Heat and bust

“Cannons here, cannons there, roaring thunder.” That’s what Indians must have felt as Andrew Nel’s short-stuff (and verbal slaps) clapped past their ears.

At the time of writing, Bengal, too, has rammed into familiar wrecks. Punjab’s Gagandeep Singh has cut a swathe through Bengal’s middle-order. The wicket, Mohali: the only wellspring of life. Thus, the disaster at Durban should not distress us as much as the next scary 10 years of Indian cricket. The sores stain deep down, not that we need to be told.

Ninety-one runs pose ample questions. We are stumped that Virendra Sehwag, who was a certainty in the game in Johannesburg, failed his fitness test for Durban. Begs the question, was he rushed into playing the first one-day thereby further aggrevating his injury?

No preparatory camp before the tour, no first-class fixtures between the one-dayers -- the egregious itinerary takes a lunatic to comprehend. Where is the provision for some form hunt?

Ravi Shastri was spot on when he said that ideally the National Cricket Academy should have been shifted from Bangalore to Mohali where facilities are supreme and conditions apt to prepare for overseas tours.

There is no denying that this Indian side is starved of quality batting practise. Munaf Patel does not bustle up in matches, what to expect of him at nets. India’s speedsters, in the 80s, were no fire-gurgling monsters either. That in no way bottlenecked Sunil Gavaskar’s march. The Little Master got his bowlers to bowl to him from 20 yards. Surely there are other workable ideas if the management agrees that there is life beyond fielding drills.

Scribes are neither the first nor the last word on cricket technique. Our knowledge of batting – bookish though it may be – insinuates that on such conditions timing is a better bet than power and playing late yields superior results than jabbing. It is strange that despite players of high station, the same short-pitch rickets have afflicted India for centuries together.

And it’s no different for the Young Turks. The last traces of light are fading away in Suresh Raina. Both he and Mohammad Kaif lost an opportunity big-time to slam critics.

Now it’s official that India faces a rare talent crunch. Sirens are blaring loud and hard. After 16 years, the country still banks on Sachin Tendulkar to win matches single-handedly. Dilip Vengsarkar may not have been out of joint with his views.

Cricket’s flaming lovers, this is what mindless surfeit of one-dayers and overly coffer-concerns do to the game. They exact a terrible price.

It seems BCCI’s karma, and ours too, is catching up. Immersed in stone-blind ODI ecstasy, we barely reflect on the dry ravine of India’s domestic cricket. We seldom ask why cannot Ranji Trophy matches do with a more dynamic scheduling such that Sachin Tendulkar and Ajit Agarkar lock horns with Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.

It is equally disconcerting that the Indian captain addresses post-match conferences with his customary equanimity. Nobody is interested in hearing how opponents maul India with “clinical professionalism” as he often puts it. How about an earful to his team, isn’t it time?

To be fair on Dravid, he hasn’t enjoyed Tendulkar’s autumn. And ironically, Dravid, the captain, does not have Dravid the batsman. Not so long ago, gateway in his defensive technique was unthinkable. At Durban, even a cat could have sneaked through it.

Nobody likes extravagant condemnation of the team. Outcries are directed at provoking their pride, not to belittle them. One hopes for Almighty’s sake that the team is not awaiting the two one-day series at home to bay for redemption. Doubtless runs will come then and idyllic prose will flow again. But what a black lie that would be!