Team India's dream shattered
Bangalore: Another dream has been shattered.
Team India will not be winning an ODI series in South Africa for several years more. The jinx continues. Considering Dhoni's men were blown away in the opening two games, there is no room for complaint. Soundly beaten teams like India in South Africa and England in the first two Ashes Tests can put forth no valid excuses.
Of course, the preparation can be questioned. But then, Team India has been doing this for years.
They always saunter in a few days before the first ODI, limber up a bit in the nets and go into the first game much like lambs headed for slaughter. The South Africans may be the world's worst chokers and India may be the World Cup champions. But the Proteas have a proud record at home against the Indians.
Given our reluctance to take up such a minor challenge as record in South Africa seriously, such an outcome could generally have been assumed. But Dhoni's current team had the momentum and the form to try and turn things around. That they did not even 'turn up' -as Darren Sammy put it so sweetly on his team's tour of India -tells the tale well. Indians didn't care to be competitive.
Regardless of the rankings and current form, tours of Australia and South Africa because of the bouncy and sporting pitches and England because of the conditions favouring swing and seam are the most demanding. They ask for certain type of preparation that is relevant to the conditions and which comes only from match practice. Alas, Team India did not schedule any.
The South Africans take a delight in presenting the most difficult conditions for Indian batsmen.
But that is their right given what Indian curators can do to visiting teams. When we make specific designer pitches that offer only turn by rolling the wicket-towicket line and leaving the rest to the elements, we can expect to be challenged by what hosts can do to scupper our plans by leaving a bit of mois ture in the pitch to assist swing and seam or make them brutally fast and bouncy by systematic preparation.
As a skipper, Dhoni has everything, more than anyone else in world cricket. Maybe, he does not seek to correct the ODI series record in South Africa too keenly and who can blame him for that? His plate is full enough and not too many will complain if we don't have a trophy from South Africa in BCCI's considerably roomy trophy cabinets.
The manner of losing the first two ODIs was, however, galling. The much touted batting lineup was decimated by the bounce. There are few alternatives to going after the bowling in intense ODI cricket and since the ball must be hit in the air there will always be plenty of action in that segment with lobbed hits descending on fielders under the lights.
Losing the bilateral series should not cause great heartburn but what it may point to is India's World Cup plans are somewhat compromised. With the failures of some seniors a pertinent question that arises is whether the team should stick to them in the long run or make contingency plans for their replacement before the main event in 2015.
While quite sporting, Australian pitches may not do so much for quicks. It is up to India now to take the call early on what its batting composition for the World Cup is going to be. The bowling problems will always remain and of them later.
