India enters the exit door

Team India got a serene, solid and spectacular burial at Mohali on Sunday evening. By the time the ceremonial formalities concluded' the exuberant stands were empty, and millions of wild cricket lovers had switched off their TV sets much before the post-match comments and commercials could be aired. The Monday morning blues were hurriedly pre-poned courtesy some awful antics of India’s bowling brigade. Earlier, the strong batting line-up had once again squandered a fine opportunity to hustle the Australians.

Frankly, given our undistinguished track-record against the Australians of late' the result was not altogether unexpected. But eternal optimists that we are, we believed that the much-hyped and overtly haloed Team India' would at least occasionally surprise us. Like they did at Ahmedabad a few days ago when they once again crumbled and crashed like a chocolate cookie against West Indies' as if they had just got official international status the night before. So when Rahul Dravid won the toss, superstitious Indians saw an auspicious beginning - God was on India’s side. Alas, half-way through God had taken a mid-afternoon snooze, and the script got re-written.

Sachin Tendulkar, now accustomed to failing in big-match moments, hardly looked the Emperor who once pulverized and plundered the world’s best bowling attacks with cavalier disdain on any surface, in any situation. I know it’s hard to accept bitter truths, and albeit I see the great man playing several good knocks for sure, Sachin has lost the magical shine. A great batsman no doubt but I foresee he will struggle, huff and puff to be a match-winner . His failure yesterday was symptomatic of his natural decline as a belligerent force' and reflected the law of diminishing returns. In a do or die contest against the traditional rivals in a big tournament at home, Sachin failed to seize the opportunity. Yet again! Frankly, a billion lovers care two hoots for 'Brand Sachin' they want the good old batsman to set the Arabian Sea into a tempestuous storm.

Virender Sehwag 'capable of being the lone ranger demolition squad' looked in dangerous form until bitten by an indescribable conservative bug half-way. For no apparent reason, he began crawling' in the process signing his own execution warrant. Sehwag is unnecessarily targeted by ignorant analysts every-time he has a wretched run (largely on account of some Guru Greg dakshina). My personal bet: Sehwag is India’s only match-winner batsman in the top-half, the rest are all supporting cast. Imagine the West Indies sending Chris Gayle at no 4 or the Australians lowering Adam Gilchrist for "experimentation" purposes? Even now four years after winning the World Cup in South Africa in 2003, Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds play in the same batting positions.

Rahul Dravid, India's Rock of Gibraltar 'played his customary solid knock' but left just as the thunderous ovation on his half-century was still reverberating round the stadium. Just like in the match against West Indies, Rahul’s dismissal marked the calamitous collapse from which India barely emerged, remaining submerged for a substantial period. Worse, India was hit by a peculiar impotency in the last 10 overs. Why? Heavens and coach Greg Chappell knows.

Mohd Kaif and Suresh Raina failed to understand that "to stand up and being counted" meant scoring runs in a calculated hurry, not just show up with helmets on and look wide-eyed and pre-occupied. I maintain the Indian middle-order lacks a "mature temperament". This is a Herculean problem. In short, let’s cut the chase - bring back VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly, Mr Chappell.

Damien Martyn is 35 and was Man of the Match for a second time during the tournament' and here the Indian selectors have stupidly banished a terrific left-handed batsman and an elegant Hyderabadi wonder for being "old". What a ridiculous excuse? But I have to give Chappell brownie points for taking a billion Indians for a jolly ride; better still, he has done such a convincing job that even if India loses the World Cup 2007, we will still be blaming Ganguly and Laxman for it. India is paying a huge price for allowing Greg Chappell to single-handedly destroy it’s team cohesiveness and cricketing culture. After the initial euphoria over weak opposition last year, the chickens are coming home to roost.

I think we need to give MS Dhoni a permanent slot, he needs to be groomed for a strategic role in the Indian team. The Jadoo from Jharkhand plays novel and nouvelle shots which would cause many in the Lord’s balcony an acute stomach upset, but was asphyxiated yesterday by witless batting partners. I would give MSD slot no 5, and the respect a front-line established batsman deserves. He is a Andrew Symonds–Kevin Pietersen kind of batsman, capable of tearing the opposition apart, and also playing an intelligent well paced knock.

On the bowling front, honestly speaking, I maintain that the Indian medium-pacers looked a mediocre bunch. Sure they are young, have youthful zest and all the agro looks in the follow-up, but we will welcome some smart intelligence and common sense. The Australians won the game with such remarkable comfort, one wondered where was the great arsenal in our infantry? In fact, when Munaf Patel sent that wide ball in his first over, I got an unnerving sense of déjà vu. It was reminiscent of Zaheer Khan’s famous first over against Australia in the World Cup final that virtually sealed the trend of the match that followed.

The writing is on the wall - India needs to get the experienced lot back. Anil Kumble. Sourav Ganguly, V V S Laxman and Zaheer Khan need to be re-inducted into the team. Pronto. And Rahul Dravid should personally demand a rapid over-haul of the team overriding his autocratic domineering coach. It is time Rahul personally stood up and got counted as a leader.

I would also like to pose a fundamental question. Does India really need a full-time foreign coach? Greg Chappell, in my opinion, has actually caused greater damage to the Indian team' embroiling it in needles controversies ever since he took charge. In fact, he is a heavy-duty liability, too, self-obsessed and has a rigid mind-set. At best, the BCCI can employ him as a bully or a bouncer, but as a coach he is turning out to be a classic disaster case. And Rahul Dravid is being extremely atrocious in defending him over the "eavesdropping issue", amongst others. On the eve of a big game, we have the preposterous scenario where the captain has to use silly logic to defend an intemperate coach ! Can you blame the media if Angelina Jolie tomorrow gives a tongue-lashing to Brad Pitt in public?

I have an alternative suggestion; why not entrust the coaching responsibilities to two separate individuals - one for batting and the other for bowling and dispense with the power-centre that Chappell currently presides over? Let Chappell take on the onus for shaping the batting issues, but at least Dravid will have an alternative sounding board? I think we need to drastically curb Chappell’s unrestricted authority before it is too late.

Personally, of course, I would have recommend that Greg Chappell joins the National Geographic team and goes eavesdropping on conversations between anacondas in the Amazonian forests.