MY DREAM INDIAN CRICKET TEAM - 2012

MY DREAM INDIAN CRICKET TEAM - 2012

The Indian cricket team's tour of Australia is coming to a close. Unfortunately, there are a few unpleasant similarities with the England series in 2011. First, we have lost the third test and a 4-0 prospect looks extremely likely. That is one obvious similarity with the English series :-) Apart from the series scoreline, the previous test series before we played both England and Australia in their respective countries was against West Indies. That is another similarity. Thirdly, our famed batting line up disappointed us in both tours.

In 2011, India won the cricket world cup and most of its stars played the IPL after that. Since then the team has played cricket almost continuously. They then won the one day and test series in West Indies. My own opinion is that this led to an unconscious complacency. In West Indies, if the catch of one of the current West Indian batsmen is dropped in a test, the chances are that there would be another one coming shortly. Similarly, when our batsmen faced the West Indies bowling attack, while it could intimidate, there would also be a loose ball that would come sooner rather than later, which our batsmen could put away.

In England and Australia, the attitude of the players is different. An Alistair Cook or a Ponting or a Bell would ensure that we pay for any dropped catches. Similarly, the "enforcer" Stuart Broad or Pattinson or Siddle just keep on bowling relentlessly and expose any weakness either against the short ball or in the corridor of uncertainty. The price we pay for any mistakes in the field is more against teams like England, South Africa or Australia.

In England, the injuries and lack of preparation made it worse. I still find myself dismayed that we last 4-0 in that test series: it rankles pretty much ; the result of the Australian test series starts a similar hurt again. Coming back to India and hosting the West Indies, we re-discovered our strengths. The good part was that we uncovered two quick bowlers in Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron.

When England toured us for a 5 match one day, the sub-continental wickets helped us win well. The end series score of 5-0 was flattering, coming as it did after the 4-0 test series loss and the 3-0 loss in the NatWest one day series in England, following it. Did that 5-0 score in India again lull us into lesser seriousness against the Australians ? When the second day of the Boxing day ended, it appeared that the stage was set for a close series : Australia had made 333 and we were 214/ 3. That was as close as we got (until now) to a win against Australia, unfortunately.

It appears that we simply aren't good enough. One of my favourite players is Rahul Dravid and his performance is also disappointing. Just before the series, he seemed in sublime form and his speech at the Bradman Oration (http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_must-read-rahul-dravid-s-spellbinding-bradman-oration-speech_1625955-all has the speech) would have done a diplomat proud, leave alone a cricketing sportsman. The stage was set for a juicy battle, but after three days in the series, it was clear that the Indian team was found wanting for a fight.

Well, Dravid made just 47 in the second innings of the third test and was bowled again. It seems that the writing on the wall is clear ! The Wall is cracking : it appears that the bowlers have found a weakness in his technique to exploit. I hope he can come back again but I think that is unlikely. It seems that he and Laxman will have to announce their retirement soon. It will be sad that their retirement have to come under these circumstances, but if it does not happen, things may get worse before they get better.

That does not stop me dreaming though ! I dream of a team that can challenge the best in the world, using my own pet theory about test cricket ! This is my theory : In any team, there needs to be wicket keeper. Apart from him there are 10 players. The ideal "balanced distribution" would be 3 batsmen, 4 all rounders and 3 bowlers. By all rounders, I mean anybody who would be called upon to bowl in a test or one day match, would be a so called "batting all rounder".

Now, in a test, there are 90 * 5 = 450 overs across the five days. If those overs have to be split across 4 innings, I would say that there would be two of 125 and two of 100. If an average run rate of 3 runs per over is assumed, 375 is the score in the test innings. Using this score as a basis for selection, to score 375, I would say that the top 6 should score at least 250. This means that the top 6 should average around 40 to 45.

I would expect the 3 specialist batsmen to average around 45 and the three "batting all rounders" to average around 40. Since scoring runs is the primary responsibility of batsmen, a simple average is a good indicator of the batsman's capability. If I assume 15 extras, it means that the last 5 need to score 110 runs. Of these, I would want to see numbers 7 and 8 to score 50, an average of 25 for the bowling all rounder (and the wicket keeper).

That leaves 60 runs to be scored by the last 3 players, who would be the specialist bowlers. This also means I expect "bowling all rounders" to average at least 25. This means that players like Akram would be classified as bowlers rather than all rounders. Akram's average is around 23. That seems unjust, but I feel it is necessary to have that average as a cut off for a bowler from an all rounder.

So, an all rounder is a player who bowls in either a one dayer or a test match. If he is likely to be called up to roll his hand over, he is an all rounder. This means players like Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke are also all rounders ! On the other hand, if a bowler has scored at a batting average of more than 25 (in his last 10 appearances), he becomes an all rounder also. I would like to consider the last 10 appearances to judge whether a batsman has bowled. If he has not, I would consider him as a specialist batsman. If he has bowled, either in test or one day match, I would consider him an all rounder. Similarly, if a bowler has scored at an average more than 25 in his last 10 international appearances, he becomes an all rounder.

The only exception I am willing to make is in the first class to international match transition. A few batting all rounders in first class matches may be only batsmen in international matches. Thus, bowling all rounders may be only bowlers in international matches, simply because of the difference in class in the types of matches. I guess it is up to me (as a selector !) to decide if a player would be a batsman or an all rounder in the team ;-).

Here is my theory on bowling : To bowl 125 overs, we need at least 5 bowlers, who can bowl 25 overs each. If 10 wickets have to be taken by 5 (or 6) bowlers, the wicket distribution would be 3, 3, 2, 1, 1. The average bowling runs conceded = 375 / 5 = 75. The average per wicket = 75 / 3 (wickets) = 25 or 75 / 2 = 37.5 runs per wicket. I feel that this is one way of looking at how a bowler performs. The other way is to look at the strike rate, which is more useful. A bowler's main job or role is to take wickets. Therefore, how quickly he takes wickets is a more useful indication. 150 / 3 = 50 or 150 / 2 = 75 balls per wicket. Thus any strike rate better than 50 indicates a relatively better bowler. If a bowler takes 5 wickets in 30 overs, he would have a strike rate of 180 / 5 = 36 balls per wicket. Interestingly, Dale Steyn has a strike rate of around 40, Shane Bond and Umesh Yadav have around 39. So, the indicator has value !

Now, I come to my dream Indian team ! I have referred to http://www.espncricinfo.com/ranji-trophy-elite-2011/engine/current/series/522928.html?view=records extensively to identify my dream team. I would look at this team with a horizon of five years. So, players who qualify would need to be around 27 to 30 years old.

In my view, the captain would be Virat Kohli. The youngster used to gift his wicket in one dayers, but he has changed for the better. I think he will adapt to test cricket and cut out his immaturity sooner rather than later. He was also captain of the under 19 team that won the world cup. Therefore, my vote for captain would be Virat Kohli, who is one of the 4 all rounders.

Among the wicket keepers, the most promising ones in terms of dismissal averages are Wriddhiman Saha (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/279810.html) and Avi Barot of Gujarat. Avi Barot is only 19 and he may be a useful prospect for the future, but since Parthiv Patel also plays for Gujarat, he has not got as many chances to keep as he could have. In the current season, while Saha has an average of 2.75 dismissals per innings, Avi has an average of 3.75 and he has played a match more than Saha. Though it appears that Avi Barot is a better wicket keeper, I feel that Saha is a better choice for now.

My next task is to select 3 more all rounders apart from Kohli, one of them being a batting all rounder and others the pure or bowling all rounders. The 3 other all rounders in India are Abhinav Mukund, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. Jadeja has a bowling strike rate of 68 per wicket (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/234675.html) in first class cricket and a batting average of 45 in first class cricket while Ashwin's batting average is a healthy 37 in 8 test innings and he has a bowling strike rate of 61 balls per wicket (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/26421.html), which is poor but for a spinner and an all rounder, it is acceptable. Abhinav Mukund has a first class average of 59 and has a bowling strike rate of 61 balls per wicket (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/302582.html).

Among the bowlers, my first selection is an unknown person : T. P. Sudhindra (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/34139.html) of Madhya Pradesh. He is 27 years old, bowls medium pace (I think) but he has taken 40 wickets in 2011 and has a career strike rate of 54. I feel that he can be a useful stock bowler for India. Umesh Yadav's performance in Australia (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/376116.html) wins him my vote as the strike bowler. Parwinder Awana of New Delhi has a bowling strike rate of 53 balls per wicket and is my third choice for bowler (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/323131.html).

Who are the best batsmen in India ? There are quite a few batting all rounders like Abhishek Nayar, Suryakumar Yadav, etc. but few specialist batsmen. The ones that come to mind are Ajinkya Rahane and Tanmay Srivastava. I am struggling to find the pure specialist batsmen ! Hence, I consider two batting all rounders in the Ranji elite as specialist batsmen in tests : Murali Vijay (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ranji-trophy-elite-2011/content/player/237095.html) and Robin Bist (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/262464.html) who has had a good season in 2011. With averages of 48 and 51, they complete the top order.

So, finally, here is my dream team for the next five years in the batting order ! Abhinav Mukund, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Robin Bist, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, T. P. Sudhindra, Umesh Yadav, Parwinder Awana. If I have to choose a 16 member squad, I would opt for Manish Pandey, Ashok Menaria, Rishi Dhawan, Yo Mahesh and Samad Fallah.

One valid criticism of my team is that the tail starts at number 6 :-) The other more important criticism is that stars like Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Gautam Gambhir are missing. However, I feel that the inclusion of all-rounders like Jadeja is very important. I feel that players like Jadeja, Bist and Sudhindra need to be groomed further. Sudhindra has a few years of cricket left and I like his performance in 2011 : in his last five Ranji matches, he has taken 5 wicket hauls 4 times ! Such players need to be given a decent chance in test cricket.

In all likelihood, my dream team would flop in tests, but then I do call it a "dream" team, don't I ?!