Watching India Lose to Sri Lanka was a little bit painful, but it clearly underscored how far the Indian Cricket team is away from being the No. 1 team in the world.

There is a fundamental difference between watching a consistent winner and an also ran. With the consistent winner, you know that at whatever stage the game is, it is only a matter of time before this person or team wraps it up. It could be Tiger Woods, who may be two strokes behind coming into the final day, or Roger Federer one set down.

You can't count them out. In fact, if anything, their opponents are in the unenviable position of being like a hunted animal. It almost seems like it is just a matter of time before  the temporary superiority that any opponent might have will be lost.

'Winners never go quietly into the night. They will fight till they can’t fight any more and they will then find the strength to fight some more'


One of the greatest coaches in American football, Vince Lombardi, famously once said: “Winning is a habit - and so is losing”. And therein lies the problem for an Indian cricket lovers. Where, exactly, does the Indian Cricket team fall in this equation. If anything, they are consistently inconsistent. And I am not talking about the glorious uncertainties of cricket.

The same team that won the Twenty20 World Cup also posted the second lowest total ever in a Twenty20 game (the lowest was Kenya). And if you were to get 10 knowlegable cricket fans together and told them there are three cricket teams: Team A beats Team C by more than a 120 runs in an ODI, then Team A loses to Team B badly, but then Team B is thrashed by Team C, I think seven out of 10 would know Team B would be India.

Oh yes, the No. 1s do lose. Like everybody else have bad days at the office, but they never stop coming at you. They never stop fighting. In the Australia-India match on Sunday 159 runs was not a big total, but until the winning runs were on the scoreboard, Australia were fighting all the way. Winners never go quietly into the night. They will fight till they can’t fight any more and they will then find the strength to fight some more.

With India, you are never sure who is going to show up. They could have more than 300 runs on the board and you are not sure they will be able to defend it. Or they could be chasing 200 and you are not sure whether they will get there. Oh yes, the flip side of inconsistency - you can’t count on them in any situation either.

Is India saddled with this curse of inconsistency for ever? Perhaps not. But it would take a few other things to happen. When Australia won in India after 35 years. You did not see Adam Gilchrist running around the ground with the Australian flag. But boy, did you see a lot Indian flags on the ground after India won in Perth.

I am a patriotic Indian and the Perth Test was a significant victory, and in many ways was very special. But it is worth remembering a quote from Barry Sanders, most certainly the greatest running back the NFL has ever seen (not statistically, but does it matter) who said: “When you get to the end zone act like you have been there before”. No hype, no celebrations for him. He would just hand the football to the referee. With the Indian cricket team, all victories are over celebrated and all defeats over analysed.

There is no overnight fix, but if India want to be No. 1 -  which is different from winning a game, or a series, or even a tournament - they cannot do that without being consistent; without playing hard each and every game,  and without fighting till the end in each and every game they play.

They don’t scare opponents right now. It is more like a game of blackjack for their opponents. They don’t know which Indian team is going to show up.