Cancelled?

KL Rahul of India ‘A’ after being dismissed for four v Australia ‘A’ at Melbourne on Thursday. Pic/Getty Images

Watching the India ‘A' batters struggle against the Australia ‘A' bowlers does fill one with a sense of foreboding of what's to come in the five-match Test series that starts in less than a fortnight's time. It wouldn't have been the case if India had won the Test series against New Zealand. It's not just the loss, but the lack of form of the batters that is the worry.

Clueless against spin

To be fair, the Indians did score over 400 in the second innings in Bangalore, but after that, in four innings they looked utterly clueless against a spin attack that by no stretch of imagination was so dangerous that India couldn't chase 150 in the fourth innings. Yes, there was turn on offer, but again the pitches were not impossible to play on.

That is why the cancellation of the team's warm-up game in Perth against the India ‘A' team beggars belief.

There is no better feeling for a batter to spend time out in the centre and feel the ball hit the middle of the bat. No amount of net practice is ever going to replace that feeling of flow and bat speed that one gets even after a short stay at the crease.

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Opening Test hurdle

India have invariably lost the first Test match of tours to the SENA countries. After that it's an uphill climb which the team did successfully on the previous tour. That's why it was important for them to play a warm-up game even if it is against their own ‘A' team. Yes, there's a possibility that the ‘A' team new ball bowlers may not go flat out because of the worry of injuring a key batter, but that's more likely to happen in the nets where the pitches are usually not as well prepared as in a match and where the bowlers bowl no-balls without any repercussion. The batters know that in the nets they can be dismissed three or more times and yet continue to bat and then play with no tension or pressure at all. So temperamentally it's never going to be the same as playing in a proper match.

For the bowlers too, getting into a proper rhythm with run-up and get confident about not overstepping is crucial. What line and length to bowl is also something that one can learn in a proper game and not in the nets.

For Indian cricket's sake whoever has taken the call to do away with the warm-up game and then reduce the match between the first and second Test against the Australian Prime Minister's XI to two days will be proven right.

Even between the third and fourth Test there's a gap of about seven days which could have been utilised to play a two-day game if not a three-day game. This would have given the guys who are struggling to get runs and wickets the opportunity to get back to form and also for those who are in the team to press a claim for inclusion in the last two Test matches.

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Too much workload?

But of course what about workload? The dreaded word that is bandied about even if the game finishes in three days. By the way, some of the New Zealand players who had just beaten India in all three matches were at the nets the day after their win in Mumbai.

Just for the record, if one counts the number of days the Indian team will be in Australia from say November 12 till January 7, it will be a total of 57 days. If all Test matches go the distance they will be on the field for 25 days plus the two-day game against the Australian Prime Minister's XI. So a total of 27 days out of 57. Ah ha, that's workload for you.

If things go well then great, else it will be a long, long tour for everybody, especially the Indian cricket fans.

Professional Management Group