Acclimatisation important

WHEN the media reported in the early days of the Indian team's tour of Zimbabwe that the players were concerned about their laundry expenses taking more than a fair share of their daily allowance, it looked as if it would once again be one of those tours where the Indian players would return at the close of play with near spotless trousers.

It is not clear whether the allowance was increased or if the team found a new laundry store, but the one noticeable aspect of their victory over Zimbabwe in the first Test was their stupendous fielding, with just about every member taking a superb catch or effecting some marvellous saves, and yes, coming back to the pavilion with dirty trousers. While the bowlers did their job in both the innings, they will be the first to admit that it was the fielding that contributed majorly to their success.

There is still some distance to go for the team to have the athleticism and the flexibility that the South African, Australian, New Zealand and Zimbabwe teams have as the best fielding sides in the game today, but as the average age of the team is around 25 there is plenty of energy and enthusiasm to tap from for the coach to mould and develop. It has been a long time since an Indian team has entered the field with the captain worrying about 'hiding' a player or two. This can only mean added sharpness to the attack. Ordinary attacks look better than what they are simply because of the support of the fielders, and with India having more than one match-winning bowler, plus the current level of fielding, there is every hope of more victories to come.

It's never easy to go to a different country and get used to the conditions there, and if it's a country where the weather is on the cooler side it is even more difficult to adjust. That's why the team could well have done with more than the two tour matches it played to get acclimitised to the pitches and the conditions. Admittedly, Zimbabwe does not have that many players and has no first-class cricket to speak of, but still two matches is just not enough. Apart from the fact that it does not give the team enough practice, it also does not give the tour selectors a fair assessment of the players competing for the final places in the XI.

Here in Zimbabwe, the difference in the standard between the Zimbabwe 'A' team and the Academy team was palpably seen and so how do the tour selectors know which performance was the better tested one?

Tour matches are seldom taken seriously by players of both sides, especially the established ones. They go into these games merely to loosen up or to get their rhythm into the groove and reserve their energy, concentration and intensity for the Test matches. So performances in these games are not often the correct pointer to the ability of the fringe player. In England, county teams prefer to rest their star players against touring teams as there are no points to play for in these games. So the counties let their crucial players take a break from the hectic season and try and pick younger players instead.

Even in India, apart from the Ranji champions who play the touring side, the other teams like the India 'A' or the Board President's XI have players playing to impress the selectors and get a call to the National side rather than try and win the game. It does not bother them in the least whether the 'A' team or the Board President's team wins or loses as long as they do well individually and boost their chances of getting a National call.

Hopefully this will all be mentioned by Chetan Chauhan, the team manager, in his 'end of the tour' report to the Board. For Chetan has been on teams that have had more than two games before the first Test and so knows how important it is for a team to get acclimitised and get ready for the sterner tests ahead. Though Zimbabwe has improved by leaps and bounds, it is still not a team against whom much preparation is needed, but teams like South Africa, Australia and even the West Indies will be a completely different proposition to face with just a couple of practice matches. Not that playing half a dozen or so matches is guaranteed to help, for the above named teams are often just too good in their home environment.

Chauhan's continuation as manager of the Indian team is to be lauded, for far too often in the past the post of manager has been given as a reward for siding with the group in power and is used as a carrot to get the vote. Perhaps we are seeing better days where only Indian cricket's benefit is being thought of and nothing else, and if that's the case its very good news indeed. Have a look at the managers of successful sides and you will notice that Australia has had Steve Bernard and South Africa Goolam Rajah for a long, long time. If the coaches and physical trainers are given long-term contracts, then why not the managers as well? This way the players will know what is expected of them and in turn the manager will understand the players better and their tensions and pressures too. This will also help communication, the lack of which is invariably the cause of mistrust and misunderstanding which in turn leads to strife and rebellion by hot-blooded youngsters.

The Indian Board has taken some bold new initiatives in the interest of Indian cricket in recent times, like the opening of the National and Zonal academies, the appointment of an overseas coach, the continuity of the manager of the team to name just a few.

Now, if only they would get rid of the zonal way of appointing selectors and appoint the best people instead. Who knows that may well happen sooner than later!!!