Beware, lightning can strike thrice!

Why bring about a major change in a system that is already getting in so much money. Besides, the process for IPL 2012 has already begun! It may well be tempting for the BCCI not to do much and just let the events unfold by themselves.

When heads roll and when they don't...

Indian cricket keeps going through crises every few years and sometimes heads roll and sometimes they don't. When a change is effected, the rot is stemmed. When the BCCI sticks its head in the stand like an ostrich, then things usually get worse.

In the late 1990s, when we lost 0-2 at home to South Africa and 0-3 on Australian turf, Indian cricket seemed finished especially due to the fact that it was still reeling from match-fixing allegations.

Then we had a new captain and a new coach. It's not just that. The whole system was professionalized and cricket was revived.

When we were kicked out of the 2007 ODI World Cup, then another purge happened. We not only had new captains and a coach, but the whole system became more process oriented. That led to arguably the greatest four years in the history of world cricket when we reached the pinnacle of all three formats of the game.

So when we got thrashed 0-4 in Tests in England, the alarm bells were ringing loudly. But what happened? There was no shake-up in the BCCI. The chief selector, coach and captain all remained firmly in their places. No senior player was dropped.

So in that way, it is not surprising that the result in Australia was identical.

Look at the history of Indian cricket. After a debacle, whenever heads roll, we see a revival. When heads don't roll, things simply get worse.

New talent always comes...

When Sunil Gavaskar retired, some thought his records would never be broken. But Sachin Tendulkar came and blasted every record in the batting book to smithereens.

When the Spin Quartet of the 1960s was retiring, people thought that the Indian attack would become toothless. But Kapil Dev came and became the world's highest wicket taker. And then Anil Kumble left him far far behind.

Don't press the snooze button again!

Mohammed Azharuddin was the king of fours and sixes and hit India's fastest ODI century. His shoes would be tough to fill. But Virender Sehwag has blasted strike rates into oblivion.

Till you give an extended run to youngsters, you will never know what they are made of.

A case in the point is Virat Kohli.

In his very first Test series, he averaged a miserable 15.2. He was dropped. Many younger players have had their careers end at that point.

But after he was picked again, he is averaging a healthier 41.5 with three half-centuries and the only century of a tough Australian tour.

Another case in the point is Rohit Sharma. He became man of the series in the West Indies' ODI tour of India. He was picked for Australia and scored 56*, 47 and 38* in the practice matches. You could say that at this stage he was the man in form and sizzling hot to make a Test debut.

His reward was not to play in a single Test match.

Even if you didn't want to retire the senior players, at least 1-2 of them could have been rested in the fourth Test seeing that we were 0-3 down and couldn’t win the series.

Other countries hone their upcoming talent while in India we kill it and then loudly complain that there are no replacements for the seniors.

Now it's not just the seniors...

But most of the focus is on retiring the seniors, which is not the only issue.

The leadership. The bowling. The opening conundrum. The mental strength of cricketers. The domestic process...

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There are many things which are rotten.

It remains to be seen whether the BCCI effects another wholesale change or decides to do nothing.

Indian cricket is entering yet another period of churn and one only hopes that this time it will be for the better once again.


The author is a Bangalore-based journalist and blogger. He blogs at http://sunilrajguru.com/