Avertible omnishambles

C for cricket, C for captaincy and C for Covid.

One does not know which order the Board of Control for Cricket in India is following. Certainly, the way things have panned out for India in the last one year in international cricket, it is a clear case of faulty planning, or the lack of it.

Last July, team India was on a high — leading the Test series 2-1 against England. All hell broke loose. A Covid outbreak occurred in the team, following a book release of former Indian cricket coach Ravi Shastri. Infection among some players who were present at the function in Central London led to absolute chaos.

The Covid protocols then were tighter, and being in a Bio Bubble meant plenty of hardships. The Bio Bubble has gone. Players are tested but it's not like being put in jail like before.

For India, the bubble has burst.

In a span of 12 months, there have been so many changes in Indian cricket. It is now C for chaos. To be sure, if we were made to believe that Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri were responsible for all the ills in Indian cricket and could not win an ICC Trophy during their tenure, the prevailing situation is bizarre.

Kohli was being gently eased out and he got the signal that it would be best for him to give up all forms of captaincy. Out went Shastri, and in came Rahul Dravid. Well, what one has seen in the last few months reflects a lack of seriousness with the capitulation at Edgbaston complete.

None can disagree that under the leadership of Kohli and Shastri, the results which India achieved in Test cricket were awesome. If, at first, India bombed at the ICC World Test Championship finals last summer in England, the bounce back in the Test series in 2021 was scintillating.

Oh, how quickly things change, just like the weather in England! There have been problems galore for Team India, across all formats. Wins against minnows and great performances at home cannot camouflage the downslide today.

Today, captaincy of the Indian team has become like a lottery. Just imagine, there have been seven captains coming in, and all on an ad hoc basis. The shift in leadership from Rohit Sharma to KL Rahul and other skippers who filled in on a part-time basis — with Shikhar Dhawan becoming the latest captain for the West Indies tour — is unimaginable.

Captaincy is all about pride and evolving as a leader. There is a certain process to it. No, the present state is one of school boys' teams being picked where captaincy is like the revolving door.

What happened at Edgbaston was a big shame. Had India won the Test, it would have been an incredible high. What happens instead is Rohit Sharma tests positive for the Covid virus and misses out. There was so much at stake in this one-off Test, where even a draw would have helped seal the series.

It's easy to drop guard during the pandemic and pay the price. The very fact that Rohit Sharma was the only one to fail the Covid tests suggests a complete lack of seriousness. In Britain, the Covid regulations are absent. Social distancing, masks, sanitisers etc. are a thing of the past. As the leader of the Indian side, Rohit should have taken double precaution.

With KL Rahul also out with an injury, captaincy was thrust on Jasprit Bumrah. One cannot blame Bumrah for the defeat but, certainly, those who ideate, plan and are in charge of Indian cricket, need to answer. You cannot take the fans for a ride. You cannot brush aside a Test loss and then move on T20s and more masala matches.

Rahul Dravid, who showed rare emotions while celebrating Rishabh Pant's timely ton in the first innings at Edgbaston, needs to come up with the answers. India has lost three overseas series in Dravid's tenure.

The way India batted in the second innings was atrocious. However, for England to transform their side after the Ashes has been a revelation. They played better cricket and a lot of it has to do with Bazball, named after their new coach Brendon McCullum. When England flopped Down Under, there were quick changes in coaching and captaincy.

The way Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow batted to lead England to victory against India was out of the world. The transformation has been remarkable. Playing hard cricket with aggression is the new mantra of McCullum, a shrewd cricketer. He is now being touted as the best thing to happen to English cricket. After all, this was not a one-off Test win. Before this, England had done well against New Zealand as well.

The comparison between the way cricket is run in England, courtesy ECB, and the way BCCI functions is a case study. The Indian board seems happy with the big bucks rolling into the bank. Without digressing, the Indian Premier League (IPL) hangover persists. The tournament ended months ago but the way the media right deal was hyped and fetched megabucks, it seems the BCCI is not planning for proper cricket.

Edgbaston was a joke and for seasoned pros like Virat Kohli to come cropper is a reminder he needs to perform. Or perish. Then again, if picking the right bowling combination is so important in Test cricket, why has R Ashwin become the untouchable. In the previous dispensation of Kohli and Shastri, there was no place for Ashwin, the most versatile off-spinner.

This time around, Ravindra Jadeja was preferred. Purely on bowling skills, there is no comparison between Jadeja and Ashwin. Jadeja is more of an economical bowler, or a batsman-bowler. He has no flight, no variations and he hardly tosses up the ball. It's not like old days when English batsmen didn't know how to play spin.

Yes, when you produce akhadas, and not proper cricket pitches at home, every Tom, Dick and Harry who can roll his arm will take wickets. That's how you win Tests at home. At Edgbaston, the wicket was a fair one, and far from green. If you showed application, scoring runs was not difficult. Pant and the two marauding Englishmen showed the way.

Even before the Test obituary could be written, India and England are playing the T20 series. This is the problem. There is no time for thinking, there is no time for ideating, and there is no time for post mortems. Cricket continues non-stop. None will complain as everyone gets to lead Team India these days. Good luck to Shikhar Dhawan who will now be captain in West Indies!

Call it conflict or confusion, there are many worries for Team India, across all formats. This year, the team will be playing in the ICC World T20 in Australia. Next year, India will be hosting the ICC World Cup (ODIs). Someone like Dhoni felt a player must have at least 100 matches under his belt to be groomed for the World Cup.

How old that philosophy looks now. Captaincy has been reduced to an ad hoc job by the BCCI and the blue-eyed man of Indian cricket (Rohit Sharma) has serious fitness issues. His form in the IPL was miserable and the Mumbai Indians team did badly. You need a fit leader who can play cricket without taking so many breaks. The rest and return policy for him has reached ridiculous proportions.

If he is going to be the man who will lead India in the World T20 and then the World Cup next year in India, doubts have arisen. Age is catching up. Non-stop cricket is not easy for all. And he is not going to take a break from the IPL, as there is big money involved.

Back to Indian cricket fans, they are happy to be seeing so much cricket. The quantum of cricket being played is so large. You have moved on to the next series even before shedding a tear for the last loss.

Passionate fans of Test cricket will take time to get over the loss at Edgbaston. For the BCCI, it hardly matters. Oh yes, please don't try and sledge the Englishmen away from home. The consequences were disastrous, Mr Kohli.

Views expressed are personal