Rotating Ride

There is a popular saying that suggests why fix something when it isn’t broken. The Indian cricket team seems to have come to a stage where it seems to be eager to fix things before they go wrong. Rotation, the newfound buzzword of Indian cricket, is throwing up situations that no one anticipated and yet every one seems to be okay with it. Or so it seems.

Following the disastrous test campaigns in England and Australia the Indian think tank now regularly rotates one major player per match. There is a difference from ‘resting’ and ‘rotating’ and this is what comes across as strange. Previously players who weren’t performing were rested for a few matches and they got the message- shape up or keep warming the bench. Under this rotation policy Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir have been playing musical chairs in the ongoing triangular series. While there isn’t anything wrong on paper with this concept but then nothing is perfect and the first major test of this fabled policy was up for grabs.

As per the rules it was Gautam Gambhir’s turn to be rotated for the last India-Australia match. But would it have made sense to keep the in-form batsman out of the match? Proving that such policies are always works in progress, the line-up included Gambhir. Similarly the last match against Australia included all the top three batsmen. While replacing bowlers the term rotation never comes into contention and its usually replacements for injuries that is mentioned as a reason.

Batting has been India’s forte since time immemorial and MS Dhoni’s assertion that one extra batsman would shake the balance of the team doesn’t really hold water. Logically if six batsmen can’t guarantee a defendable total or a successful chase then how much difference would the seventh make? In any case from the last match it has come across the rotation policy seems like the axe that MS Dhoni and Sehwag have been grinding in public. Dhoni mentioned in the passing that the fielding of the seniors read Sehwag and party is also one of the factors that play while making the cut. Sehwag was quick to retort and suggested a few stunners that he picked up in the recent matches.

The younger players like R. Ashwin, Virat Kholi and Ravinder Jadeja make the cut without any questions, the seniors such as Gautam Gambhir, Sehwag, Suresh Raina and Dhoni can’t be left out; and we need at least four bowlers so where is the confusion?

This is where the plot thickens. With Sachin Tendulkar being in a league of his own there aren’t any rules that govern his inclusion. So, in fact, it wouldn’t be incorrect to suggest that this rotation policy has been propagated by Tendulkar’s presence. Quite simply someone has to sit out when he choses to play. Wouldn’t it better to keep Tendulkar in the arsenal on a regular basis thereby compelling Dhoni to pick the best XI? Either that or pitch the other all-important question- anyone who saw how Tendulkar struggled in the outfield to save runs in the tied match against Sri Lanka would ask him to field closer or simply still make up his mind about ODIs. 


This article was originally written for Buzz in Town