NEW DELHI: Even as the Indian team tries to pick itself up going into Australia tour this month, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) is set to review the abject surrender against New Zealand. TOI understands that the nature of pitches used for the last two matches will be debated besides how the team management is running the team.
It is learnt that India’s previous head coach Rahul Dravid had tried to move on from playing on rank turners at home. Eventually, during the England series at home earlier in the year, the Test matches generated more runs and went into the fourth and fifth day. However, the team management asserted that it would prefer playing on turning pitches after losing the first Test to New Zealand in Bengaluru.
TOI understands that all members of the leadership group were not on board with the decision to play on outright turners. “The decision to go back to rank turners caught a few people in the board by surprise. The new support staff under Gautam Gambhir will be asked about their vision for taking the team forward,” a BCCI source told TOI.
India’s obsession with home advantage saw them playing on an overtly dry pitch in the ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad last year. India’s last bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, in an interview to TOI, had said that rank turners bring in opposition spinners into a Test match. “If you have far better spinners then obviously spinning tracks will be your advantage. But raging rank turners are not the answer. It brings the touring team into the game big time because anybody who could roll his arm over and land the ball at a desired spot could run through your batting. It becomes a lottery of a game then,” Mhambrey had said after winning the T20 World Cup in July.
Will coach be allowed in selection meetings?
The board may have a meeting with captain Rohit Sharma, Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar about what happened against New Zealand. It has also emerged that there is certain discontent about Gambhir sitting in selection meetings. There were certain instances when Dravid had to attend meetings because India were without a regular captain for a year in 2022.
“The BCCI has agreed to every demand of Gambhir so far. He has been given a support staff of his choice despite BCCI’s policy of promoting coaches they have groomed through NCA’s programme. He has also been allowed to attend the selection meeting for picking the team for the Australia tour. The board may have to revisit its decisions and ask Gambhir for a roadmap,” the board source said.
Plan with seniors and domestic cricket
There are also varying opinions about the sanctity of India’s domestic cricket. It is learnt that seniors not playing domestic cricket ahead of the season is being looked at. BCCI dropped Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from central contracts earlier this year for not honouring domestic cricket. While most India players played the Duleep trophy before the start of the international season, seniors like Rohit, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin were rested. Ravindra Jadeja was left out because he had picked up a niggle. Jasprit Bumrah has always been an exception.
“If the board wants to send a strong message about giving importance to domestic cricket, then the seniors must also be on board. There was very little cricket after the T20 World Cup. There is a school of thought that the seniors could have played a game like others did. The likes of Steve Smith still play Sheffield Shield during the international season,” the source said.
The board will also plan a transition after the Australia tour. “The selectors need to come up with a plan. It can’t be a knee jerk reaction. There needs to be a plan. There’s no definite vice-captain in Test cricket. With Bumrah’s workload issues, it is a stop gap arrangement for the Australia series,” the source said.
