India’s BGT Loss: The Fix Needs To Come From The Top

The loss against the Kiwis late last year at home was more shocking than the just-concluded BGT defeat. Yet, the latter seems to consume the nation with more bile and bitterness.

That’s because India and Australia have emerged as the pre-eminent international Test rivalry, brimming with interest and acrimony. To invent a cliché, Australia is the new Pakistan for India in cricket, and failure against it stings the most.

So, with emotions being spilt wildly, it is impossible to analyse the disappointing defeat from a proper perspective.  Of course, right off the bat, save for the indefatigable Jasprit Bumrah, and to a certain extent the youthful Yashasvi Jaiswal, none of the players really come out in a flattering light.

That India had a technical chance of actually drawing the series on the final day of the series would actually suggest that it was not all that bad mauling that the eventual 3-1 scoreline would suggest.

India was able to hang in there only to the brilliance of Bumrah, whose performance in this — 32 wickets — has to be the best-ever show by an Indian bowler abroad, intrinsically and statistically.

Without even a modicum of exaggeration, it can be said that a wicket looked like falling whenever he was operational. Such was his mastery that no batsman really looked comfortable. Travis Head's two centuries in the first part of the series were iffy and lacked conviction. Steve Smith's twin tons were more due to perseverance where he made the most of the attack when Bumrah was either tired or not in the attack.

There is nothing new to be said about Bumrah's bowling. He brings with him the pacer's menace and marries it with the spinner's guile. If his pace and swing don't get you, his tweak and trajectory will.

For a country, souped up on the explosive exploits of great batsmen, it was so refreshing to get excited by the delightful devilishness of a pace bowler. Every time he ran in, the pulse picked up and the buzz in the air was decidedly palpable.

One day, someone will write a weighty book — there's enough material for it — on Bumrah's brilliance in this series alone.

As was said of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, "America was number one; none was number one." So was Bumrah here. Had the quaint-action-thunderbolt deliverer been available on the final day, India may have, who knows, evened the series.

Maybe the Time is Up for Kohli and Sharma 

But in a sense, that might have been unfair, as it would have skewed the picture, distracting us from the glaring cracks.

While the batting lineup — save for the diligence and defiance of Jaiswal — failed overall, the bulk of the blame has to be shouldered by the two seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. 

It no longer feels that the two are facing an incidental blip, that every batsman endures on and off. Both Sharma and Kohli now seem on a terminal decline. Both proud performers once can no longer command a place in the team based on their recent performances over the last two or three series. Younger players have been dropped for even lesser slump. Of course, the two seniors have earned the long rope. But now, they are holding its frayed ends. 

Kohli had a century in the first Test, but to see a player of his stature be a sitting duck and edge deliveries repeatedly to the slips was both painful and funny. Forget the technicality of whether he was overcommitting himself on the drive. The problem is more than that. He was sucked to the away going delivery with the fatalism of a kamikaze pilot. 

Sharma was even more woeful, if anything, even though he played only in 3 Tests of the series. His captaincy was found wanting both in terms of tactics and technique.  But when his personal batting fortunes were slumping, he hardly had the bandwidth to think about the team. His seemingly moral stand of standing himself down for the final Test also lost its sheen in the light of what followed in the media. It was, as the youth of the day say, cringe.  

That the two stalwarts of the team were drawn, advertently or inadvertently, into an unseemly media war is one of the real tragedies of the tour.  Whether the two are active participants or innocent bystanders who were sucked into the turmoil is anybody's guess. But in this age and time when stars and their PR machinery are known to manipulate media discourse, it is tough to give them a clean chit. 

In the ceaseless flow of time, every great sportsman eventually reaches the point of being discarded. Kohli and Sharma have reached that threshold. Retirement is a tricky subject, and very few get it right. It is always better to step out of your own volition than be elbowed out. Great performers have earned their respect. But that respect is like family gold, which is for safekeeping, and not for cashing for everyday expenses. Kohli and Sharma should understand this reality.

What of the others? Jaiswal, as we said, did not hurt his reputation and seems set for what promises to be — touch wood — a long run. KL Rahul was ever inconsistent and infuriating. However, he looked solid in the first two Tests. But with Sharma's arrival from the second Test and the constant reshuffling of the batting order, Rahul’s position wasn’t helped.

That the third-best India batsman (in terms of solidity in the middle) finished even below his less than impressive career batting average is a tale of sadness.

Rishabh Pant had his moments, as he will always have, and also had his off segments, as he will forever do. With him, it is always like callow love, be prepared for heartbreaks and excitement. You don't know when one is coming or going.

Shubman Gill too has a question mark hanging like a Damocles' sword over his head. He started in most innings rather comfortably only to lose his concentration or focus almost around the time when he had to just hold tight and shift gears. It seemed more like a mental failing.

Spin Cupboard Needs Replenishment  

Washington Sundar looked compact in defence, but he was batted too low in the order for him to be effective. Nitish Kumar Reddy was plucky and even had a heroic century, showing that Indian cricket is blessed with happy riches. However, this series also revealed that he can, at best, be a batting allrounder, not the other way round, which Indian cricket desperately needs.

That segues us to Ravindra Jadeja, who, along with Kohli and Sharma, also faces uncertain times. Both his batting and bowling have lost their edge. Someone like Sundar needs to be persisted with in his slot to see if he truly fits there.

With Ashwin’s exit and Jadeja’s impending one, India’s spin arsenal needs serious replenishment if the team is to return to its winning ways, especially in home conditions.

Among the pacers, Mohd Siraj was on and off, which precluded any easy assessment. Prasidh Krishna had a quick wicket-taking burst on the final day. However, the fact that he and Siraj couldn't deliver on a pitch helping the pacers is certainly something to ponder. Akashdeep and Harshit Rana were sincere, but that doesn’t usually suffice in international cricket.

'Maamla Gambhir Hai'

But that brings us to coach Gautam Gambhir. In the short time he has taken over from Rahul Dravid, he has already witnessed the team lose a bilateral ODI series to Sri Lanka after 27 years, drop a home series after 12 years, and let go of the Border Gavaskar Trophy after 10 years. However, to be honest, the role of a coach is often overstated in both victories and defeats. At best, he can only be a good catalyst.

What is truly worrying about Gambhir’s stint, though, is the reality that the dressing room seems to have become extremely fractious. That surely has to fall under his column. Of course, he has always been a polarising figure, and such people often bring out the best or worst in individuals. Here, we all know what has happened.

Gambhir needs to be sat down, and his man-management tactics need to be reassessed. Rumours flying within the team need to be curtailed — it shows how riven the dressing room is. We noted this when Ashwin packed his bags and hung up his boots midway.

When Kohli, Sharma, and Gambhir, the three seniors of the squad, become the metaphorical elephants in the room, the others in the squad have little space to flourish or express themselves. 

Defeats are a part of any sports team. But the lessons they take from them decide whether they can become great. For the Indian cricket team, the time for mollycoddling and sugar-coated approaches is over. The time for change is well nigh, and it must start from the top.