul Dravid’s captaincy career seemed over. Saurav Ganguly did
no good by scoring a selfish-looking fifty against Bangladesh. Indian cricket
perhaps needed a renewal. A long-term vision was called to be lacking. Fresh
legs were in demand again. The names of Yuvraj Singh cropped up for captaincy
in some circles. All of a sudden, the fabulous four looked toothless in impact.
Like a kid who does everything right
in practice but still gets nervous on the stage, India veterans had not come
good at the biggest stage-THE WORLD CUP. In a cricketing nation with short term
memory, their past performances didn’t matter to the public anymore. The
crevices had turned into gaping holes. They were being seen as heroes merely on
paper; sheer nominal legends. Indian Cricket had found itself caught between the
idea of youth and experience. The balance had perhaps gone awry. The strategies
had gone awry perhaps. And perhaps, the career of the four Indian legends had
too gone awry. But like all stories of superheroes, this end looked inapt and
uncalled for. Heroes are always meant to
end with a win, I learned in childhood. This could not have been the end….
.cms)