Post-drubbing in England, What Awaits the Indian Cricket Team?

Leo Xavier

Although critics in India are supporting the theory that most of the major sports events in the country are being negatively affected mainly due to the onslaught of cricket, the popularity of the game has been steadily rising all these years. The game has become a favourite for millions of Indians, especially since the year that the Indian cricket team brought the world cup home for the first time. But what happens when the team fails, and that too miserably?

As you might know, the BCCI is the richest sporting body in India. It handles crores of money every year. Because of this, millions of Indians who are spending money on cricket expects the BCCI to do their work properly.
India went to England as the world’s number one test team, but surrendered its top spot after a 4-match drubbing.
Although some fans expected the team to bounce back in the shorter version of the game, India failed to win a single match in the rain-marred five-match series.

Many theories have come up explaining the failure of the team, such as rain and injury to the players. Some also say that the squad is playing too many matches. BCCI has blamed injuries as one of the main reasons for the debacle, but they have refused to accept that the Indian team was playing too much cricket.

Any sportsperson would agree that rest is important more than anything else for each player. As you know, the Indian players played in the series against South Africa, West Indies, the World Cup and the Indian Premier League this year, before being humiliated by England. The tight schedule did take its toll on the players.

At the moment, BCCI has plans to take corrective measures as soon as possible. They are planning to ensure that the selectors pick a team which does well in Australia later this year, and believe that India has enough firepower to become the best team in the world.

And a couple of home matches are expected to help as well. The selectors will be picking the best possible combination for Australia from those matches.

Will things fall back to normal in the short term? Tell us what you feel.
(Pic courtesy AP)

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