Will Mahendra Singh Dhoni, once the smartest captain in the business, stop this drift? If Team India had consciously switched off in the tri series so as to keep their ammo dry for the World Cup, it could be called master strategy. But the bookmakers, famous for putting their money where their mouth is, are not impressed. They have downgraded India from joint favourite months ago to the fourth favourite now.
A lacklustre Team India wandered through the tri series as if in a trance. There was no sense of purpose in any department. The bowlers may be the whipping boys of the team, and they well deserve to be because not one fast bowler seems good enough to be able to pitch the ball three times in a row in the spot where he wishes. They appear to be running a great national lottery since God alone knows where the ball will pitch when an Indian pacer delivers the ball.
Beyond the poor bowling that seemed to make a Bradman out of any opposition batsman in form like Steve Smith, there was patchy work by the batsmen and fielders. So disunited did they seem that rumours are already blooming about two camps in the team and that the succession plan is already being put into operation by one group. This was likely to happen when Dhoni chose to erode his own authority by quitting Test cricket in the middle of a series. Skippers don’t do that — they go down with their crew and ship.
Virat Kohli cannot be accused of harbouring an overweening ambition. He is the obvious successor to take the reins in all forms of the game. Since his batting form seems to go up directly in proportion with responsibilities being thrust on him, the signs are already clear that he must be put in charge in the ODIs too. And this should come about regardless of whether Dhoni can get something out of his men to make a good dash at retaining the World Cup.
There was a time in Indian cricket when Anil Kumble led in the Test and Dhoni in limited-overs cricket. There was no erosion of authority then because Kumble was nearing the end of his career and was only seen as a stop gap skipper before the selectors handed over the Test captaincy also to Dhoni. The Kohli situation is different because he is young, talented and super ambitious and players must already have mentally pledged their faithfulness to him. There is a clear clash of loyalties to be seen in the aimless team performance.
It is against this dank background that Dhoni must get his team up for one great effort to try and live up to the expectations and dreams of a billion fans, as he did in 2011. India can still defy the odds.
A team needs to play three great games in a row to win the World Cup since the eight contenders for the quarter finals will probably be the most easily predicted ones, although there could be a banana skin or two waiting along the way in the 12-team preliminaries.
Team India have the batting strengths to shape their fortunes. They just have to score consistently in the face of the most intense pressures in the knock-outs. They did that at home four years ago. It may be that much harder in Australia- New Zealand. The real challenge of sport is to deliver in alien conditions. Dhoni has to prove he is still capable of leading his men into battle. He has the nous, if not quite the unquestioned authority of before.
