Rahul Dravid and a period of necessary churning for Indian cricket

India’s dramatic slide in South Africa means that transition might have been advanced by a couple of years.

On December 30 last year, Indian cricket was sitting on top of the world, with a rainbow around the shoulders. They had won 2-1 in Australia, led 2-1 in England and had won a Test in Centurion for the first time. Sixteen days later, they had lost the Test series in South Africa, and in another eight days had been outplayed 3-0 in the ODI series.

India’s dramatic slide in South Africa, a team much lower on the scale of talent and experience, means that transition — inevitable, inexorable, inescapable — might have been advanced by a couple of years. It also means, of course, that the game in South Africa has recovered at a faster rate than expected. This is good for the game. Test cricket needs strong teams and robust competition.

What happened to India too may be a good starting point for a team which had put off making some tough decisions on the back of recent victories. The fact that they were forced to go into the final Test and the ODI with an inexperienced captain indicated the authorities were not prepared for the transition. Things can happen very quickly in sport. ‘Be prepared’ is a fine motto both for the Scout Movement and for sports officials.