Bangalore: The Indian cricket team has underperformed once again on tour. The captain may be blaming the bowlers for the ODI series loss but there is more to the malaise than just profligate bowlers.
It is generally accepted that chasing in New Zealand is a task simpler than batting first, when there is some life in the pitch and moisture in the surroundings, despite which Indian batsmen came up short twice and managed to tie once. The series is at 3-0 with one match to be played.
The World Cup is just a year away and Dhoni, the selectors and the team’s think tank have much to mull over, particularly since cricket’s quadrennial showpiece event is to be held in the Antipodes and the conditions will be similar enough in Australia too. The team cannot obviously keep paying the price for sticking to a set of favoured players even though they may have once been match-winners. The earlier they decide to try out the alternatives the better.
Indian cricket is not back to an age in which travelled as poorly as wine. The results show the defending World Cup champions have the wherewithal to play and win ODIs abroad.
What is needed is the ability to sustain performance to remain combative to the end, which means that all sections of the team must perform.
Team India does not have the luxury of bowling and fielding poorly and winning purely on the striking prowess of the batsmen, especially when our glamorous strikers are lesser men when it comes to tackling the additional bounce of faster pitches outside the subcontinent.
