Hi sir
I would take this opportunity to congratulate on a wonderful career so far. You have raised the bar, not only for an Indian but for all the wicketkeepers around the world in terms in terms of contributing towards the team’s batting. You have been part of some of my best cricketing memories. That six over the long-on to seal the victory for India will always have a special place in my heart. Unlike most cricket fans, I have always preferred cricket over cricketers and have been a firm believer that this is a team game and victories are all because of a team effort. I never felt that you are the only reason why Indian team was so successful and nor will I ever blame you for an Indian defeat. It’s a collective effort.
I have observed you since your 1st International match and have seen you grow as a cricketer and mature over time. You burst onto the International scene as a hitter and then it didn’t take you long to understand that you won’t last long playing that way. Once you start failing that way, you will be kicked out of the team. You curbed your natural instincts but when the situation demanded, you easily changed your gear, with a high percentage of success.
As a captain, your were always out of the box. You never followed the traditional methods of captaincy, setting in fields which were never seen before. But all that mattered was a win. Though, I would not give the entire credit to you as I am firm believer that a captain is as good as his team. So, I won’t even blame you for India’s poor performance. But there are decisions which you made and are still having an impact on Indian cricket at the moment. If getting Sehwag was Ganguly’s masterplan, then getting Rohit Sharma to open is yours. No doubt Rohit Sharma has turned into a completely different player after opening in ODIs.
But your performance of late hasn’t pleased me. But such is the situation that we don’t even have a ready made option to replace. You are no longer able to clear the field, the way you used to around 2 years ago. Many times, your decision baffles me as well. I would like to point out some of them
1: You still believe in the philosophy of taking down the match to the end overs, even when it is possible to finish it before. When you used to do it before, I always had the faith that you can manage any required rate in the end. But, this is no longer the case. Even you know that you are struggling to finish the matches, so why are you taking it to the end overs.
2: You are a master when the pitch offers something to the spinners but when it doesn’t, I find you are short of ideas. I agree that the bowlers have been wayward but some of the changes you made surprises many like me. You tend to get defensive. For example, in the 1st ODI, you took off Umesh (only after 3 overs) when he was going good and brought on the spinners to save Umesh for the end overs. Likewise, you took out Ashwin and Jadeja when they both were bowling well in tandem in the 2nd ODI. You can’t afford to be so defensive.
3: No doubt that even you needs to contribute more as a batsman and you are struggling as a finisher. You tend to take some time, so why don’t you come up the order and take your time before you can go bang in the end overs. One reason why India were so successful in 2008-10 season was that you often came up the order. I agree that there are not many finishers in the lineup but is finisher a tag and the act can be performed by only those who come down the order. In fact, everyone should be expected to finish the matches. Didn’t you see the way Manish Pandey did that in the 5th ODI? You can come up the order and hold an end and go bang when you feel the time has come for it.
4: You need to adapt a lot better and figure out the score that can be scored in the end overs as the new rule now allows 5 fielders outside the circle in the death overs. A major reason why India struggled in the series in the inability to score runs in the end overs.
I hope you look into all this as I feel you are currently a liability for the Indian side. Apart from wicket keeping, you are struggling in both aspects of your cricket, batting and captaincy. I know you can perform way better than this. Indian cricket needs you to perform now or give a chance to youngsters as I feel that it’s better to see a youngster struggling than someone who is not going to contribute a lot towards the future team. Atleast, he will learn and might turn out to be an asset in the future.
Note: The opinion expressed here are solely of the writer and may not match with all. You can have a conversation with him here https://twitter.com/crickBC
