SHUVAIT KOUL
Well before Team India landed on the English soil, England Skipper Andrew Strauss and his men had started playing mind games claiming that England will not be the venue where the great Sachin Tendulkar will hit his much anticipated hundredth international ton. But who would have thought that the hosts would not muzzle the Little Master in terms of runs but rip-apart the rest of the so- called coveted Indian bating line-up as well.
To say the least, India has been taken to the cleaners by England in every department of the game. Losing three tests in a row has not only dethroned the World Champions from the top spot in ICC Test rankings but also raised serious speculations on the ‘will’ and ‘spirit’ of this rather fatigued looking Indian outfit.
Many cricket experts assert that the fundamental reason for India’s brazen nemesis in England is the formidable make-up of this English team which has played like a true champion in the series so far. However, there is undeniably more to it than what meets the eye.
Comparing Team India’s 2011 itinerary with that of England’s gives an idea of what is the strongest yet latent reason for the former’s annihilation. Shortly after the World Cup got over, while the English players were cooling their heels back home; probably doing their home work for their forthcoming series against Sri Lanka and India, the most high profile members of Team India were busy performing their duties for their respective IPL franchisees.
The result- a broken and battered Zaheer Khan, the mainstay of Indian fast bowling and an out-shouldered Virender Sehwag- India’s trump card in any part of the world. Not just this, the exhaustion could also be clearly seen in the body language of both the senior pros and the young brigade.
In such a scenario, one cannot but attribute this dismal performance of the Indian team in over a decade to the ridiculous scheduling they have been subjected to by the BCCI.
The story doesn’t end here but consolidates the point even further when if one goes through India’s itinerary for the remainder of the year. India plays England and WI in two home series from October to November prior to the Australian tour in December (which stretches to March 2012 including the tri-series involving Sri Lanka).
With such tight scheduling, the board is trying to portray the Indian cricketers as Gladiators and effectively reducing their cricketing life-span much of which has already been established in the England tour.
In all seriousness, it is high time that the BCCI and the players themselves take cognizance of this absurdity or else it will very soon spell doom for Indian cricket, the signs of which are pretty evident in the England tour.
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