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Essay, Paragraph or Speech on “What is Wrong With Indian Cricket?” Complete Essay, Speech for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

What is Wrong With Indian Cricket?

 

Ever since Australia and England started playing Test Cricket, cricket has travelled a long way. Since then a number of changes have also taken place in the structure as well as in the format of the game. The game of cricket took its birth in India when this country was under the British rule and thus, like English language, cricket too can be rightly called the legacy of the Raj. Right from C.K. Naidu to Mohd. Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricket has seen many ups and downs and has long since come of age. It was way back in 1932 that India had made its first official tour to England. But during all these years, Indians have never been recognized as good tourers of the game. During their foreign tours, Indian teams of yesteryears as also of the present-day could never quite muster the confidence that they could ever play on equal terms with their foreign competitors. It was only in the year 1971, that a miracle occurred for the Indian team when Indian players, under the leadership of Ajit Wadekar defeated both the West Indies and England on their home turfs. These were some of the great victories that Indian team had ever managed to win abroad. There have been some great names in Indian cricket right from Lala Amarnath to Sachin Tendulkar—the men who have really dominated the Indian cricket scene during their hey days.

Throughout the decades, Indian cricket has never been able to present a picture of strength and integrity for long. It is, therefore, quite natural for millions of thinking Indians to ask the billion dollar question, “What is wrong with Indian Cricket ?” Every now and then, the Indian cricket team has all along been accused of lacking in the killer instinct and mettle to pull it out at the right time. Many Indian cricketers are accused of playing individual cricket rather than playing for the team. During some of the events one gets the impression that various Indian participants in the event are competing with each other in winning individual laurels at the cost of their team-mates rather than winning the match for their country by defeating the opposite team— even the one from Pakistan. It is clear that Indian cricket is marred by individual rivalries leading to internecine quarrels. Who can forget the slanderous remarks made by Mohd. Azharuddin after their victory in England in 1990, that the Indian team did not need any coach.

Everyone knows that there were rumours in 1983 that Indian team will have to qualify from the next time to play in the World Cup and that rumour nearly seems to have come true in the match against Zimbabwe in 1983 when Indians were 17 for 5, thanks to Kapil Dev’s awash buckling knock of 176 which saw India through and they went on to win the World Cup at Lord’s on 26th of June. Perhaps that was the only golden achievement in Indian cricket. From then on Indian players have so far failed to ride to the expectations of the nation. So much hype and bonanza was given to the World Cup 1999 Cricket team of India and Indian team was referred to as strong contenders for the cup. But soon the dark clouds of misfortune soared over the Indian team when they lost to Zimbabwe at Bristol which ultimately led to their exist from the World Cup at super six stage.

One of the most important factors responsible for receding team spirit is the question of captaincy. The problem here is that whoever is made the captain of the Indian team, his output becomes negligible—whether it is Mohd. Azharuddin or his successor Sachin Tendulkar. Azhar was a nice, unquestioning guy with many records to his cricket and the Board of Control of Cricket for India (BCCI) was very happy with him. But his uninspiring leadership and hands-off style did not go down well with the players and the spectators. Poor form let him down further. Also, he never blamed himself for a defeat. A captain must accept responsibility for the entire team. Moreover, Azhar’s body language was a disaster. He could not communicate well either with the team or with the BCCI. Players need constant guidance. A motivating personality is, therefore, required as captain of the team. In this context, we have to see how far the new blue-eyed BCCI boy Sachin Tendulkar goes. So far, his second innings as skipper seems no better than his first.

Next to blame is the long ‘tail’ attached to our short batting line-up. No doubt, the Indian top order and the middle order are among the best in the world. But the Indian batting ends at number six. In a `fast-pitch’ situation, the top half collapse easily and the bottom half must contribute solidly. But in the Indian team, once the top order is creamed off, the tail fails to wag. This problem can be easily tackled by including good all-rounders in the team. A good team must have at least two all-rounders. By having more all-rounders, we can have depth in batting and variations in bowling as well. But India does not possess a sufficient number of all-rounders. That is why the team is not consistent in its performance. Another problem is that of a sturdy and dependable wicket-keeper-batsman. A capable wicket-keeper has always done a tremendous job in gathering the ball well, but his failure with the bat has annoyed all fans of the game. Today, when all the top teams have all-rounders along with a wicket-keeper-batsman, India lags a decade behind them.

One important part of the game which can turn a close match in a team’s favour is the way it fields the ball. Sadly, the Indians have not kept pace with the spectacular improvement in the fielding that other cricketing nations have achieved. The runs saved through energetic and intelligent fields give us an advantage; it is like having an extra batsman in the team. On an average, fielding can save 30-40 runs in an innings.

It is ironic that even as the game becomes more popular, standards of Indian cricket are rapidly declining. It can be directly related to badly-managed domestic circuit. Indians also do not play professionally abroad to improve their skills because they are busy too much with international cricket. This could kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

To top it all, the country is emotionally involved in the game. While there are many spectators, there are not many players of the game. Commercialization has further led to deteriorating standards. Eat Cricket, Drink Cricket at the Cost of Cricket seems to be our motto. The corporate unabashedly exploits the cricketers to sell its products to the gullible consumers—everything from blades to cars—leaving little time for the players to practice and polish their game. The team is consistently distracted owing to its extra-curricular activities. Money has become more important than honours for the country.

“Play the game in the spirit of the game,” said Jawaharlal Nehru while inaugurating the first Asian Games in New Delhi way back in 1951. Indian cricketers neither play the game in the spirit of the game, nor do they possess the killer instinct to win. They must remember that in any endeavour in life, nothing succeeds like success. If we have to become world-beaters again, we must create an environment conducive to the creation and nurturing of outstanding cricketers.

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