Yesterday when India started a wild goose chase to defend 210 runs, two things came to my mind and I was pretty much convinced that India will face defeat:
1)Rahul Dravid contribution was missing as a batsman
2)Graeme Smith played an expansive drive in the very first over of Zaheer Khan on the fifth day morning. Ravi Shastri commented, ”Had Zaheer Khan plucked one hair from his head and attached to the ball, the ball would have clipped the off stump bail.” I too witnessed it. My point is : fortune was favoring the brave on the fifth day morning.
If we look at the broader level, Indians didn’t have the stomach to fight when South Africans challenged them. It happened in second innings of all the tests. Indians were touch lucky in first test match where South Africa slumped to 84 in first innings before they noticed what was going wrong.
I missed Rahul Dravid contribution as a batsman in the whole series. Rahul Dravid is the only fighter in this team, who has the attitude and stomach to play an innings which can (and has) put India in winning position overseas. He kills the sting in the match in his own way. He frustrates the opposition, works out multiple hundred partnerships, spends the time in the middle and ensures that India will not loose the game. Yes, if bowlers can claim ten wickets in time, India can win the match. He is a true leader to win the overseas matches. I don’t recall if our other batsmen have led the way.
I can remember many instances where India has won test matches. Rahul Dravid has led the way as a batsman:
1) 115 against England on first day morning in Headingley.
2) 270 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi
3) 233 and 72 against Australia in Adelaide
4) Two half centuries against West Indies where India won the test match and series. You may like to have a relook at the scorecard; Rahul Dravid played more number of balls than whole West Indies team in the first innings!!!
As I mentioned before, Rahul Dravid didn’t play a single innings in whole test series which can outplay the opposition and I very well know, no other Indian batsman can play a match winning innings. VVS Laxman played one against Aussies in Kolkata; however, it will be unreasonable to expect him to reproduce that magic each time he takes guard. Sachin Tendulkar will definitely feel that he created two opportunities but he got out (or thrown away his wicket?) and this is what Rahul Dravid never does. Once he creates an opportunity, he never let it slip and builds the innings brick by brick for the team. It has never been the case with Tendulkar. He always looks edgy or likely to get out even when he has crossed 50 runs. It is happening more often now. He has gone to shell in the fourth innings on a number of times and failed to lead the way. Sometimes, I feel he is too afraid of the bowlers or too submissive to the fate that he even refuses to put a brave fight. He comes out with a timid show and eventually looses his wicket in an embarrassing way after a more embarrassed batting display.
How you should bat in fourth innings: Indian batsmen can learn from South African batsmen who chased 210 with caution and yet they were aggressive. They never went into their shell but played each ball on merit. At the end of day, they didn’t forget the basic fundamental: A batsman stands on a pitch to score runs. Whatever he does, save or win the match, he has to score runs and this is what our middle order fails to understand. Indian middle order pulls pressure on themselves by not rotating the strike, not putting bad balls to boundaries and not attacking the weak link in the bowling. One has to compete all the time against the top team if you have to win against them. One can’t slip into no-action zone with a false premise that it will save the match. A team may choose to be aggressive with varying intensity based on the match situation but being submissive is like accepting the defeat and giving the winning edge to opposition. I feel our middle order succumbs to same phenomena in a do-or-die situation. This is how I would like to explain myself many defeats that India conceded after taking lead in overseas test series.
Rahul Dravid will definitely feel that he lost the test series more than South Africa won it. Faulty team selection, bearing the repeated failures and throwing the wickets away at the crucial junctures proved too much and you can’t make so many mistakes against a formidable opposition.
I am happy with one decision of BCCI (at last!!). Mr. Dilip Vengasarkar has asked every player to participate in ongoing Ranji Trophy season. It will benefit our current players who have forgotten to build innings on a fifth day pitch and increase the level of competition in the matches.
