Another ICC Cricket tournament got over this Sunday and it was yet another disappointment for the millions of Cricket fans in India. For the uninitiated, this time it was the ICC T20 World Cup which is the shortest of all the formats in Cricket that took place in Australia and India got knocked out in the semi-finals. A few months ago, India lost the ICC Test championships, a format in which it is the number one ranked country. To cut the tale of agony short, it is now 9 years since we won an ICC tournament. The last win was at the ICC Champions Trophy in the year 2013.
Unlike other sports, in Cricket, India always gets into a tournament with a chance of winning. Even in this T20 World Cup, India did top the table among both groups. But that sort of put a black cloth on the patchiness of its performance overall in the run-up to the semi-finals, where it got exposed badly by a belligerent England which eventually took the T20 World Cup. The pulsating win over Pakistan in the group match amidst high drama anchored by a super heroic innings from “King” Kohli sort of blinded us to believe that we can win from anywhere. Of course, the 360 Degree toying of the bowling by Surya Kumar Yadav in the league matches only accentuated the mirage of India’s invincibility till England virtually knocked us out of the park in the Semi-Finals. In short, we flattered to deceive. Yet again.
Naturally, the daggers have been out on the Indian team, its management, and the administration ever since the Semi final rout against England on Thursday. In a country where one starts to think about Cricket from when in the mother’s womb, almost everyone has ideas or solutions for some of the ills that India is beset with, in the game of Cricket.
Foremost has been the call for the sacking of some of the senior players including the captain. Then there are suggestions on who should be playing in the team moving forward. India now hosts the biggest T20 league in the world called IPL, where players from other countries come and participate. But players from India do not participate in leagues in other countries. So, there is a suggestion on letting that happen, so that Indian players get the experience to play in foreign conditions and with foreign players more often. Then there is chatter around India’s batting approach in the T20 World Cup – starting sedately and going for the charge in the last 5 overs which is now decried as very old-fashioned. There are those Ex-Cricketers like Gavaskar who questioned the need for a 20+strong support staff! And there are calls for sacking the Head Coach Dravid as well.
While some of the ideas or comments mentioned above deserve some consideration, in my opinion, what is required is a radical change and not just “Band-Aid” solutions. Like the opposite of what we have been following in India of late on many issues. On Taxes, we have moved to “One Nation, One Tax” with GST. For the armed forces, we have implemented the “One Rank, One Pension” (OROP) scheme. The “One Nation, One Ration Card” program is on the way. In a sense, a unifying approach. But in Cricket, for us to be successful, I suggest that we go the opposite way. Let me explain.
I propose that for each of the formats we have in Cricket which are Tests, ODI, and T20, we have three completely different teams turning up to represent India i.e., a “One Nations, Three Teams” (ONTT) formula. The upsides for this approach are as follows:
- This “Horses for Courses” approach allows the selectors to pick specialists for the specific format which in turn allows the players to focus and specialize on the format they are supposedly strong in. The players have to just “Stick to the knitting”.
- Every time in a series or a tournament, when a different team turns up for different formats, we can expect the players to be fresh, and eager and not carry the baggage from the previous match/tournament or series where we might have won or lost. Each of the teams will have fire in the belly to win and prove itself unlike now where for example, once a big Test series win is secured, some of the players may lose intensity when they show up for the ensuing ODI series or T20 series.
- This helps in balancing the player workload and therefore fatigue and injury management which seem to be key issues for teams these days with the hectic travel and game schedules.
- It will help to get away from the irony of accommodating an out-of-form senior player while a promising junior player is left out of the team.
- Since the nature of the game in each of these formats are different, the players once identified with a format need not worry about changing or tinkering with their batting or bowling techniques back and forth.
- For key ICC tournaments, the respective teams can travel early and start getting used to the conditions overseas thanks to their less cramped schedules.
- The “ONTT” approach will help democratize the game further in a country like India where we have a huge talent pool since we will have about 50 players donning the India cap at any point in time across the three formats. Players playing in IPL are in addition to this.
- The success of the English team recently in all formats may be attributed to this approach which they started a few years ago. But even there, the three teams are not completely different. What I am proposing is completely different teams with different captains and even different coaches. Only the supporting staff in terms of medical, physios and so on can be the same.
- This approach will eliminate the “Star” player concept since there will not be any player who will turn up as part of all Indian dressing rooms.
Some could argue about the duplicity of expenses in the above approach when different teams have to travel and so on. Today affordability is not an issue for BCCI as much as demonstrating success on the world stage is. Compensation will have to be worked out considering the frequency of the format so that there is a fair distribution of remuneration.
With a new BCCI team that has taken over recently, this is the right time for it to consider some radical ideas to improve our strike rate and frequency of winning Key ICC tournaments. And “One Nation, Three Teams” is one such killer idea.
A tournament puts the players in different pitch conditions, different climate, different spectator response, etc.
The same challenges are faced by both of the competing teams during a match.
One or two replacements are as per the rules subrules of the game.
Bilateral series have test odi T20 matches with same two teams and that is the sport.
Cricket is not just winning.
In the last T20 played by India Rohit Rahul sky had failed and the bowlers could not take control.
Administering separate teams for the formats does not happen in any game.
Retired hurt concept was utilised in a match, similarly opening bowler is rested and bringing back for death overs should not happen.
Although thought provoking about separate teams , the suggestion is like a “Ship of Theseus concept” and cannot be accepted.
The team has the face charector skillset and shared opinion from lovers of the game.
Thanks RS for your passionate views. I feel that a radical shift in approach is required from here on one idea for that is having different teams show up.
Good thought Anand, we can try this option and see if things work out. We could also try and limit the number of formats being played by a player in a year and fix the remuneration appropriately. I agree wrt Gavaskar’s observation on the excess support staff. There is far too many of them and even coaches are too many nowadays. Like the medical profession, there is a specialist for everything today. Batting, Fielding, Bowling, Catching, Field setting, Umpiring, Standing, Sitting, and what not…
Thanks Mani. I agree with you on the size of the support staff!