All Star XI vs All Fit XI

For years the BCCI has been squeezing India's cricket lemon dry and getting away with it. Series are auctioned at unbelievable prices. The broadcasters in turn have started showing even ads between balls to maintain profits.

The cricket commentary has become commercial, bland and one-dimensional with few Indians pointing out the actual things that ail Indian cricket.

More and matches are being fitted into every calendar year with IPL and the Champions League forming a tight fit.

Finally, there was immense pressure from advertisers to field an "All Star XI" as against an "All Fit XI". Players would play despite small injuries and the BCCI wasn't unduly worried if the player retired hurt.

The issue of fatigue was totally brushed under the carpet.

Indian cricket players were already walking on a knife's edge when the World Cup happened. Winning a WC always requires a supreme effort. When the Indian team finally did it, it must have drained them emotionally, mentally and physically.

The best thing to do would have been to give the whole team a month off to celebrate, rest and soak in the momentous occasion.

Of course, that's not how Indian cricket operates. Both our Test openers got injured in the IPL and the middle order, which was always susceptible against the short stuff, got exposed like never before. The England tour continued to add to the injuries.

Team India's golden age a distant memory now

We now have a situation where we can almost field an "All Star Injured XI".

So will the BCCI finally wake up and treat fatigue as a serious issue or will they make things worse?

For starters, what will happen if a few regular members of the Indian team get injured during the Champions League?

Any positives?

It is quite difficult to think of a single positive emerging from this tour apart from Rahul Dravid's Test batting.

But if one were forced to name one thing, then it would probably be Generation Next's exposure to a tough tour.

Both Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh got fighting Test half-centuries and Abhinav Mukund picked up a century in a practice match.

Praveen Kumar also impressed with his 15 Test wickets. So far PK has been able to pick up wickets in all his foreign tours.

In the shorter format of the game, Ajinkya Rahane has shown some potential and R Ashwin continues to impress.

How much of these good performances will be transformed to something greater in the future remains to be seen.

Nothing left to achieve?

It has happened to great teams in the past. Does the current Indian team lack motivation? From 2007-11, it has won practically all of cricket's titles: World champions in T20, Test and ODIs.

MS Dhoni has also won the IPL and Champions League.

The current Australian team ruled for ages much like the West Indies team before it.

That way the fall has come way too early for India.

But the Indians are the richest and most pampered cricketers in the world. They are treated like superstars and have been used to a regular diet of victories off late.

So how do you motivate such a team to continue winning?

The Indian team management sure has its task cut out.

The Fletcher Roller Coaster

This tour probably could be called India's worst in its entire history.

We have lost a series in both the Test and ODI formats. That's something pretty rare after 2000. Add the T20 loss and it's pretty grim.

While we have been beaten 0-4 in the past, there is a crucial difference. In the past, weak teams got whitewashed. This time it's a world champion team which has bitten the dust.

You could say in a way that we have touched rock bottom.

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Duncan Fletcher is a strange man. When he took over England as coach, they were rock bottom. Under him England started winning regularly overseas and in 2004 won eight straight Tests.

His finest moment came when England lifted the Ashes after 18 years in 2005. While England had an ICC ranking of No. 2, it was still recognized as the unofficial Test champion.

Then the slide began and you could say that England went to the bottom again.

When Fletcher took over India, we were firmly at the top.

Now, co-incidentally, India has reached rock bottom.

So the most important question is: Can Fletcher make the cycle complete and take us to the top again?

The author is a Bangalore-based journalist and blogger.

He blogs at http://sunilrajguru.com/