INDIA OUT OF THE WORLD CUP. WHAT NEXT?

I know all the fans of Indian cricket team are disappointed. In developing countries like ours victories in sports are revered very much and defeats are treated with utter displeasure. These extreme reactions are due to the fact that our victories are very rare in sports. Only cricket and to an extent Tennis are providing our nation with regular victories. This is the reason why people are so passionate about cricket in India. So early exit from world cup is not easy to digest.

Whether World Cup is only event in cricket? Is it end of the road? Agreed, world cup is biggest event in one-day internationals. But it is not the end of road for our cricket team. There are more glorious moments waiting for our cricket team. Let us not loose hope. Success in other sports will definitely reduce pressure and expectations on our cricket team. Success in other sports is not only good for that sport but also for cricket. I hope other sports provide champion stuff for India in near future.

OUR PROBLEMS:
1. Our overseas record is very poor. We don’t have many overseas test series victories to show.
2. We have not won any major one-day tournament recently.
3. We don’t have world-class bowling attack. Traditionally our weak bowling link puts lot of pressure on our batsmen.
4. We don’t have great fielding unit.
5. Our success percentage in test and one-dayers are just over 50% in recent times. We are not consistent as Australia and South Africa throughout a year. They have success percentage of over 70%.
6. We don’t perform very well in crunch situations.

Actually these things and early exit from world cup compounded Indian fans disappointment. If we have won regularly in all parts of the world, the world cup defeat would have been greeted with lesser dissent.

POSITIVES & SUGGESTIONS:
1. After advent of Dravid and Ganguly we begin to enjoy more success in test cricket. After advent of Yuvraj and Shewag we begin to enjoy more success in one-day cricket. Though numbers of victories are not enough, we are moving in right direction. So our goal must be developing good team. Our record in abroad is improving.
2. Give more attention to developing good bowling attack. Both pace and spin. Nurture them.
3. Don’t develop a team for the sake of winning world cup. Develop and prepare a team for winning more matches in future. All test series and one-day series are important.
4. Because of this world cup debacle don’t do any major reshuffling in team.
5. Selection of team should be on performance, not on sentiments and past glory.
6. In two years time most probably Sachin, Kumble, Ganguly and Dravid would retire from all forms of cricket. So start plan and prepare right now to fill the void and build a strong team. Selectors have a huge job on their hands.
7. Our team is still good enough to win a tournament like world cup.

Do you know Australian cricket faced even worse situation during late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Their cricket administrators and selectors then developed a long-term vision and they implemented it successfully. Now see the results of Australian team. Rome is not built overnight. Our success takes time and our future is bright. Let us move on!