Drubbed again, Chappell says get act right, and let MPs talk

“They (MPs) are entitled to make any comment they like. That’s what they are paid to do in Parliament,” said Chappell after the 106-run loss.

True, India has lost 10 of the last 13 complete games they have played. True, the team was humiliated in Durban. But it’s also true that they won 18 of the 24 games before that after Rahul Dravid took over a team in shambles after the Sourav Ganguly storm. So do we throw this team in the ocean as Bishen Singh Bedi once suggested? Some answers:

• After the 1-4 loss in May in the West Indies on pitches that they had not played on for the whole of last season, the team has got in just 13 games. An entire tournament in Sri Lanka had the Indians fiddling their thumbs in their hotel rooms, the Malaysian series that followed was played on Russian Roulette turfs. And the only loss after that in which they really lost the plot was the one against the West Indies at Ahmedabad during the Champions Trophy.

Bring Sourav Ganguly back? Let’s revisit what previous Indian teams have done in South Africa. The 1992 team had Kapil Dev, Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar and Sanjay Manjrekar. They lost 5-2. The 1997 side—Sourav Ganguly, Tendulkar, Azhar and Dravid – played against South Africa five times during a tri-series. They won none. The 2001 team had Yuvraj and Virender Sehwag, too. And what was their record? 1-4 against the hosts during another tri-series. No wonder Dravid pointed to the batting bully tracks back home after the Durban loss.

“Some better credential batting teams from India have struggled in these conditions before,” remarked Chappell without batting an eyelid. “We’re struggling and obviously we need to look at different options and we can’t keep doing the same things, otherwise, we’ll finish up getting the same results,” he added.

Of course, this team is not angel white. It has had its problems that have been compounded by the fact that the thinktank is now rushing through whatever plans they had worked out after the West Indies tour. For instance, they wanted a flexible batting option at No 3, but a few losses and that was shelved.

“We’re not playing well enough, that’s the basic problem. You can say what our biggest problem is, we have too many players out of form, that’s our biggest concern at the moment, key players not doing well enough,” said Chappell.

Today, India’s bowlers changed their tactics in the second half of the innings after having South Africa on the ropes at 76/6. They pitched the ball up and were made to pay for it by Kemp who hit an 87-ball 100. They fielded badly, dropping Kemp thrice. And the top order failed miserably. But then, this is cricket, not neurosurgery. More games, a slice of luck, a swing in fortune, that’s how sport works.

“We didn’t take all our catches and that was the big difference in the game. I’m not sure there is a right solution other than working hard and trying to turn things around,” said the coach.

But what’s more worrying is what happens to all teams when they begin to lose. Hidden demons start popping up from nowhere, the players and the coach see conspiracy theories where none exist. And the slight sliver of resentment that accompanies a regime change grows into a yawning hole of dissent.

This is the time youngsters in the team start growing insecure, seeking comfort even in handshakes that were previously ignored. This is also the time when communication between captain and coach, between coach and players become extremely important.

The key players are also struggling together – some who need to show greater commitment, some need luck. “It’s got to come from the key players, they’ve got to dig deep and find a way to try and turn it around,” said Chappell.

Rahul Dravid, it is believed, was particularly assertive over the last few days, ever since the glib Gandhi caps got into game after the Durban loss.

Yesterday, at the team meeting, Dravid made a passionate call to perform. Today, hours before the match, he asked the team to “rise to the occasion”. Unfortunately for him, all the rising that’s going to happen over the next few days is in Parliament, where cricket is not a game, just a convenient excuse.