Who'll Be No. 2?

As we have seen in the NatWest Trophy over the past week, India is struggling and will miss Sachin Tendulkar’s brilliance and experience in the Champions Trophy tournament while England is struggling in the limited over version of the game, period. Without Flintoff in the last NatWest clash with India, England looked positively anaemic. They will need to go back to the drawing board before the Champions Trophy or they are likely to appear in the also-ran category at the business end of the tournament.

Two players who are barometers of how their teams are travelling at the moment are Virender Sehwag and Andrew Symonds. Sehwag, along with Laxman and Dravid, has struggled with the bat since India’s layoff before the Asia Cup whereas Symonds has once again announced himself with bat, ball and in the field during most of the season’s games.

Symonds is the face of a side that still believes very firmly that they are the team to beat while Sehwag gives the impression that the recent success he and the Indian team has had has taken its toll on them. Andrew’s versatility and aggression gives the Australian team a depth that is not evident in any other cricket nation at the moment and he now has a belief in himself in this form of the game.

Sehwag’s record in limited-over cricket has always compared poorly with his Test match stats but it is rapidly looking like it could become terminal if he doesn’t shake himself out of his current torpor. He reminds me somewhat of Michael Slater who, as a natural ball striker, tried to become even more aggressive in one-day cricket and finally lost his way completely for a period. Michael resurfaced in Tests as a pale shadow of his former self before stuttering into oblivion.

Sehwag appears to be more mentally robust than Slater was but he would need to find himself soon or he might start to doubt himself as Slater did. More than anything else, he needs to define a role for himself in the shorter version of the game. He became an opener for one-day cricket and I believe it suits his personality and his style but he needs to use the same approach to batting in these matches as he does in Test cricket. His batting, while explosive in Tests, appears to have a measurement to it that is not as evident in limited-overs matches. He will not be as consistent as he has been in Tests if he is not in control of his emotions and the mental process that allows him to be well prepared for each delivery. He has the look of someone who is more intent on hitting in one-day games and this affects his ability to focus on each delivery to the same degree and this changes his movement patterns and balance.

Clear thinking is important in any format. Without it, timing will be affected and mistakes will be made. Muddled and imprecise thinking will show up in the footwork first and on the scoreboard soon after. So if you want to change the outcome, you first need to check the input. Human computers, like their mechanical impersonators, are only as good as the software and the operator, so Sehwag needs to go back to his operating manual.

Paradoxically, the reverse situation applies for Symonds. He has developed a powerful belief in himself in one-day cricket but it was his thinking that cost him dearly in his, so far, brief Test career in Sri Lanka earlier this year. Rather than looking to score runs, as he does in one-day cricket, he was focused on survival in his Test innings against Sri Lanka and his movement patterns reflected this cautious approach. He will need to take a more positive approach to the crease in Tests in future if he wants to make the grade in that format.

Australia looms as the overwhelming favourite for the Champions Trophy but they will still need to be focused for each game. As we know in one-day cricket, anyone is capable of winning if the opposition is not at their very best on the day so the Australians will need to put their best foot forward in each game.

Sri Lanka is the next best team in the competition and they are full of confidence coming into the series and will be the biggest danger for Australia. No matter what conditions prevail during the tournament, the Sri Lankans have an attack to exploit them provided the batsmen are able to make competitive totals. India is struggling but they are a mercurial bunch and cannot be written off. This series may be one of the busiest John Wright will have had in his time with the Indian team. He can no longer sit back with the team operating on autopilot as it heads for the rocks. He must assert himself and offer the support that players like Sehwag, Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Balaji and others need or the ship may never be turned around in time. A quick lesson in running between wickets may not go astray either.

Interestingly, the team that looms as the biggest threat to Australia and Sri Lanka is Pakistan. Woolmer has had an impact and has the team more focused and better prepared for the job of playing consistent and competitive cricket than for some time. Whether or not he has the right combination yet will be better judged at the end of the tournament. He has pace and he has good batting at his disposal but how well they field and run between wickets could determine the final position on the table. On form, and on paper, none of the other teams should get through to the final unless they get lucky with the weather or find something that has not been evident in recent times.