Published: Mar 06, 2012, 01:21 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 06, 2012, 01:21 PM (IST)
Clockwise (from left): Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Marvan Atapattu and Robin Singh © Getty Images
By Venugopal Rajagopalan
The Test series in England and Australia have emphatically hammered that the once-famed Indian batting seriously needs an overhaul. The thinking is that there is no ready replacement for the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. What is forgotten is that it takes time for players to bloom from good to great; it doesn’t happen overnight.
A journey down history lane will reveal that many of the legendary players established themselves and became great players only after repeated failures. We look at four such players – Robin Singh, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer and Marvan Atapattu:
Robin Singh: The gutsy, Trinidad and Tobago-born all-rounder made his One-Day International (ODI) debut for India against the West Indies in 1989. He played just two ODIs and was out of the team for seven long years. He made his a comeback in the 1996 Titan Cup.
He returned to not only cement his place in the India team but also ensured that he was a vital component in the team’s game-plan. He revolutionised batting in the death-overs with lusty hitting and swift running between wickets. His athleticism also lifted the fielding standards of the team. His bowling was also a useful proposition in the middle-overs stage of the innings when the requirement was to curb the flow of runs.
The point that is noteworthy is that he made his comeback at the age of 33 where most cricketers are deemed to be in the twilight of their careers, at least as far as Indian cricket is concerned.
Robin went on to play productively till 2001 to end his international career on a very satisfying note.
Matthew Hayden: He was written off as having limitations in technique that would prevent him from succeeding at the Test level. He made his debut in February 1994 and was dropped after just that one Test. He was recalled only in December 1996. He played for three months and was dropped yet again. Hayden made his second comeback in 2000 and yet again went through protracted mediocrity. It was only a year later, in the 2001 Test series against India, that Hayden began to repay the faith justified in him by the selectors by translating his potential into emphatic performances. He went on to score a mammoth 549 runs (109.80) in the three-Test series and also went on to score 1391 runs in the calendar year.
This has to be one of the most remarkable comebacks in the history of Test match cricket. Even on his comeback trial, Hayden did not look to be the most technically sound or correct player for the Test arena. But he had the strength, both mental and physical. He learnt to make his limitations his strengths and went on to score 1000 runs in a calendar year for five consecutive years. When he retired, his Test average was a whopping 50.74. His 30 Test hundreds ranks eighth in the Test history.
Justin Langer: Nicknamed ‘Mini Tugga’ by his mentor and long-time team-mate and friend Steve Waugh, Justin Langer’s batting was all about grafting, battling in tough conditions and accumulating runs in the most nonchalant manner. He was never a pretty batsman to watch. He got to play just seven Tests in his first three years in international cricket. He was recalled for the 1997-98 away series against Pakistan but could not add to his tally of Test runs. But in the following Test he scored 116 at the one-drop position and with captain Mark Taylor added 279 runs for the second wicket against attack that comprised the likes of Shoaib Akhtar and Mushtaq Ahmed.
The turning point of his career came when Michael Slater ran out of form in the 2001 Ashes against England and Justin Langer replaced him at the opening slot to start his magical journey with Matthew Hayden as an opening partner. The rest, as they say, is history. The Hayden-Langer pair scored 5655 runs (avge 51.41) which is the second highest by openers in Test history – second only to the famed West Indies tandem of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes.
Marvan Atapattu: Few batsmen would have hoped to survive with a start to their Test career that had a sequence of scores that read like a pincode: 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0. It’s tribute to Atapattu mental fortitude as well the immense belief of the Sri Lankan selectors in the batsman’s potential to persist with him. Atapattu did not touch the 30-run man in his first nine Tests. But in his 10th Test he scored a hundred and never looked back. Two Tests later he missed his second three-figure innings by two runs. But in his 13th Test he plundered a double hundred – the first of his six twin centuries. Atapattu went to become one of the iconic players in Sri Lankan cricket.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should take note of the success stories of the above-mentioned players. So what if players like Subramaniam Badrinath and Aakash Chopra are in their early 30? If players show the requisite fitness and form, age should not be held against them.
Mike Hussey made his Test debut at 29 – old by Indian standards. But he has been one of the pillars of Australian cricket, scoring 5489 runs at an average of nearly 50.00 with 16 hundreds. He is 36, but still going strong.
As India is facing a serious middle-order threat with the dwindling returns of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman, maybe the selectors should look at someone like Badrinath who is average over 60 in first-class cricket.
The BCCI has never been progressive or visionary in their thinking. But it’s better late than never.
(Venugopal Rajgopalan is a passionate cricket enthusiast, a decent club-level cricketer, a keen observer and an analyst. He has worked with international and domestic teams in tournaments like IPL and MPL (Maharashtra Premier League) as a performance analyst and had the good fortune to look at the game from closer quarters and understand its intricacies. Venu is on CricketCountry to share his insights, experiences and observations about the game)
