FROM THE STANDS
S R Khelkoodkar
There is a growing understanding amongst sports journos, it seems, that the problems with the Indian cricket team lie in the bowling. Partly this has to do with the fact that the batting has been the relatively more consistent of the two in recent times. It comes as no surprise, therefore, to learn that our chances in the third test against the West Indies depend - yet again - on the bowling.
Says the Indian Express, `the only way forward now for Team India is for the bowlers to come up with a supreme effort on a pitch that`s already beginning to lean towards the batsmen. But that will be a huge challenge.`
The Indian Express, however, continues to be surprised by the balance between playing the best team with the policies of resting and rotation. `Of course, the bowling line-up did create a buzz, but that was well before the first ball was bowled, when the team sheet in skipper Rahul Dravid`s hands was officially released. No Irfan Pathan and no VRV Singh, while Harbhajan Singh got his first Test ticket in this series and Sreesanth returned from a heel injury that has, hopefully, healed completely.` No one who has followed the methods of selection that the team has employed in recent times would be unduly concerned about this.
The article ends on a bit of a confused note, though.
`Team India had once again stuck to their XI-of-the-moment policy, but the curious case of Irfan Pathan needs some serious questions to be asked and answered. The team feels he`s been hit by loss of rhythm and confidence. But all the symptoms so far — the unsettled run-up, the delivery moment, the dip in speed and length — point to a burnout after almost a year of continuous cricket. And this, considering the wealth of talent the 23-year-old holds, is what should be the big worry for tomorrow, much more than the rain clouds of today.`
Not only are loss of rhythm and confidence related to playing a year of almost continuous cricket, but also the solutions to both are the same. As all armchair experts recommend, he has been dropped from the team. Hopefully that will provide him a bit of a rest from active play as well, as desired. He is only more likely to return better off for it. The Indian Express doesn`t appear to have grasped this.
The Telegraph continues its coverage of the World Cup. Many of their articles on the football are written by local reporters as opposed to merely being reproductions of agency articles. The Indian Express too has articles written by Indian journalists in Germany. Does all this make a difference?
Yes, it does. In an event as big as the World Cup is worldwide, there is a lot more to cover than just the sport alone. Of course, all leading newspapers have comprehensive reporting on scores and match analyses, but that is not all there is. The Indian Express has run an article which reads more like a travelogue. One of their reporters is in Germany and has written about the weather and the problems of overbooked hotel rooms.
But, he says, `however small the hotel, even in a Paharganj-Sudder Street kind of area, you can take two things for granted: the high levels of hygiene and the breakfast room.`
The point may be irrelevant to anything, but the reference is good to see. Too many articles are written - and read - that are taken from agencies and are for a market completely different from ours. We`re not in the World Cup, but we would certainly like to imagine ourselves there.