India’s big three failed once again in the first innings of the 2nd test against Sri Lanka, the big three (Sachin, Ganguly and Dravid) in the three innings have a combined score of 97, their recent form and performance in the Srilanka series is indicating that these stars are fading and they are a mere shadow of their illustrious past, which raises the question should India bid fare well to these fading stars and show more faith and invest in their emerging players? The answer to the above question is a simple “yes” but the implementation of this simple answer is not so simple, the iconic stars in Subcontinent are not renowned for their honorable transition into retirement mostly their exit is bitter and embarrassing and they have to be shown the door by the selectors.
The selectors in Subcontinent are often confused in choosing between fading experienced stars and talented but inexperienced emerging players the answer is again simple but gets more complicated due to the huge fan following of the iconic players, if the emerging player fails the selectors come under fire from all corners as a result they always play it safe by voting in favor of the fading stars. In subcontinent people worship these stars like gods and often have unrealistic expectations from these stars they keep on hoping for one more performance reminiscent the past, it’s not that these players can’t play cricket anymore, yes they still can deliver occasionally whenever they will get favorable conditions but the consistency is not there.
I bet if Warne, Gilchrist and McGrath were Indian or Pakistani they still would have been playing for these countries, their performances in IPL were far better than some of the iconic players from the Subcontinent, the Australian team is still struggling as the replacements of these legendary players are taking their normal time to settle in International cricket but their transition in International cricket is far smoother than any emerging player from Subcontinent who often have to compete unnecessarily for years against these fading stars as a result they are often in and out of the team. These fading stars at the twilight of their career turn into shooting stars and some of them take some other bright stars with them into oblivion.
Do you think it’s time for India to let go of these fading stars?
Wasim bhai and all friends from Pakisan who read here, I would like to wish you all on the occasion of Pakistan’s Independence day.
NC,
I think the selectors will give the seniors another chance against Australia and those who will fail again might lose their place, change for the sake of change is never good, its just that most of us are sensing that the big three have lost their edge and it’s time for them to retire.
I would be happy to see a yougster fail and learn ultimately he will gain experience and serve his country for many years to come but what will you gain from investing in players who have only a year’s cricket left in them at most.
It’s a difficult choice but its better to look toward future instead of the past.
Thanks Scorpi:
I think both Rohit and Raina are good players they should be given a chance. I have more confidence in Raina than Rohit.
wasim – had india’s next test series been in a week or two, action could’ve been immediate and drastic – may be on even 2-3 seniors. But India’s next test (vs Aus) is from 9th Oct. And we’re on 9th August today. If these players made a comeback after WC 07, what is a test series defeat to Sri Lanka. Or may be once again they’ll drop Sehwag from some team. The deal is always drop someone. Then the people are happy.
First of all Wasim… great new look… much better than the earlier theme.
On your post, it is tough… the quality of the replacements have to be considered. For example, gambhir was a quality player but ignored and now he is here… so it worked great.
Am not sure a raina or a rohit is 100% spot on for tests… so let me them prove in ODIS like what gambhir did. A yuvraj certainly doesn’t seem to be able to qualify! God knows why.
In terms of bowling, we need people like mishra coming in… in fact if neccesarry at times when bhajji sucks, be replaced.
Agreed SB, I think the axe will fall on Ganguly he failed miserably in this series, I think that BCCI has to make a realistic assessment about the big four, wholesale changes will never work but out of the big four Sachin can still play, Laxman is out of form but I don’t think that he should retire, Dravid and Ganguly look too old and they have come to a stage that they will give one or two good performances and then again a lean patch this will continue until they retire they are never going to get that consistency again everybody knows that, but I feel that the selectors will retain Dravid and Sachin and let go of Laxman and Ganguly, the first two are untouchables even for the selectors, they are the nucleus of Indian team, and I think Indian selectors are not ready yet to change the nucleus of the team.
Sequentially…not wholesale but n a stepwise fashion. This could be the season finale for some out of the four.
VM don’t take me wrong I am a huge fan of Dravid, and Sachin but I think the time has come that they should retire ,whatever they are contributing right now any youngster will also be able to do that, and its not one bad match, Dravid has failed on regular basis in all formats of the game in the last few series, he did played one big innings but you will agree that his form has dipped, Sachin plays one series and then gets injured for the next, Ganguly is a mere Shadow of his past, all three of them can still come up with a spectacular performance but we all know that these stars have faded and the longer they remain in the team the more difficult the transition will become for the younger players.
I agree with Pankaj that at least one of these guys should retire after this series.
I find it rather knee-jerk, esp of some Indian fans that after one bad match, they seek to sack the seniors. Don’t get me wrong. I do realize that their time to leave the stage will come sometime in the near future. But a lot of that clamour has increased after the T20 World cup victory and IPL success of the younger teams. I think its important to not comfuse T20 success with Test success. Yes, they are fading stars, but I believe both Tendulkar and Dravid have about a year or two of good cricket left, Ganguly maybe one. Meanwhile, we can see how the youngsters fare abroad.
Good thread and some valid analysis.Yes I agree that it’s time for the iconic stars to call it a day and its time for India to invest and employ in there talented youth like they did in the world t20 and what a success that was for team India.
Indian batsmen are still struggling against Mendis, it seems they are trying to read him off the pitch if thats the case then well good luck, the unpredictability in Mendis’s bowling can only be taken out if the batsmen also focus on his grip,his carom ball doosra can be read easily his Pinky, Index and ring fingers are raised bowling that delivery he normally bowls this ball faster than other balls, his googly comes out from the back of his hand how hard is that to pick he bowls his off spinner with the conventional grip.
If the batsmen focus on his release they will have more time for positioning they still will have to watch the ball off the pitch but there will be no big surprise left in his bowling.
SP sure you were the first one to predict, who do you think will retire Dravid or Sachin?
they have turned FAT for from fab four for sure…as i have been saying for a while…by the time this series will end there will be a spot in middle order open from grab…
and the way they are playing i am getting more and more assured of my prediction…