The 'Men in Blue' have always been in the limelight of the cricketing world. Be it on the field, or off the field, commercials or controversies, they have it all!!! But off late, the team has been making waves, and this time for the right reasons. They have been climbing up the ladder to the top, and giving the Australias and the South Africas a scare....
The million dollar question is....Will India make it to the no. 1 spot? The team has evolved in the recent years. Some of the vital slots that have always been missing, seems to be now filled.
Team India: A peep in the past...
The Indian cricket team has always been an unpredictable side, since the 90s. The team has been going through many phases. In the early nineties, the team needed a re-building to be done, with most of the senior players retiring, and the youngsters burdened with the unexpected responsibility. Sachin Tendulkar was evolving as the most promising talent.
The mid to late nineties, saw the Indian team into a phase of depleted resources. The team was begining to look like a one-man army. The batting seemed to be dependent solely on Sachin Tendulkar. Getting Sachin out was like getting the whole team out. The Indian cricket was in a sort of virtual crisis.
The late nineties saw the Gangulys and the Dravids making their way into the team. The batting was strenghthening, but the other departments were found wanting. The fielding was way behind the international standards, and the bowling was just a touch mediocre. The only consolation in the bowling department was Anil Kumble.
The new millenium saw a sense of new flavour in the team. The likes of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, who could throw themselves around, added to the fielding prospects. The team was slowly catching with the new fielding standards of international cricket. John Wright along with Ganguly added an extra zeal and confidence in the team, and the team was starting to believe in themselves.
The missing link.
Despite a pool of talent and world class players, the 'unpredictable' tag was still haunting the team. India succumbed to pressure when it came to top teams like Australia, or when playing on foriegn conditions.
At this point of time, India had a very strong batting line-up. But it still had many slots to be filled, that make a top team. India lacked a genuine all-rounder, who could contribute both with the ball and the bat. An all-rounder can do oodles to the balance of the team.
Another deformity in the team was a wicket-keeper batsmen. A wicket-keeper who can bat can be a boon, and deepen the batting line-up. Rahul Dravid did his best as a make-shift keeper, but it was never a long-term prospect.
The pace bowling was always one-dimensional, with all medium-pacers, that relied upon swing. There was no genuine pace, that a bowling attack needs, to force the falling of wickets.
Is there a light beyond the tunnel?
With the appointment of Greg Chappel as the Indian coach, the Indian cricket team seems to be going in the right direction. All the slots that were always found to be missing, seem to be filled. We now have a hard-hitter wicket keeper batsmen in Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who can crack the ball beyond the boundries like eating peanuts. Irfan Pathan is all set to become the new genuine all-rounders in cricketing world, though he still asserts that he is not an all-rounder, for reasons unknown. But the ICC rankings have already rated him as the 4th best all-rounders of the world! And now, the latest sensation have filled the last missing block. Its Munaf Patel, who has come with sheer pace, and late and reverse swingers, to take the batsmen by surprise. All these new additions are surely the building blocks of what looks to be a promising future!
So, whether India will become the no. 1 cricket team or not, is a question only time can answer... But going by this new pool of talents, one sure is tempted to say, that there is light beyond the tunnel!
