The Indian team went without a win in the one-day tri-series Down Under, thus ending a generally miserable tour of Australia on the same disastrous note as it had begun. In the preceding Tests, there may have been a few positives, like the batsmen Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. But, as a team, India won nothing in the Tests either. Were the tri-series, involving also Australia and England, just another one-day jamboree, such ineffectual performances may have meant little. Coming as they did on the eve of the World Cup, which is set to begin in two weeks, they are the reason to worry about the champion team’s preparedness.
The bowling and fielding have been so awful that there has been no mitigation of the disasters stemming from batting collapses that ruined the efforts of Dhoni’s team.
The team has to pick itself up if it is to make an impression in the World Cup. The cricket showpiece event boils down to which team can scramble its way best through three tense knockout matches from the quarter-finals onwards. India’s chances cannot be written off altogether. The only problem is that the skipper, Dhoni, who has been in very poor form in Australia, has been largely uninspiring. His fast bowlers have been operating as if they are playing roulette. They hold the key to how far India can go. At the moment, all their fans can do is to pray.
