From: mohan@phi.mel.dms.CSIRO.AU (Mohan Krishnamoorthy)
Subject: Observations on the Indian team to tour Zim/SA
Organization: CSIRO, Div. of Mathematics & Statistics, Melbourne, Vic., AUSTRALI
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 08:04:41 GMT

I know there has already been a lot of discussion on the net concerning
the Indian team to tour Zim and SA -- manily by PVR, and PVR and ...
well, PVR :-)

Still, here's my tuppence worth.

Although the announcement of Azhar's retention as captain was made a
week or so ago, it is worth recording that, IMO, this was a sane move.
A lot of people (namely Murali, who counts for more than a few people
these days ;-) have commented on the curious mode of this selection;
given that the chairman of the selection committee was, up until a day
or two before the confirmation, at Guyana, more than 5000 miles (more?)
away from the scene of the meeting which affirmed the retention. 

Irrespective, I believe this is a sagacious move.  Like English cricket,
Indian cricket has been at the receiving end of many a strange, dubious
and viscious decision by the selction committee, thereby rendering the
team with little or no sense of continuity or stability.  It is rather
unfortunate that Indian cricket and cricketers like Kapil Dev, Srikkanth,
Vengsarkar (and even the great Gavaskar) have had to put up with chops
and changes in the past.  It is now time to repair and build on the
mistakes of the past.  And IMO, the little master (Vishy) is in the right
place at the right time.  

Azhar _has_ made a lot of errors in the past. Viewing him from a close
distance in Australia throughout the last summer made one wince at his
inability to handle many a tricky and sticky situation properly, as a
captain must.  However, IMO, two things weighed heavily against him:

. His loss of form in the first half of the season and the manner in
  which _he allowed it_ to distract him from the totally different, more
  challenging (and perhaps more important) task -- that of captaining
  the team effectively.  It is important to note that Azhar _did_ let his
  lack of form affect his captaincy.  His bowling changes, field placings,
  batting order changes, ball changes, etc lacked inspiration and any
  great tactical genius.  Basically, unlike Srikkanth in Pakistan (who
  coped well with captaincy, even in the face of personal failure),
  Azhar hadn't yet had the experience of captaining during an entire
  series when his form was atrociuos.  Hopefully, he will have learned
  from the bitter experience of the Australian summer of 92.

. The presence of too many `uncooperative' senior players in the team.
  Examples of such behaviour was evident from the (perceptibly obvious)
  displays on the field by Shastri, Kapil, Vengsarkar and (albeit to a
  lesser extent) Srikkanth -- all ex-captains of the Indian team. 
  Although I do acknowledge Kapil's great contibution to Indian cricket
  and the spirit in which he plays the game (that too, in spite of some
  really rough and totally bizzarre treatment by the Indian selcetors),
  I was rather appalled by some statements he made in the Indian press
  and Australian media, all through the series -- when he insisted on
  commenting on Azharuddin's "immaturity".  Such `pressure' from senior
  players can't do any captain much good.  Certainly, it did a meek,
  mr-nice-guy (Azhar) no good at all.  Hopefully, with the absence of
  Srikkanth and Vangsarkar, he will get more cooperation from Shastri
  and Kapil this time around.

My feeling is that, if Azhar banishes from his mind such `rivalries'
and worries about his batting, he will make a good captain.  In order
to that, he has to extract the best out of his young players.

Now, onto the team itself.

On the face of things, the team looks pretty well-balanced.  It has a
good mixture of experience and youth (test-level immaturity).  However,
there are some grouses and some glaring ommisions.  But judging from some
banal selection decisions in the past few test series, I must hand it to
Vishy and the selection committee this time around.  

My grouses:

. Shastri's inclusion _as vice-captain_
. Maninder's non-inclusion
. Bannerji's inclusion

Let's look at the balance:

Batsmen:   Azhar (C), Tendulkar, Raman, Manjrekar, Amre
Seamers:   Kapil, Prabhakar, Srinath, Chetan Sharma, Bannerji
Spinners:  Kumble, Raju
WKeepers:  More, Yadav
Utilities: Shastri (VC), Jadeja

It is important to put Shastri down as a utility player -- and in doing
so, I go back a year or so ago (to the very date) when I argued against 
the inclusion of Shastri _as the vice-captain_ of the team to tour
Australia (NOTE: To those people intent on labeling me a Shastri-basher,
which I am not, I did say "inclusion ... _as the vice-captian_").  That,
I did, because of Shastri's place in the team in the role of a utility
player.  By my definition, such a player is a make-do batsman who can
bowl grudgingly, or a make-do bowler who can bat at times -- aka Shastri!
Such a player, can not claim his place in the team _by right_.  Well,
a vice-captain, by his very presence in the tour selcetion committee, is
almost defaulted into the team.  My reservations on the unwise selction
was vindicated when Shastri proved to be more than a thorn in the
backside, when he dragged his feet (literally and figuritively) during
the World Cup.  Such a default presence in the team can be, at best, a
liability.  So, that is my first grouse -- Shastri's inclusion as VC.

I am surprised at Maninder's non-inclusion.  Like Chetan Sharma, I'd
have thought that Mani had more than served his time in the `sin-bin'
or the `go-back-to-the-drawing-boards-and-re-learn-bin' for past
misdemeanors and incompetencies.  The recent few years have seen the
emergence of a very new and different (no, this is not a cheap soap 
commercial) Maninder.  He has been very effective and penetrative in the
domestics.  If (unbiased) reports that one received from back home are
anything to go by, he ought to have been the 5th or 6th person to board
that flight to Zimbabwe!  But, who would (should) have made way for
Maninder in `my' team?  

Taking 5 seamers is a waste of time, IMO.  Given the current structure,
I find it very difficult to believe that Bannerji will get a serious
chance at bowling at the highest level in the coming tour.  Taking 5
pacemen is a liability on a tour such as this UNLESS one or more of
the senior seamers gets injured.  Kapil and Prabhakar are more or less
certian to play all the serious games.  Srinath and Sharma would be,
IMO, more than adequate back-up.  Then, Bannerji would make way for
Maninder.

The batting looks solid and good.  

. Manjrekar is too good a batsman to leave behind -- he had to be taken.  

. Dropping Sidhu and Srikkanth was a brilliant decision.  They can't
  justify inclusion.  Raman has been more than merely `around' for a
  hell of a long time.  On the tour of England, when Sidhu was given
  chance after chance inspite of a mindless array of dismal displays,
  Raman was a shining star in almost all tour matches.  If memory serves
  me right, he made very few scores less than 50 on that tour.  His
  inexplicable non-inclusion in the team, despite such glorious form,
  drove the likes of Tony Lewis and Richie Benaud to utter despair.  On
  many an occasion, Benaud expressed his consternation thus, "For the
  life of me, I can not understand why a stylish and competent left
  hander like Raman should be sidelined.  He would be in my team any
  day.".  [Or words to that effect anyway!].  Raman's big score in the
  Irani match was timely -- and thankfully so.  I'd love to see him given
  a good run at the opener's slot.  He is competent and he is stylish.

. It is sad that Kambli was left behind.  However, Amre won that
  interesting battle this time around.

. It is sad that none of the designated openers in the team are actually
  openers!  Shastri started as a spinner who could just about bat.  Now
  he is a batsman who keeps forgetting how to bowl.  Raman started off as
  a spinner who could bat badly.  He is now a stylish batsman.  Jadeja
  was never an opener.  Now, he is in the team as an opener.  But, I
  suppose that can not be avoided.

I am glad that Yadav is going along.  More, who (it is worth reminding)
came in because of harsh treatment meted out to Kirmani, is no longer a
certainty.  His career has been dotted with blunders galore.  Few Indian
fans will forget his great blunder (service to Gooch, depending how one
looks at these things).  His career has also been highlighted by a
rather wasteful absence of any _serious_ competion.  The pretenders, of
which there were many (Sadanand Vishwanath, Mongia, Pandit, Saba Karim),
came and went and came again in a rapid succession of mediocrity (or
drunken stupor, in Vishwanath's case!).  So, in some respect, More has
been the proverbial one-eyed man in a blind man's land.  Yadav may be
his ultimate replacement.  Anyway, Yadav's is a well-deserved slot. 
Hopefully, he will turn out to be much less temperamental and much less
argumentative than More and more of an ambassador for the game.

Having said all of that, what would be my first teams?

Tests (in batting order):
      Shastri, Raman, Manjrekar, Tendulkar, Azhar, Amre, 
      Kapil, Prabhakar, More, Raju, Srinath.

This would leave Azhar with 3 good seamers, one good spinner and
Shastri (groan) -- a good balance.  The batting order will be
discussed later.

Alternatives for tests:
      Chetan for Srinath
      Jadeja for Amre


One-day games:
      Jadeja, Shastri, Manjrekar, Tendulkar, Azhar, Amre, 
      Yadav, Kapil, Prabhakar, Srinath, Raju.

With this format, Azhar would have 4 frontline bowlers, with Tendulkar,
Shastri (groan) and Jadeja capable of filling in.

Alternatives for One-days:
      Raman for Shastri with Shastri dropping down to 6th spot instead
      of Amre.
      Raman for Shastri with Shastri dropped (but that could be
      difficult, given Shastri's VC status)
      Srinath out and Kumble in.
      Kumble for Raju.
      Yadav (My first choice for 1-days) out for More.

I think Manjrekar should retain the 3rd spot.  Traditionally, this spot
is reserved for the most technically correct person in the team.  IMO,
there is no one in the team to beat Manjrekar in this department.  He
could provide the stability that is required in that spot if he comes
good.  This could be his last (best?) chance to string together a
sequence of decent scores.  My feeling is that this will be a good
tour for him.  The problem is then Azhar's own position.  Although he
did well with the bat at No. 3 towards the end of the last season, I
believe he will serve the team better if he drops down to No. 5.  With
Tendulkar occupying the spot vacated by Vengsarkar, the middle order
will look more solid and impregnable with a Tendulkar-Azhar combination,
as opposed to a Tendulkar-Manjrekar combination.  While Manjrekar can
play a steadying role, he can not force the pace or turn tables. The
mercurial Azhar can do just that.

That's all for now.

/Mohan 

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Views expressed here are mine, except when my employer doesn't pay enuf
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If you read this article... Why?
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Mohan Krishnamoorthy, CSIRO, Division of Maths and Stats,
Private Bag 10, Clayton, Melbourne, VIC 3168, Australia.
Phone: +61 3 542 2474; 	email: mohan@mel.dms.CSIRO.AU