Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
England has made it to the top of the rankings as the cricket world’s No. 1 Test playing nation with a win more emphatic than was ever imaginable, writes Abu George.
Already the excuses have started, albeit, with tremendous credit, not from the Indian team themselves. However, this has not stopped former Indian ‘greats’ from ensuring that they remain in the spotlight by proffering advice with notable hindsight.
The main culprit, it appears, was the IPL (Indian Premier League) which did not allow the players to rest. Yet, by simply blaming an entire league this fails to address many of the issues surrounding the preparations for the tour.
Firstly, it is the decision of each individual player whether they participate or not. Several of England’s players had chosen to not compete, allowing themselves the opportunity to rest from what is, admittedly, a busy schedule.
Secondly, the Board themselves chose the schedule which entailed a tour of the West Indies prior to their arrival in England.
The team’s preparation ahead of the first Test match was a single three-day game against Somerset.
This reminds me of England’s tour of Australia following their winning of the Ashes at home in 2005 – they followed Australia home on the back of wild celebrations and the receipt of honours from Her Majesty the Queen, deciding to only arrive a little over a week before their first match.They arrived under-prepared and received a drubbing.
One should also remember that several top Indian players were rested from the tour of the West Indies, including Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan.
Andrew Strauss, the England captain, recognised that he was entering the Test series under-prepared and took the unusual step of arranging to play for Somerset against India in that one match – this was a massive gamble that has paid off.
The other person to receive more than his fair share of the blame is new coach, Duncan Fletcher. However, to blame him is, in my opinion, unfair as he has had little or no opportunity to exert his influence. To hold him accountable would be to deflect attention away from the real issues. The Indian Board is now promising a review – it will be interesting to see the conclusions that they reach.
I hope that they all recognise that the success of the national team, and the performance of the individuals within that team, should be the number one priority.
