Transition: A Hypocrisy

While we have shut ourselves in our own shell by either lamenting Dravid’s retirement or rejoicing his illustrious career, we have actually turned our backs at the long term plan. It’s pretty much like crying over spilt milk without trying to figure out where the next drop comes from. Let us get the facts straight. Dravid is gone. Laxman will be gone and Tendulkar is not far away. And I am not asking the clichéd question – where is Indian cricket headed towards? What I rather want to know is where does the think tank want it to go from here, or where did they want it to go when the transition began with Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly in 2008. Let us take a deeper plunge into this.

Since Dhoni took over the reigns completely, across all formats in the year 2008, Indian cricket has indeed come a long way; the two most defining moments being the Number One Test status (1st time ever since the ranking system was introduced) and the World Cup 2011 which came after 28 years. And as if the reasons weren’t enough, Tendulkar kept all and sundry busy with the euphoria of the 100th ton, which remained around the corner for a long time. Amidst all this joy and delirium, there has been a reality check too. Never in the past (that I can remember) did India concede eight straight defeats overseas, neither did they look as lackluster as they did in the recently concluded CB Series (being defending champions and not to forget, they’re the world champions). To be honest, Indian cricket is in troubled waters with a lot of players walking on thin ice. Like always, the media has called for a few heads, Laxman’s being the most popular one. But now with Dravid retiring, Laxman is safe. I would presume so. You would as well but how safe is India in Tests?

Laxman is the subject for a case study here. Pretty much like India’s overseas performance, Laxman’s performance has been appalling as well (like never before). His poor average in England (22.75) got poorer in Australia (19.37), the latter venue being expected to extract the best out of him. Each failure has been saddening, and by that, I do not mean that failures are meant to be beautiful. But he looked like a fish out of water, totally out of place. And since there are a few young ones knocking at the doors, it appears as if Laxman would vacate his spot for maybe a Rohit Sharma. That is questionable, but then, it is bound to be, isn’t it? India obviously can’t have an experienced player as Laxman's replacement in the future. Is there such replacement? There can’t be. And that is where you draft in people who show you that spark, one which makes you say, “Okay, this man deserves a go at the target.” The Rohit Sharmas, the Ajinkya Rahanes and the Suresh Rainas are the immediate answers. And just when one thought that Laxman will go away, Dravid goes away.

Dravid’s retirement leaves a huge vacuum but that would have happened whenever he left, now or later. But I’m a happy man, Dravid has actually left well, much like he has throughout his career. He has left when he still had a lot of cricket left in him. Now let’s quickly shift our focus to Laxman. Dravid’s exit hands Laxman the ticket to hang on longer. Invariably he would score a big one in one of his forthcoming Tests, given the performer he is, but India has to prepare for its overseas challenges. With the next overseas tour scheduled for December, 2013, (let’s not count the tour to Zimbabwe here, which comes earlier) the think tank will need to take a few serious steps, not just earmark the players for the future but start giving them a fair run, starting now. Unfortunate but true, Laxman is stuck between the present and future; presently in bad form and future looking bleak. I can only think of his glorious past helping his case.

Now this opens a can of worms. What does the think tank do now? Kohli, who till now would have been looked at as Ganguly’s replacement at No.6, might well be pushed up the order to No.3 to replace Dravid. And if Laxman is pushed up, it is more a stop-gap arrangement than anything else. Dravid’s retirement and India’s abysmal recent form have compounded into a big dilemma for the selection board. There are more textures to ‘transition’ than just the cutaneous one. In India, the domestic framework is blamed, the culture is blamed and one must have noticed by now, it’s the “blame-game” written large over everything. That time has come when the team management will need to shrug off all the fears and address the worries. Whether it is Srikkanth’s men who take that decision to take Indian cricket forward or someone else, it doesn’t matter. It’s time to bite the bullet, do they have the teeth?

Honestly, transition is easier said than done, but much like death, it is an unavoidable truth and for a country like India where cricketers are revered and worshipped, transition is an unutterable sin. Much like, talking about 9/11 in the US. It is inevitable, some take it on the chin and work towards it, some fall flat while trying too hard and some just go through the motions and avoid it for as long as they can. West Indies still lives in the 70s and early 80s, they don’t have an option either. That’s one side of the story. But an Australia, brave and practical, took the hard steps and is on its way back to supremacy. It is about the will to take the challenges, irrespective of what happens later. There might not be another Kumble, Ganguly, Dravid or Laxman, but there surely is a Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and many more who deserve as much chance as they can possibly get. The names - Kumble, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman became known only because they were given adequate opportunities to prove their mettle.

India might not have found another Gavaskar opening in Tests, but they did find one of the most successful openers they have ever had - Virender Sehwag. Life in more ways than one, is about additions and not substitutions. Time now that India stands up tall and builds on the pillars of glory, rather than getting buried beneath.

This article was written post Rahul Dravid's retirement from the only form of the game he played then, Tests.