South Africa's crushing victory in the first ODI must raise some alarm in the Indian dressing room certainly.
Though there is no real cause for panic, the clear message nevertheless is that this tour — for both formats — is not going to be a stroll in the park for Dhoni & Co.
For most of this year, India have played and excelled at home. True, the Champions Trophy was won in England through some battling performances. But on pitches that have pace and bounce — and against bowlers and batsmen far better equipped in these conditions — the difficulty quotient is much, much higher Where ODIs are concerned, India may be ranked number 1 while South Africa are languishing at number 5, but unless some quick remedial measures are taken, the problem could spill over into the Test matches too. So what should Duncan Fletcher and Dhoni look to do? I venture that the problem is three-pronged and has to do with technique,strategy and — let’s face it — spunk. It is now incumbent on the think tank on the tour — coach Duncan Fletcher and Dhoni — to address these before it’s too late.
Let’s see what India lacked in the opening game. The batting was shown in poor light by the swing and seam brilliance of Dale Steyn and the steepling bounce that Morne Morkel derived, but I think the match was lost when the South Africans walloped the Indian bowlers for 358.
Such mammoth totals can be overhauled only rarely, and it becomes even more difficult for Indian batsmen when playing overseas. Even allowing for new laws governing ODIs in terms of field restrictions and two balls used, teams everywhere are averaging perhaps 30-50 runs more than they did earlier.
But South Africa’s score was 80-100 runs more than what seemed fair on a track that assisted fast bowlers. While there are no guarantees in sport it is reasonable to assume that had the target been 280-290, the approach of the Indian batsmen could have been different and a victory, however difficult, was at least conceivable.
India’s ragged bowling messed up the advantage of winning the toss and put the batting under greater duress than it was capable of handling.
One can’t be too harsh on the attack because all the bowlers are young and all three fast bowlers who played are in their first international season. But something needs to be done.
First up, the technical aspect first. Fletcher (and Joe Dawes) must teach the young bowlers the length they must aim for to be effective. In the first game, they were too short at the start and in the death overs, one hardly saw any yorkers. A goodish length at the pace Mohit and Bhuvaneshwar bowl at is like cannon fodder.
Strategically, therefore, playing Umesh Yadav, who has the speed to test the South African batsmen, has now perhaps become an imperative even if his economy rate in recent times has been dismal.
Mohammed Shami’s pace troubled the batsmen to an extent, and two express bowlers might just trouble the South Africans.
Where the batting is concerned, there is not enough time (or perhaps too late?) to sort out the discomfiture of Raina and Yuvraj against the short ball. Tactically it makes sense to drop at least one of them if not both and play either Rahane or Rayudu.
From a psychological point of view, the Indians have to put the defeat behind them, quickly pick up the pieces and go into the next two ODIs with the self-belief and confidence. Remember, the ODI series is effectively also the warm-up for the Tests. Winning this series would put the home team under enormous pressure.
Not easy. But this is where champion sides must show their mettle.
