Don under: If we’re going to lose, why not with younger men?

What if we were to replace the three aging stars of the Indian middle order with fresh talent? This is not as outrageous or drastic a step as it might first appear.

Think about it. We could not possibly do any worse than we are doing now, halfway to another 4-0 whitewash after the drubbing in England. At least, if we have a younger lot in the ranks, they could learn from the beating and do better next time.

After all, the Dravid-Sachin-Laxman trio are not going to be around when we next tour Australia, and even in their prime, they never managed to win a series Down Under, or even in South Africa for that matter.

In Melbourne, and on the first day in Sydney, it was clear that our famed batting line-up was just not up for it as soon as there was a bit of lateral movement off the pitch. Sachin did a little better than the other two but even he could not convert any of the starts he got into a big knock that could alter the outcome.

What good is all the experience at India’s disposal if it can’t cope with challenging conditions abroad? After all, it’s when the ball starts doing a bit that you need a well-developed batting technique. If it’s just a matter of piling up runs on flat tracks back home, hitting through the line of the ball without bothering about getting forward or back, the Rohit Sharmas can manage that well enough, thank you.

Surely a talented player like Rohit merited a place in the middle order along with Virat Kohli after the fiasco in England.  We have just not groomed new batting talent over the last decade and that’s why the team is now getting moribund.

It’s only when Sachin decides to take a break, as he did for the West Indies tour, or somebody gets injured, that an Abhinav Mukund or a Cheteshwar Pujara suddenly gets a chance. Then they have to make way when the established player returns. It’s impossible to develop yourself as a Test batsman if you’re going to be in and out like that. The likes of Sachin and Dravid were successful because they got in early when they were playing well and had steady places in the side.

Even now, after the abject loss in Sydney, when there is pressure to make changes in the team, it’s Virat Kohli’s name that has come up immediately for axing. Granted that his poor technique and footwork have been exposed, but what about Dravid and Laxman, who have been getting out playing half-cock forward to good length deliveries in spite of their experience? 

Kohli has shown the potential to be in the big league and deserves a long run to get used to pace-friendly pitches. If Rohit gets in at Perth, it should be Laxman or Dravid making way for him, not Kohli.

Australia did not hesitate to show icons like Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist the door when they needed to strike a balance between past laurels, current form, and building a team for the future. Gilchrist’s exploits in the IPL showed how much cricket was left in him when he made way for younger talent. India has already left it too late, but at least in the next home series, we should give a chance to Kohli and Rohit, as well as a Pujara or a Mukund, to make the big scores that are there for the taking on our pitches.

Our World Cup triumph showed that we don’t need Laxman and Dravid to win at home on spin-friendly wickets. With a number of home series lined up in the next two years, it would be easy to forget the humiliation abroad and go back to the familiar sight of our idolised middle order notching up century after century on flat tracks. Instead we should let new talent develop just as we did in one-day cricket.