Do foreign teams go easy on India for fear of backlash and retaliation?

[Gullycricket]

So this thing has been bothering me since last couple of years specifically the Ashes in which Johnson destroyed England. Micheal Clarke also said that the current Aussie teams go easy on Indian players due to IPL contracts fearing that they might be hated. Even Starc had messaged on twitter that he was afraid he might lose RCB contract.
Look at WI playing in England with bowlers breathing fire while as the same WI in India looks boring, uninterested. Johnson obliterated England but the same year he was down on pace and less threatening against India. I have seen this on many occasions that the intensity goes missing for foreign teams against India..
Is it me or other posters also see this and are bothered by it?

 

[Bhaijaan]

No.

It simply doesn't work against India. Teams have realized India is one of the team which actually gets better when they come across aggression. Hence most teams do not strategically take India on like that.

I am not making this up. Recently an Australian test cricketer admitted it during an interview too.

 

[Bhaijaan]

You will have to go back and make a review of instances when opposition players tried to engage Indian cricketers like that. It's backfired more times than it worked.

In England, Australia know have found a mental weakness. When England aren't at the top of their game, Aussies are able to play mind games with them and succeed at it.

You named Johnson, he actually did try his luck. Kohli immediately put him in place and he never said a word again.

In past also, Akhtar tried similar tactics and was taken apart by Sehwag and co.

There's Donald trying it against Dravid way back in 1990s, failed.

Aussies collectively tried to put pressure on Indian team in 2007-08 test series during the controversial Sydney test. Afterwards, they immediately lost the next test and India drew the last test comfortably being the better team in it. India went on to win the ODI Tri-Series on the same tour going 2-0 in finals.

You have Flintoff trying it with Yuvraj, 6 sixes followed.


Andre Nel vs Gambhir, Gambhir win the ODI for us

 

[Bhaijaan]

Curtly Ambrose has a test bowling average of 38 vs India.

Unlike Australia, India were not bothered much by his fiery pace and bounce. It is always Courtney Walsh's skill which proved tougher to deal with. Courtney never even stared.

 

[Gullycricket]

No.

It simply doesn't work against India. Teams have realized India is one of the team which actually gets better when they come across aggression. Hence most teams do not strategically take India on like that.

I am not making this up. Recently an Australian test cricketer admitted it during an interview too.

Ganguly too was aggressive captain.Didnt stop Aussies or other teams being agressive against India. This Indian teams hasn't been subjected to that aggression of past teams thus we cant comment on how they fare.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Don't buy into going soft arguement anyway. Australians love to beat a man when he's down.

Johnson was chirping some non-sense in 2009-10 too vs England. That time it was England on top and we all remember that famous James Anderson moment making Johnson look stupid and the butt if Barmy Army jokes for the rest of the series.

Where was the aggressive Johnson when Cook and Trott were smashing him?

 

[Mamoon]

You are right. The only reason India is so dominant at home is because teams go easy on them to protect their IPL deals.

Unfortunately, BCCI is scared of hosting the 7th ranked Pakistan team who will go hard on the Indian players and show eyes to them.

 

[therealAB]

Curtly Ambrose has a test bowling average of 38 vs India.

Unlike Australia, India were not bothered much by his fiery pace and bounce. It is always Courtney Walsh's skill which proved tougher to deal with. Courtney never even stared.

This is a hugely incorrect statement. Curtly was never that good vs Ind, but we shouldn't read into it, like how we don't care if someone does poorly vs WI these days. Ind was horrible overseas in those days, and Curtly's failures were at home. I am always told that Tendulkar batted without support, hence elevating his performance. Now you mean to tell me that this in untrue?

 

[Bhaijaan]

This is a hugely incorrect statement. Curtly was never that good vs Ind, but we shouldn't read into it, like how we don't care if someone does poorly vs WI these days. Ind was horrible overseas in those days, and Curtly's failures were at home. I am always told that Tendulkar batted without support, hence elevating his performance. Now you mean to tell me that this in untrue?

My major point here being that raw pace has not been an issue for India as it has been for Aus/NZ/England

The way Shoaib Akhtar, Ambrose tamed Australia so many times. That never happened against India.

Our issues were against skilled bolwers like Aaqib Javed, Courtney Walsh.

Johnson is a nobody against India. So is Brett Lee

 

[Ellipsism]

Easy on the verbal maybe. Other than that no. It’s probably just you mate.

 

[therealAB]

My major point here being that raw pace has not been an issue for India as it has been for Aus/NZ/England

The way Shoaib Akhtar, Ambrose tamed Australia so many times. That never happened against India.

Our issues were against skilled bolwers like Aaqib Javed, Courtney Walsh.

Johnson is a nobody against India. So is Brett Lee

OK, that is probably a point. Curtly wasn't express though, operated about 140.

Common theme with common bowlers as well, Starc was killed.

Express blokes like Steyn and Marshall still did well, but obviously they were very skilled as well

 

[Titan24]

When one league is paying you equivalent or more than what you are gonna earn by playing whole year that thing is gonna be in your mind to an extent. In football for example, there are multiple leagues equally capable of paying huge sums to players thus there is much lesser monopoly. In cricket there is only one league which can pay upto and upwards of million dollars and that league has a monopoly in that regard and players know that as well.

To be clear its not like they under perform or anything as far as I have observed but, maybe they dont do the things as much outside just batting or bowling and that is those mental games which are really important in every sport.

Rubbing Kohli, Rohit etc the wrong way by regularly eyeballing him, taunting them as we have seen historically especially from Australia could potentially mean loosing on a million dollar or even much bigger contract. Might not happen but consider yourself to be in the shoes of an overseas player getting million dollar contract in IPL. Many players will have such things in their minds.

As a fan I want to be the competition including sledging (If its part of team's routine) to be as fierce as possible and sometimes I do get that some teams restrict themselves a bit especially Australia as we have seen them to be much more upfront with some other teams.

Some players might not have such things in their minds but many will as its human nature to an extent. Unless a couple more leagues develop into such money making and money giving machines, this monopoly is going to be there for IPL and thus slight hesitance of opposition players to avoid rubbing any influential Indian player will be there as well.

 

[Varun]

Yes they do.

If they didn't, we would be losing tests and ODIs to all of them left, right and centre.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

I think Australia certainly does..in 2013-14, Australia was on fire demolishing England 5-0 and also beat.up SA 2-1 in their backyard. The likes of Johnson, Harris etc were unplayable. When India toured later that year in 2014, somehow Australia became soft and that weak Indian team, which should have lost 4-0, somehow escaped with a 2-0 defeat with 2 draws!!!!

 

[therealAB]

I think Australia certainly does..in 2013-14, Australia was on fire demolishing England 5-0 and also beat.up SA 2-1 in their backyard. The likes of Johnson, Harris etc were unplayable. When India toured later that year in 2014, somehow Australia became soft and that weak Indian team, which should have lost 4-0, somehow escaped with a 2-0 defeat with 2 draws!!!!

Agreed. The pitches for that seriously were ridiculously flat though, Johnson actually bowled quick through the air but got nothing from the pitch

 

[Bhaijaan]

I think Australia certainly does..in 2013-14, Australia was on fire demolishing England 5-0 and also beat.up SA 2-1 in their backyard. The likes of Johnson, Harris etc were unplayable. When India toured later that year in 2014, somehow Australia became soft and that weak Indian team, which should have lost 4-0, somehow escaped with a 2-0 defeat with 2 draws!!!!

Did you even watch that series?

It had way more verbal spats than what we saw in 2018.

Johnson tried his luck with trash talk. Kohli smashed him around and shut him up.

We should have won 1 test at Adelaide, it was a very competitive series than what 2-0 scoreline suggests. LOL at 4-0 , Australians were glad they went away with 2-0 and not 2-2 something the way young Indian bowlers and batsmen brought the fight to them.

Sharma, Yadav were constantly touching 150kph +

 

[Gullycricket]

When the ex-Aussie captain himself says that Aussie players go soft on India there must be some truth to it.

 

[Gullycricket]

When one league is paying you equivalent or more than what you are gonna earn by playing whole year that thing is gonna be in your mind to an extent. In football for example, there are multiple leagues equally capable of paying huge sums to players thus there is much lesser monopoly. In cricket there is only one league which can pay upto and upwards of million dollars and that league has a monopoly in that regard and players know that as well.

To be clear its not like they under perform or anything as far as I have observed but, maybe they dont do the things as much outside just batting or bowling and that is those mental games which are really important in every sport.

Rubbing Kohli, Rohit etc the wrong way by regularly eyeballing him, taunting them as we have seen historically especially from Australia could potentially mean loosing on a million dollar or even much bigger contract. Might not happen but consider yourself to be in the shoes of an overseas player getting million dollar contract in IPL. Many players will have such things in their minds.

As a fan I want to be the competition including sledging (If its part of team's routine) to be as fierce as possible and sometimes I do get that some teams restrict themselves a bit especially Australia as we have seen them to be much more upfront with some other teams.

Some players might not have such things in their minds but many will as its human nature to an extent. Unless a couple more leagues develop into such money making and money giving machines, this monopoly is going to be there for IPL and thus slight hesitance of opposition players to avoid rubbing any influential Indian player will be there as well.

This. Its funny seeing the generally aggressive Aussies behave like kittens. Even the past cricketers who used to be so fierce are praising Indian team over the top. Its like we behave in front of our bosses. Even Neesham after the WC semis had to ask for Indian fans not to hold grudges and support them. Teams may be intentionally be on good behavior and tolerate aggression from Indian players

 

[Hitman]

Now I understand the secret behind Sachin's unparalleled record against the Aussies

 

[Gullycricket]

Now I understand the secret behind Sachin's unparalleled record against the Aussies

Not talking about Sachin's era. Its kinda more recent trend. When even Shoiab Akhtar is praising Indian team non-stop , you have to imagine how difficult it must be current players to dish it out to Kohli. Ed Cowan said something and he was roasted by Indian fans.

 

[Shazzam]

Yeah politics plays a huge role on who wins or loses these days. Against India teams certainly go soft. Like look at there bowlers none of them look threatening. Apparently against other teams they look like Wasim and McGrath. How can that be is one should ask? A bowler who looks like a toothpick is threatening a dude who is buffed like the Hulk is unrealistic by all accounts. ICC needs to look at these matches against India. Punish them for playing politics on a game we love.

 

[Bhaijaan]

When the ex-Aussie captain himself says that Aussie players go soft on India there must be some truth to it.

When did Michael Clarke ever go hard on India going by his definition of being hard?

 

[Indiafan]

So this thing has been bothering me since last couple of years specifically the Ashes in which Johnson destroyed England. Micheal Clarke also said that the current Aussie teams go easy on Indian players due to IPL contracts fearing that they might be hated. Even Starc had messaged on twitter that he was afraid he might lose RCB contract.
Look at WI playing in England with bowlers breathing fire while as the same WI in India looks boring, uninterested. Johnson obliterated England but the same year he was down on pace and less threatening against India. I have seen this on many occasions that the intensity goes missing for foreign teams against India..
Is it me or other posters also see this and are bothered by it?

Yes thats your fantasy. Now lets talk reality

the players getting the best IPL deals and biggest contracts are the one who have done better against India. Franchises pay for players who can show fire and entertain, not those who are docile and scared

Every single IPL contract reflects this, players who perform better against India get more money and those who don't are often not even given a contract

 

[Bhaijaan]

Yes thats your fantasy. Now lets talk reality

the players getting the best IPL deals and biggest contracts are the one who have done better against India. Franchises pay for players who can show fire and entertain, not those who are docile and scared

Every single IPL contract reflects this, players who perform better against India get more money and those who don't are often not even given a contract

Andrew Symonds got the biggest contract way back in IPL 1 when Monkeygate saga was fresh story. These people are lame

 

[Indiafan]

Rubbing Kohli, Rohit etc the wrong way by regularly eyeballing him, taunting them as we have seen historically especially from Australia could potentially mean loosing on a million dollar or even much bigger contract. .

i will believe it the day this acually happens rather than jealous people making up fantasies. Reality is the player who show the most passion against us and perform the best are given more money and better contracts while those who don't are not even bought. From Sam Curran to multiple players were given huge contracts just after demolishing india while those who performed poorly against us or were docile werent even given a contract

IPL is an entertainment business wanting to make money, not political business. The more controversial a player the better for IPL. We dont need passive sheep

 

[Indiafan]

Andrew Symonds got the biggest contract way back in IPL 1 when Monkeygate saga was fresh story. These people are lame

Its just a bunch of jealous people spinning fantasies and of course bitter ex players wanting publicity.

IPL is for entertainment, the more controversial and passionate a player, the better it is. Even WWE needed villains people hated and not just heroes. A player who riles up Kohli or Rohit would be like gold. The crowd would love to cheer or boo such a player

Even captain like Rohit and Kohli would love to have players who give their all than those who are scared in front of them. They will always select the former players than the later

We dont need boring, docile sheep in IPL

 

[Smudger]

BCCi is a private institution. Its owners want player who can win the trophy. They are least bothered how they behave vs Ind. Aus toured india in 2017 and it was a extremely heated series. It did'nt affected the ipl contracts of Smith or Warner

 

[Titan24]

i will believe it the day this acually happens rather than jealous people making up fantasies. Reality is the player who show the most passion against us and perform the best are given more money and better contracts while those who don't are not even bought. From Sam Curran to multiple players were given huge contracts just after demolishing india while those who performed poorly against us or were docile werent even given a contract

IPL is an entertainment business wanting to make money, not political business. The more controversial a player the better for IPL. We dont need passive sheep

Performance? I guess you missed the bold part in my post where I have mentioned its not like they are underperforming. Nobody is undermining India as a team here, India is a top team and would have won things they did probably either ways.

I have just talked about basic human nature and what I have observed. I cant imagine monkey gate scandals and other ugly kind of banters against Indian team now. As I said nobody would risk million dollar contracts or potential to earn that much going forward by doing something not taken well by Indian players. I have also said it might be just in the minds of few overseas players but, I cant believe those thoughts never crossed their minds.

Again this has nothing to do with performance with bat or ball and nothing to take away from Indian team. Just my observations and I think if players are slightly cautious with banter and stuff it’s completely understandable as well.

Just sharing my thoughts and if you have ever read my posts I try to be as neutral as possible when talking about other teams as well. And jealous people, seriously? Lol! Of what exactly? India has been a top team in the last decade and I have mentioned that time and time again however, its surely not some legendary team that people would wont to bring down the legend by sharing their thoughts on PP. Again just my opinion you can disagree.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

I think teams go a little less hard on pakistan. Pakistan have been hit by controversies - SL attacked with rocket launchers, their best cricketers fixing matches, BCCi hurting them by not letting them play IPL and refusing to play bilateral cricket. Most teams know this and let them get a win or two, allow their bowlers to chuck for years etc. Even India were kind enough to let you win the CT before smashing Pakistan in 3 matches straight after that. England allowing pakistan to win in UAE and draw in England, Australia allowing you to win in UAE etc.

 

[JattMaula]

Of course.

Underperforming against India gets you IPL contracts. 5-6 ipl captains in Indian national team keep eye on those who play below their best against India and recommend then for IPL.

Hence proven beyond doubt.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Did you even watch that series?

It had way more verbal spats than what we saw in 2018.

Johnson tried his luck with trash talk. Kohli smashed him around and shut him up.

We should have won 1 test at Adelaide, it was a very competitive series than what 2-0 scoreline suggests. LOL at 4-0 , Australians were glad they went away with 2-0 and not 2-2 something the way young Indian bowlers and batsmen brought the fight to them.

Sharma, Yadav were constantly touching 150kph +

Not all of it but I watched quite a bit. India had the likes of Aaron playing and Shami was going a 5 RPO. In Austrailia, you cannot do that. India gave away huge scores but the pitches were very flat and that helped India run away with 2 draws - and even those 2 draws, they nearly lost.

 

[BreadPakoda]

IPL and greed for gate receipts ensures that India’s overseas tests last 5 days. I feel if PSL becomes popular outside Pakistan in future then Pakistan’s away test matches can also last more than 3 days. Long way to go though.

 

[Buffet]

Aus telling others crossing a line defined by Aus? Or, Eng putting jelly beans on pitch to distract batsmen? That era is finished.

WI, SA, NZ, SL etc were not big in talking any time. Pakistan used to talk more in 90s but it's now 20 years old.

With Kohli, teams dishing Indians are likely to get it back with interest. It ends up impacting other teams so it's better to no go overboard. Kohli also likes getting in confrontations and feels motivated.

If you replace Kohli with some meek captain then suddenly you will see lote more verbal abuse towards Indians.

 

[sweep_shot]

I think cricket in general has become quite timid. Amount of sledging has gone down significantly. Also, ICC now awards demerit points more frequently and hence players are forced to behave better.

Add to that, IPL contracts are quite appealing among players and hence they may go easy on India.

 

[Robert]

So this thing has been bothering me since last couple of years specifically the Ashes in which Johnson destroyed England. Micheal Clarke also said that the current Aussie teams go easy on Indian players due to IPL contracts fearing that they might be hated. Even Starc had messaged on twitter that he was afraid he might lose RCB contract.
Look at WI playing in England with bowlers breathing fire while as the same WI in India looks boring, uninterested. Johnson obliterated England but the same year he was down on pace and less threatening against India. I have seen this on many occasions that the intensity goes missing for foreign teams against India..
Is it me or other posters also see this and are bothered by it?

Nothing to see.

Windies always come hardest at their old colonial overlords.

Johnson blew hit and cold. For three series England hit him around, and for one everything clicked for him. It unclicked again when he played India.

 

[therealAB]

Did you even watch that series?

It had way more verbal spats than what we saw in 2018.

Johnson tried his luck with trash talk. Kohli smashed him around and shut him up.

We should have won 1 test at Adelaide, it was a very competitive series than what 2-0 scoreline suggests. LOL at 4-0 , Australians were glad they went away with 2-0 and not 2-2 something the way young Indian bowlers and batsmen brought the fight to them.

Sharma, Yadav were constantly touching 150kph +

You guys were never in that series. At Adelaide we declared twice ***. Warner spent the whole series smashing pie chuckers around at5 rpo

Only reason I got a couple of draws were the flat pitches

 

[Bhaijaan]

Aus telling others crossing a line defined by Aus? Or, Eng putting jelly beans on pitch to distract batsmen? That era is finished.

WI, SA, NZ, SL etc were not big in talking any time. Pakistan used to talk more in 90s but it's now 20 years old.

With Kohli, teams dishing Indians are likely to get it back with interest. It ends up impacting other teams so it's better to no go overboard. Kohli also likes getting in confrontations and feels motivated.

If you replace Kohli with some meek captain then suddenly you will see lote more verbal abuse towards Indians.

So true.

Basically every team has realized that it's not the 11 Indian players they are taking on, but their media, their fans on the ground and offline too.

It's more like intimidation. Most players don't want to get into it.

Andrew Symonds career literally got over with Monkeygate. He wasn't a victim of BCCI or IPl, in fact IPL rolled out the red carpet for him. He was a victim of Indian media and Indian fans and bit of his own issues.

It took a long long time for Indian cricketers to realize the mad level fan/media following they have isn't just pressure on them but their opponents also.

It's something Aussies realized earlier in 1990s when they + their media would strategically launch attack on visiting teams and beat them in the mind first before they even stepped onto the field.

India isn't as vicious but most top players just dint want to be fighting online trolls in evening after a hard day of work. They don't go easy on India. It's the intimidation Indian cricket leverages today.

 

[Bhaijaan]

You guys were never in that series. At Adelaide we declared twice ***. Warner spent the whole series smashing pie chuckers around at5 rpo

Only reason I got a couple of draws were the flat pitches

The Adelaide test was ours to win. We threw it away.

There were other key moments too and you were lucky with the tosses that time.

The series was very competitive overall. I wish the pitches had more for the bowlers though. We weren't the better team clearly, would have still lost 3-1 maybe but our chances of winning away are usually helped by favourable bowling conditions

 

[tyron_woodley]

silly asinine assumption. I would say india actually prepare fair pitches at home to make it competitive.