Monday, December 13, 2010

India vs New Zealand. Indian win 5-0. Way to go India!!

Daniel Vettori must be wondering what to do next? After the comprehensive thrashing by India in the recently concluded One Day Series against India, it was clear that the Indian ODI team is on a roll, on a path of revival led by the strong, silent, highly underrated and immensely talented Gary Kirsten. This team is high on Self Belief and  Self confidence. What a difference a good coach can make? It finally boils down to leadership and I think Gary Kirsten is a born leader. Contrast Kirstens "let the results do the talking" approach vis a vis  Chappell's brash "Change it all Approach" . Sometimes I wonder if Chappell's was purposely sent here by Cricket Australia to demolish the Indian team from within. A conspiracy theory, no doubt, but highly plausible. Indian's are not known for their unity- In fact they are known for factionalism, their Individualism and narrow minded approach. This was played to the hilt by Chappell who really demolished the fighting spirit built in the team by Saurav ganguly. Thankfully, good sense prevailed and Chappells contract was not renewed. Praise the selectors on selecting Kirsten as the coach. Just goes to prove the adage that a Great sportsman need not be a great leader too and vice versa.
The best part about this win was the hunger displayed by all the sidelined cricketers who were given a chance. It was a great decision to send the seniors to South Africa to practice and hone their skills against the short, fast deliveries that Morkel and Co have planned for them during India's forthcoming tour to South Africa. What this decision has done is built up enormous bench strength with Yousuf, Parthiv, Viraat etc going great guns and given India fantastic options for the forthcoming series and the Cricket World Cup.
As was brought out in an earlier article on why Indian's play they way they play (Winning and the Indian Cricket Team), I think the author would need to re-calibrate her reasoning. This ODI team is different. They are motivated from within to win. They are highly insecure about their place in the side and will go all out to show that given a chance- The Indian Team is second to none..Way to go India