WHAT IS WRONG WITH INDIAN CRICKET?

Why is India not the number one team?

India is a country of a billion people. Yet, we cannot find 15 people who are competent enough for a top notch job in the Indian cricket team. A statistical analysis of the players India has produced over the last 30 years may tell a story. We take three Indian batsmen; compare them with three counterparts (same period, similar position in batting order, etc) and three bowlers and three counterparts. In this analysis (only in tests), I choose to ignore Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, as they are clearly great players. There is no doubt about their greatness.

THE BATSMEN

Gundappa Vishwanath played international cricket around the same time as Greg Chappell. Also, as far as batting goes, they both played a similar role. Chappell played 87 matches to Vishy’s 91; Chappell had 19 not outs to Vishwanath’s 10; Chappell had 7110 runs to Vishwanath’s 6080; Chappell had an average just under 54 to Vishwanath’s 41.93 and Chappell had 24 hundreds to Vishwanath’s 14. Also, Chappell bowled much more than Vishwanath.

V.V.S.Laxman has been an important cog in the Indian batting. He has played a role much similar to that of Mahela Jayawardene. VVS has played 80 matches as against Jayawardene’s 85; VVS has 4878 runs as against 6289; 15 not outs as against 10 and 10 centuries as against 16. Jayawardene also has had to bear the extra brunt of captaincy.

Dilip Vengsarkar played around the same time as Sir Vivian Richards. It is important to note that although Richards has played 5 matches more than Vengsarkar, he has played 3 innings less. Richards has 8540 runs to Vengsarkar’s 6868; Richards’ average is just over 50 as against Vengsarkar’s 42.13 and Richards has 24 hundreds to 17 of Vengsarkar.

THE BOWLING

India is known for its spinners. Bishen Singh Bedi can be considered a contemporary of Derek Underwood of England. Although Underwood has played 19 more matches and bowled about 85 more overs than Bedi, Underwood has an average of 25.83 as against Bedi’s 28.71 and he also has a strike rate of 73.6 as against Bedi’s 80.3. India loses again.

Anil Kumble is the workhorse of the Indian bowling, a contemporary of Shane Warne. Kumble’s average is 28.65 as against Warne’s 25.41; Kumble’s strike rate is 65.2 as against Warne’s 57.4 and has lesser 5 wicket hauls (in innings) and ten wicket hauls (in matches.)

Javagal Srinath was India’s pace spearhead for years. Shaun Pollock is his contemporary. Srinath’s average is 30.49 while Pollock’s is 23.19; Srinath’s strike rate is 64.0 while Pollock’s is 58.1. Pollock also has 6 more five wicket hauls than Srinath (in innings.)

Is that really not enough? India is statistically overpowered. But, the only ‘positive’ point is that India has produced at least four excellent players in the last thirty- odd years. - BS