Keep youngsters away from IPL

It’s unfair to say that the ‘Big Three’ should retire. What they need now is support and empathy. Yes, I agree the team has lost badly despite the presence of experienced players, but this is not the time to take hasty decisions. The chairman of selectors must speak with the senior players and the coach to formulate a plan that involves phasing them out as well as bringing in youngsters.

We must respect the seniors’ contribution to Indian cricket and allow them to quit on their terms before ensuring that Team India is in the safe hands of GenY.

Let’s take a look at what needs to be done.

‘Forming’, ‘norming’, ‘storming’ and ‘performing’ are the various stages players undergo during the process of team building. When a team starts performing consistently against top teams, a second line of players is trained to ‘storm’ and replace the non-performers in the main team. The bigger the pool, the greater the pressure on the main players to keep raising the bar. When this happens, the team stays at the top for long.

England, Australia, the West Indies — and now India — all suffered when their supply line dried up or got diverted. The IPL came to the rescue (financially) of those who could not break into the Indian team. The players’ Twenty20 skills improved and so did their ‘TRPs’. And everybody, including the BCCI, laughed their way to the bank.

The reputation of the national side always depends on Test performances. And that’s exactly where India have been caught napping. Unfortunately, the BCCI has been basking in the glory of a successful IPL season. The powers-that-be have forgotten that it’s Test cricket that remains etched in public memory.

The National Cricket Academy (NCA) should be working on a supply line besides training coaches. The authorities in Bangalore must build a solid programme that will build a strong ‘Second XI’. The players must train on fast, bouncy and seaming surfaces. In short, they must be forced to come out of their comfort zone. The NCA needs to come up with a programme that will hone players’ skills — both mental and cricketing — and prepare them for ‘war’. The BCCI must review and assess the performance of the NCA staff and weed out incompetent and complacent personnel.

BCCI curators should be entrusted with the responsibility of preparing pitches for Duleep Trophy as well as Ranji knockouts. This will help the board realise whether curators on its payroll have the competence to prepare fast and bouncy pitches. The players who perform on these wickets can be picked for India ‘A’ tours. And if they are good enough, they could be selected to play at the highest level.

I have had the opportunity to coach many state senior and junior teams over the last 10 years. And I’ve seen tremendous natural talent across India. However, that talent needs to be nurtured, groomed and mentored in the right way. A solid talent search system could be re-launched with a team of honest, committed and passionate individuals. Those identified could be trained at the zonal cricket academies during off-season. Over the years, I’ve observed that trainees tend to get homesick. Hence, sending them at zonal academies near their respective homes will yield better results.

The NCA inter-zonal tournament would go a long way in identifying talent and forming an academy team. The BCCI should also organise exchange programmes with academies based in other Test-playing nations. An India ‘A’ or Academy player will benefit a lot from foreign tours.

The BCCI should get full credit for launching the IPL. The only drawback, though, is that a lot of U-16, U-19 and U-22 cricketers are focusing on landing a lucrative IPL contract. I keep reminding them that a good Test cricketer can adapt to Twenty20 cricket, but not vice versa.

The BCCI could advise IPL franchises to pick cricketers who’ve played at least 15 first-class games. Even better, teams must be told to stay away from players who are below the age of 22. In this way, players would focus on skills required for first-class cricket. Also, the lure of quick money would hamper their overall development. I hope BCCI shall take some bold decision on these matters before it is too late.

(A World Cup winner, the writer is a former India bowler and an eminent coach)
To be continued

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