The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Time we had regular openers

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Thursday, Jul 26, 2007
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Time we had regular openers

Team India needs a sports psychologist very badly, writes W.V. Raman

The final day of the Lord’s Test was intriguingly poised and the clouds were playing hide and seek over the borough of St. James Wood to add to the drama. The odds were in favour of England but a partnership from the overnight batsmen could have provided a tantalising twist to the tale.

However, that was not to be as both Ganguly and Karthik were dismissed in the morning session though Ganguly contributed his bit to the cause. With half the side back in the balcony, Laxman and Dhoni had to fight with their backs to the wall and they both had to deliver for various reasons.

Laxman obviously is fighting for his place as is Dhoni with Karthik breathing down his neck with his nonchalant ability to fit into any role given to him.

Both Dhoni and Laxman were circumspect initially and quite rightly so as the need of the hour was discretion and not valour. Dhoni seemed to have left his usual flamboyance in his kit bag to be in sync with the situation and batted with courage, determination backed up by shrewd shot selection.

Crucial partnership

The partnership between Dhoni and Laxman was crucial in that they consumed time besides picking up valuable runs. The misjudgement of length by Laxman pegged his off stump back and his dismissal posed a real challenge to Dhoni’s character. The dasher was up to it and rallied with the tail-enders till the end to keep England at bay.

The Indians achieved a draw with the help of divine intervention and the lucky escape has given Dravid and his boys a chance to try and win the series. However, whether India is playing the right combination to win a Test match is anybody’s guess.

Firstly, it is about time that Team India stuck to a pair of regular openers. Karthik is doing a reasonable job but a regular opening combo will ease the pressure on the middle order apart from denying the opponent early inroads.

Sehwag missed

A make-shift opener is alright if it is going to accommodate a fifth bowler but with the Indians playing four bowlers, the top six need to be solid and get runs quickly. The much acclaimed Indian middle order is not exactly in the middle of a purple patch and as such, someone like Sehwag was badly missed at Lord’s. He is the kind of player who will get runs quickly and give the bowlers enough time to bowl the opponent out twice.

Furthermore in a tight game such as the one at Lord’s a quick innings from Sehwag would have made a huge difference. One has to also remember that Chopra and Sehwag did well a few years ago in Australia.

Another aspect that is preventing the Indians from doing as well as they can is the lack of mental preparation. This was fairly obvious on the first morning of the Test match when England was allowed to flourish by some ordinary bowling.

The medium-pacers were straying all over and though they came back well on the second day, better mental preparation would have had different results.

Mental preparation

A lot of hue and cry was made over the appointment of a coach but Team India needs a sports psychologist very badly. Each individual needs to be well prepared mentally if a team has to succeed on a regular basis. The likes of Dravid and Kumble can handle the mental aspects themselves given their experience but greenhorns like R.P. Singh and Sreesanth definitely need the expertise of a sports psychologist.

A look into the past will reveal the number of times talented individuals and Team India have failed because of lack of mental skills and not because of lack of technical skills.

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