Change is unavoidable but needs to be planned

As Dhoni said after India's loss at Perth, the seniors need to be phased out. The Indian selectors during the golden Dhoni-Kirsten period did not try too many middle order candidates and sudden influx of young players isn't going to help the situation. India needs to start by giving Rahane and Rohit Sharma a chance in the final test. The series is already lost and this will be a great chance to try out these youngsters.

The phasing out should be carefully planned. There are reports that VVS Laxman might retire after this series so this will be ideal time to test out Rohit Sharma at number 5. It will be sad to see Laxman go and that too when he is on his way down. Laxman had a great couple of years with the bat prior to 2011 but his lack of form coincided with India’s poorest run in the recent times. They could probably even rest Sehwag or Gambhir to Include Rahane and see how he fares against the Aussie pace attack.

The batting issues have been a problem for India over the past couple of series and the lack of form of the seniors has been a great worry. The Australian series has in fact kind of hastened the need for a change. There are few young players waiting in the wings but have been untested at this level. The Adelaide test probably gives the Indian team management a great chance of testing out couple of them at this level.  Rahul Dravid has had a brilliant 2011 with the bat and Sachin Tendulkar has looked the best Indian batsman on the current tour. It seems logical that Laxman will be the first to get the axe.

Laxman has been an amazing player for Indian cricket over the past decade. He has helped India win a lot of games with his bat. He along with Dravid, Sachin and Ganguly in the middle order was instrumental in getting India to the top of the table in tests. It will be disappointing that he would have to leave with his team in such dire straits. He deserved to go out on a high but it does not seem to be the case at the moment. It will also be interesting to see what happens if Sachin does get to the magic hundredth 100. Will he decide to quit test cricket? You never know. This is the right time for the change as India will be playing mostly at home over the next year. The Indian selectors missed few tricks with not trying too many middle order players over last couple of years and it might well be their undoing in the coming months.

Whatever happens in the coming months the change seems unavoidable. It will be sad to see the stalwarts retire but I think this is the right time for them to say good bye. They have given us some great memories and have taken Indian cricket to the pinnacle. It is time for the youngsters to steer the Indian team forward and hopefully they can do that in the coming year.

Article by: Giridharan Subramanian