Autopsy: Investec Test Series

It is so ironical that when you think of summing up of what happened in the Investec Test series, the one thing that comes to mind is the word Autopsy, usually associated with a death or a corpse. In essence it has been a horrible test series and one more away series loss for Captain Dhoni. He now holds the dubious distinction for most away test losses as Captain of any Indian Test side. It is not the fact that the test series was lost, but the manner of defeats, especially the last test at the Oval which should hurt all Team India fans worldwide as well as the team within. Barring Anderson who was at the top of his game, England was very much a beatable side; coming into the series low on confidence with multiple series losses and a loss at Lords in the second test was a golden chance for Team India. True, India never had the bowlers who threatened to take 20 English wickets, but the abject fielding was clearly the sore point. 

Heads have already started to roll and the two assistant coaches have been 'given a break', and Mr Ravi Shastri appointed the Director with immediate effect. This indirectly means Coach Fletcher stands sidelined and probably opens the door for his exit. Some would call this knee jerk, and indeed it may not have a direct or immediate impact on the team's fortunes in the One Day Internationals in England which start within a week from now.

At the beginning of the series both Cook and Dhoni had similar records in the test arena of late and one of them was bound to end on the losing side. Dhoni was sadly unlucky as he was part of a side whose bowling unit is nothing to be proud of and whose batting contingent just did not show the application it should have had from its so called world class players ! Are we labeling our young guns world class too early?  Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble, Harbhajan and Sehwag are never going to play a test again for India, and we are now staring at this new bunch of players for atleast for the next 3-5 years. Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane will do the bulk of the batting in tests for India going forward. While Bhuvi, Shami, Ishant, Ashwin and Jadeja will have the onus of the bowling department. If not a wake up call for all the above, this series definitely gives them the 'experience' to come out stronger and hungrier for success. The only outside chance from the legends to ever make it to the Indian side again would be Virender Sehwag, if he can maintain his fitness and come back to form before the Tour Down Under at the end of this year. (Albeit he turns 36 in October this year and had a horrendous run against the Aussies in March 2013) India over the last decade relied heavily on his exploits at the top and his prolific hundreds laid the platform for the famed middle order. The Sehwag factor was missing in this series (and has been missing on all the overseas tours Dhoni has lost of late) even though Murali Vijay looked the best batsman in English conditions. Atleast, one hoped he would not meekly surrender everytime he came out to bat after the first test. But he could garner little support from Gambhir or Shikhar. Gambhir looked like a spent force and his obsessive fixation to look cute by running down the ball to the third man has been his undoing in many a match now, across formats. Shikhar Dhawan suddenly seems to have lost his mojo. India has not had a 50 run opening partnership for more than 10 innings. Pujara looked good during his brief stays at the crease, and while he has played the bulwark to perfection in preceding tours to South Africa and New Zealand, his failure in England meant India never dominated a game. He like his predecessor Dravid, is getting bamboozled and bowled 'through the gates' early in his innings which must be a concern for the team management and the coach.

There are not many options one can think of and this is the reason why talent still is the yardstick for selections. Case in point Rohit Sharma. Rohit promises to end up like Yuvraj Singh. A highly talented bat but with limited success in tests. He should be dropped from the test side and should not travel to Australia for the tests. Where are the Ranji bullwarks and run machines? Apart from rewarding Ranji top scorers one should also expose young batsmen in county circuit. I remember, during the 90s and even in the last decade (but ah yes, before the IPL started..!!) subcontinent players used to play in the county circuit and that is the reason India had a better record overseas. Dravid, Sehwag, Harbhajan, Kumble, Dinesh Mongia, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Srinath, Prasad, all played for county teams in more than one season. So it is not the coach or the supporting staff or even the Captain to blame. Lack of application does not equate to lack of ability. Simply put, alien conditions are tough to deal with and success comes with practice and experience. So if the BCCI is having the right intentions (they have the right advisors) they ought to arrange tours regularly to face such conditions especially the Under 19 blokes. Otherwise, we will continue to beat around the bush and keep sacking assistant coaches and questioning and scrutinizing every loss and every move made by the Captain on the field.

Team India comes back home after the One Dayers in England and hosts the Windies next and then they move to another disaster zone - Australia. If India continues to have a mindset towards Test cricket like this, the Australian series could definitely be Dhoni's last overseas series as Test Captain and probably jeopardize next year's 50 Over World Cup which is being jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. So the Shikhar Dhawans, Virat Kohlis, Ajinkya Rahanes, Rohit Sharmas need to pull up their socks, get back some confidence and regroup as a batting unit. India cannot win overseas without their batting unit firing in all cylinders. The Top 4 need to fire. 

I am not talking of bowling because nobody is losing sleep over the fast bowlers. They seem to be just making up the numbers. There are no match winners in the side. Ashwin has become toothless of late. Jadeja has had a forgettable Test series and would be low on confidence. England hammered the bowlers whilst it was not really a batting pitch at the Oval. Bhuvi bowled miserly and picked wickets but looked jaded and defeated by the end of the penultimate test. He needs to be rested perhaps for the first one day fixture.  Ishant used the short ball to good effect at Lords and was rewarded with a bounty of wickets which enabled India to win the Lords test. However, his workhorse like approach meant India missed a strike bowler. Varun Aaron looked good, but lacks the guile to outwit the batsman. India perhaps missed a trick by reserving Mohit Sharma for the one dayers only. He could have been handy in English conditions. I bet Dhoni will use him first up in the One Dayers. 

Team India will be bolstered by some fresh legs in the form of Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and Sanju Samson for the One Dayers. Sanju Samson has been in fine touch of late and it would be interesting to see where is he slotted and at what point he gets picked. Shikhar Dhawan gets another go at England, and perhaps he should be liking this format more since it suits his batting style. I pray Kohli finds his Midas touch again. One Day cricket has been his forte and he has mastered the art to build an innings in 50 overs. Lets hope I do not have to write an autopsy for the one dayers atleast.