Indian cricket team must plug loopholes soon
After being comprehensively drubbed in New Zealand by the hosts, the Indian cricket team cannot proceed with a ‘business as usual' approach. Not only has it lost its number one ranking in one-day cricket, it also has to contend with the upcoming world cup. Had the problem been limited to a few players or departments, the matter would have been more easily resolved. But we have seen throughout the series in New Zealand that our bowlers, batsmen and even fielders to an extent have failed to perform. Our bowling attack was erratic and plain shoddy at times, allowing the rivals to reach 300 runs or thereabouts almost routinely.
On the other hand, the Indian batsmen simply failed to match those figures because they either succumbed to casual shots or were out of depth on the foreign pitches. The more charitable explanation for the washout is that most of the Indian players are yet not experienced enough to play on alien soil and conditions. While it may be true that certain players do need more international exposure away from Indian grounds, the fact also is that many established players such as Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma, who were expected to perform, failed to do so. There has also been criticism of captain MS Dhoni for not having optimally handled the team at his disposal, and for persisting with players who had failed repeatedly over the last many games.
Related to this criticism is the charge that, even after the established players failed to score to take wickets, Dhoni did not give an opportunity to the other players who were on the sidelines. All in all, it is being said that the Indian cricket team needs a total re-haul in the manner that other countries such as Pakistan have done in recent times when their teams were routed. While it is disastrous not to take tough decisions when there is still time for it, it is equally an extreme measure to ruthlessly rattle a combination that needs a bit more time to click. After all, it is not as if the likes of Shikhar Dhawan or R Ashwin, or for that matter even Raina, are below par players. On their day, they can be among the world's best. In the same vein, Dhoni has steered the team to many remarkable victories. He is intelligent enough to know where he has erred in New Zealand, and he will learn from those mistakes. At his media appearance after the 4-0 loss in one-dayers, he did point to the mediocre performance of the middle-order batsmen.
Meanwhile, the important thing for the team now is to leave behind the resounding defeats and look to the challenges ahead. There is no denying that in their present form, the men in blue are not the best team to lift the world cup — they have lost their last seven outings in one-day internationals. Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has remarked that he does not see this Indian team winning the trophy. He, and millions of Indian cricket fans, will hope that the pessimism is proved wrong.