It was Muhammed Ali, when he was Cassius Clay, who announced to the veteran boxer, Archie Moore, he had come to beat him and give him his pension plan. Such extreme methods need not be used to end the careers of the ” fab four”, as the cream of the Indian middle order is known, and of the captain, Anil Kumble. The quintet would be willing to call it a day, provided they are assured that their replacements are good enough.
The Test series loss to Sri Lanka was probably not expected, till the Indian batsmen came up against a spinning phenomenon answering to the name of Ajantha Mendis. The last Sri Lankan with the surname of Mendis who took severe toll of Indian cricket was the pocket-sized Hercules, Duleep. But this one seems to be posing problems of a most complex manner. In fact Laxman, who remained unbeaten with 61 in the second innings of the final Test, must have been relieved that he did not fall to Mendis for a sixth time. Maybe the fact that he had a bad ankle prevented him from being both adventurous and foolhardy, and the experience might have taught him a small but interesting lesson.
The “fab four” and the captain were miserable flops on the tour. Only Sachin Tendulkar would have continued, having been selected for the ODIs in Sri Lanka. A recurrence of his left elbow injury, however, ensured that he went home. Is it a blessing in disguise?
The ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his young brigade face a challenge that would surely test them. Mahela Jayawardene, is one of those captains who is very proud of his home record, and will leave no stone unturned to beat Dhoni’s team in all the matches. It would be the icing on the cake after the Test series triumph, which left India wondering what to do with its veterans. But can the national selectors who have left the veterans out of the ODIs, trust the young brigade to deliver in the Tests?
There was a chance to blood a batsman, Rohit Sharma, and a left-arm spinner, Pragyan Ojha, in at least one of the Tests. It was not taken, while Sri Lanka did blood two bowlers in Ajantha Mendis and Dhammika Prasad. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if Indian cricket is unable to build for the future, it is because the young players are not making the best of the opportunities given to them. Or, as the selectors suspect, they might not be good enough.