Back to the Basics

How often have we heard people wishing that they were back to school? I hear it atleast once a week. While most people say this in jest, to emphasize how rough their life has become, a lot of people also say because deep inside they are feeling lost and feel the need to start over again. The same applies to an international cricketer. The busy schedule now-a-days, barely leaves the players with enough time to spend with their family. However, for the youngsters trying to cement their place in the national team, the off-season can be a vital time to take stock of their game.

How often in the recent past have we seen young players like Irfan Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, and so on, entering the international arena with some superb performances, but then fading away as the opposition teams managed to find chinks in their armory. Somehow, rather than improving, these players seem to forget how they got till this level. Ofcourse, the hype created around these players by the media and the supporters is also to blame. But blaming just the media, and the followers of the game is not enough. Soccer players experience similar adulation, and idol worship; they earn much more than our players do, and they appear in many more ads than cricketers. However, we still see them doing well at the top level.

What the youngsters in the Indian team seem to lack is the desire to keep improving. How many times have we heard all the great players - both of yesteryears, and current - say that they kept on learning right till the end. The best way for the youngsters to do so is to go to the roots; the domestic cricket arena in their case. The Indian domestic cricket structure may not be in a great shape, but still it can do wonders for any player willing to exploit whatever advantages it offers. Even if the standard of cricket at our domestic level is way below the international standards, going back to the grassroots level means that you get to analyze how far your game has changed - for better or for worse. Your coach at the domestic level may point out some defect that may have crept in your game; which your national team coach may not have noticed.

One of the best examples of benefits of going to the grassroots level was displayed recently by Rahul Dravid. Embarrassed shamelessly by our selectors, he refused to break down (as he has done so often in the past), and instead of moping around, went back to play for Karnataka in the Ranji trophy to prepare for the test season ahead. The results were clearly visible yesterday. For a man who had not played test cricket for a long time, he seemed perfectly at ease in the testing conditions during the morning. And as the pitch eased off, he proceeded to play one of the finest innings he has played in the past few years. So the question to be asked is: If an established player like Dravid can go back to the Ranji level to fine tune his technique - even though nobody has raised their voices against him - why can’t some of our players who are struggling against the short deliveries, accept the facts facing them humbly ,and work out the chinks in their techniques? What is it that stops them? Ego? Laziness? or a false sense of accomplishment (especially in IPL)? Whatever it is, unless they get rid of it, the future of Indian cricket looks grim.