Here's an idea...

As a cricket fan, I have to appreciate the way England has played its cricket. They have been aggressive, positive and taken opportunities to ensure that they beat India in the test series.
What disappoints me is the manner in which India lost. I'm not going to talk about players burning out. Personally, I feel that they don't have an excuse. After the World Cup, all of them had the option of skipping the IPL, but they chose to play. Following the series at England, several of these players are going to play for the Champion's Trophy, where victorious teams from all T20 formats come together to win the ultimate T20 champion crown.
The concept of the Champion's Trophy gave me an idea, after I read Ramachandra Guha's article on CricInfo today. Guha blamed the IPL for India's poor test performance against England. I, myself, am not a big T20 fan, but I admit that it brings the game the money it needs to develop and build cricketing facilities and improving cricket infrastructure across the globe.
Now the question arises: how do we get players to get technically sound, avoid playing rash shots and learning the importance of patience? After all, that's what Test cricket is about. You play the waiting game, whether you're a batsman or a bowler.
If the Champion's Trophy can work, why not let all the cricketing boards across test playing nations come together with the ICC and plan a longer version of the Champion's Trophy? We can get the top three teams from Ranji Trophies, Sheffield Shield Trophies, County Championships and other domestic tournaments to come together and play competitive cricket. The players will get international exposure and will learn to improve their game in foreign conditions.
There is a huge plus that comes out of this idea. Since an upcoming player dreams of playing abroad, the level of competition in domestic tournaments will go up. Hopefully - and this is an idealist in me - people will start going to stadiums to watch domestic matches.
Since the ICC is seriously considering a Test Championship, maybe they should look into something like this first. It's certainly an idea that can work in the long run.

T20...Really?

The Indian domestic season has changed dramatically in the last four years.
I would follow the Ranji Trophy on Cricinfo and would also read about performances that stood out through the course of the tournament.
Last year, Rajasthan won it. I don't think many people will remember this useless bit of information.
However, most people remember that the Rajasthan Royals won the first IPL.
If players like Manish Pandey had never been the first Indian to make an IPL century, would people know who he was?
At least in Pandey's defence, he hasn't played international cricket as yet.
The BCCI, for the last four years, has been selecting players on the basis of their T20 performances.
It's probably why RP Singh wonders why he is in England at the moment.
Indian cricket has its moments of peaking and plummeting. This period i.e. the last two years have been good for us. However, I see a plummet happening following the retirement of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman.
T20 is not going to help our cause because despite what Ricky Ponting says, it will not improve a cricketer's performance in test cricket.
I'm not going to criticise Sehwag because he's not had match practice and he's rescued India on more than one occasion across the globe. But what about the others?
You can't even blame them. The BCCI barely pays anything to Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and Duleep Trophy players. These guys are better off playing for two months at the IPL and spending the remaining 10 eating at home. It serves their life and purpose.
What the BCCI needs to do is send its emerging players and current players as part of India A and India B groups and get them to train in Australia, South Africa and England. This kind of exposure in sides that have strong domestic circuits.
If they don't then, the test team can continue playing 20 overs and getting out and watching teams make 700 runs in two days. 

The rants of an Indian cricket fan

I suggest that all of you watch that scene before you read the rest of the post.
India went as the Number 1 team to England. They had successful tours against The West Indies, a decent series against South Africa and even won the World Cup.
They were on top of the World.
Then they went to England, who after a great Ashes, got rogered in the World Cup.
So everyone assumed that India would do well.
I was the pessimist and was ridiculed.
I feel like scum, but I should become a bookie, given how my predictions usually work out.
India is getting its ass kicked and it looks like the drubbing won't stop.
Who is to blame?
1) The BCCI: Overworking the players has resulted in a burnout. As Nasser Hussain said in the commentary box, the Indians spend most of their free time eating. So we have unfit and injured players. Double threat. Yay!
2) Indians prefer club over country. The IPL proved it. The IPL should never have started. They should have stuck to the ICL and not killed so many careers. We need smart business plans and make Indians who cannot play international cricket be part of the IPL. Get the retired guys as well. Keep important players out of these tournaments. They're millionaires anyway. Too much money is bad. Get the oldies and youngsters. Throw in some cheerleader to tell us what the players do at a party and we can read about the IPL orgy.
3) Give our players a county stint. I have written about this before.
4) Stop behaving like the English when you're losing. You've gotten fucked in the ass. Don't cry. Learn. Don 't act like you're getting fucked by your boss from 10 am to 5 pm. Don't pray for rain because you're playing in England. This will never work.
5) Pray to the Jesus. He may have mercy and not shove a trigger up your ass and make it go 'click'.
6) Stop asking Sachin to make his 100th century. The fucker has enough pressure already
7) Thank God that Dravid allows you to go beyond 250