Vijay Dahiya has known Gautam Gambhir for over two decades while navigating the choppy waters of Delhi cricket together, hence he is certain that his former teammate would address Indian team’s tough transition phase in his inimitable chin-up style. For India’s current head coach, the Test series defeat against New Zealand at home, a first in 12 years and after 18 victories on the trot, would be a bitter pill to swallow. But Gambhir can’t be faulted if there’s a sense of déjà vu.
As a player, he had witnessed first-hand a tough transition phase between 2011 to 2014 when Duncan Fletcher took over a team – from Gary Kirsten after the World Cup campaign – filled with a number of superstars who were over the hill.
Ravichandran Ashwin is 38, Rohit Sharma 37 while Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja are nearing their 36th birthdays.
Then there is Mohammed Shami, currently injured but also in the mid-30 range, walking towards the sunsets of their glittering careers.
“There won’t be any knee-jerk reaction as team for the third Test against New Zealand and Australia series has been announced but Gautam will be honest and upfront about everything,” Dahiya, who has worked with Gambhir in both Delhi Ranji Trophy and Lucknow Super Giants teams, told PTI.
Dahiya admits that transition phases looming round the corner are always tough but vouches for Gambhir’s communication skills.
“Best part about Gautam is his communication and whoever he will speak to, he will speak openly and in-front,” said the former India stumper.
Another former India stumper and ex-chairman of selectors MSK Prasad feels that ageing is a reality which one can’t shy away from but one needs to look at the approach taken while playing at home.
“Age is natural and you can’t shy away from it. Definitely, a phase like this would come and transition doesn’t happen overnight. In our case, this team has a nice blend of youth and experience but I am worried about a certain pattern,” Prasad told PTI.
“Of late, we aren’t scoring enough runs in the first innings of Test matches. If you can bat long enough to score 450, you’ll give more time to pitches to show wear and tear and in turn it helps the spinners. But the top order isn’t batting long enough,” Prasad said.
His former selection committee colleague Devang Gandhi put it succinctly when he said playing spin bowling is a problem for some years now.
“In the past few years, most state teams have been preparing green tracks and on those tracks; you can hardly bowl your frontline spinners for 10-12 overs in a day. There is a dearth of quality spinners in domestic cricket as the focus has been on pace.
“Only when teams need a result in the final round, they prepare a rank turner. Test cricket is about adaptability and we need to have a good defence against spin. Look at ‘Big Four’ – Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly, if need be, they could also graft against spin,” Gandhi, who was Delhi’s Ranji coach last season, said.
Prasad also offered an interesting take about young batters in domestic cricket.
“Twenty years back, you didn’t have the concept of throwdowns. The top players if they had to bat extra hour would be against either pacers or against spinners instead of taking throwdowns for 45 minutes.
“The spinners aren’t flighting the ball enough and batters easily negotiate the flatter trajectory,” Prasad said.
Gandhi was practical in his assessment on whether this would affect the team’s chances in Australia.
“It won’t as all you need to do is regroup. This is a good bunch of cricketers and Australia won’t give you green-top or seaming wickets. India’s problem is seaming or turners, so we have every chance of doing well Down Under,” the former opener said.
Prasad feels that India did miss a trick by not picking Cheteshwar Pujara for the Australia series, given his past record against them in the previous couple of tours where he played 1000 deliveries on an average.
“Pujara just scored a double hundred in the Ranji Trophy. He brings that experience and solidity which the Indian team requires in Australia.
“I feel, if they had to pick Nitish Reddy, you could have waited for at least one India A match and taken it from thereon,” Prasad said.
But both Dahiya and Gandhi had a divergent view on this issue.
“Look Pujara has been phenomenal for India but with due respect, the double hundred came against Chhattisgarh, which doesn’t boast of best domestic attack. It was a match where 1000 runs were scored and both teams got a point,” Dahiya said.
Gandhi also felt that if the current selection committee has decided to move on from Pujara, then it is not prudent to look back.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)