Perth: It has been a near-flawless performance by India at the ongoing World Cup but there is one grey area that skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the team management would like to address before the team get ready for the knock-out stage of the competition.
The facile victories over Pakistan and South Africa have apparently papered over the cracks that appear during India’s batting at the death. Against Pakistan, from a relatively comfortable 273/2 in 45.2 overs, India slumped to 296/7 in 49.2 overs eventually managing to reach the 300-run mark. The lower-order collapse effectively meant that India lost five wickets for 23 in a space of four overs.
There was a repeat against South Africa when Dhoni’s men were cruising along at 261/2 in 43.3 overs before they were 302/7 in 48.5 overs and ended at 307/7. Asked if the lower-order batsmen were finding it difficult to clear the boundary, Dhoni said, “It is a difficult one. It’s not easy especially if you are on the last wicket. If you have set batsmen, they have an idea about the pace and bounce of the strip and they can score.”
Dhoni defended his tail-enders saying that if some of the better batsmen found it difficult to gauge the pace and bounce in their bid to score freely, no one could blame the players coming after that.
