It has not been a great kickstarter of a season for the Indian Cricket team. The Men in blue are in a bad shape and the performance curve of the team is coming down at a steady pace and is about to hit the ground. Right from the start, we were not able to prove our mettle in the T-20 World Cup. It was followed by the issue of a brawl at a bar in West Indies by some of the players. Now in the ongoing triseries between India-SriLanka and Zimbabwe, we are almost being treated as minnows. What is happening ?? what really went wrong ?? Lets do a small analysis on some of the important and key aspects which really mattered and made things worse for Team India.
First things first. Our key players did not play a vital role. Our openers did not make a huge impact in any of the games of the T-20 World Cup. Our protagonist for T-20's, Virender Sehwag missed the entire tournament, which is a huge let down for the team. Neither did Gautham Gambhir had a good stint in the middle. Things went worse when capable players to the likes of Raina and Vijay found it hard to time the ball with perfection. An other problem was the short balls on a fast paced wicket, which seemed to almost threaten all our batsmen. Now, I dont understand whether the batsmen are incapable of handling a short ball or whether the pitch curators are not producing a fast paced wicket with a lot of bounce in it.
But I agree that the curators are not producing a wicket with a bounce in it. I also fail to understand why that is and what their fear is. Anyways, if we have a weakness, corrective measures should be taken as soon as possible and not wait for a long time unless every international player comes to know about that and blow your top so easily !! In a game against the West Indies, Every west Indian bowler came up with a short ball and grabbed his wicket, as simple as that. And in a game against the Australians in the super eight, it went as a one sided game and as though it was Australia vs Rohit Sharma. Very saddening, where are we going from here ?
From the line up of players for the triseries, I get the view that Team India are not taking this very seriously. Its just another tournament and either winning or losing dosent matter. How can the board neglect every experienced player and fill his eleven with many inexperienced players ? I dont get the logic behind it.. Can a Dinda or Umesh Yadav do the trick better than a Zaheer Khan or a Harbhajan ?.. Do they think that way ? Take Yuvraj Singh, after so many failures, he was in the T-20 team only for the hope that he will get to perform in any one of the games. He is again a huge let down. And I fail to understand why he was rested for the triseries. He should be playing so as to get as many games as possible and try to get that Yuvi-magic back. And now the latest news is that he has been dropped for the 15 member squad for the Asia Cup. We should have atleast had a senior bowler to partner an inexperienced bowler and a capable batsman to raise the bar.
Now to talk about some main prospects of the team. Rohit Sharma is now unwinding himself with the willow. He is doing a very fine job out there, no doubt. He knows his responsibilities and he is clear in what he is expected to do, thats what we want. Ravindra Jadeja is yet another player after Raina, who can do a good job with his bat in the middle overs. His spin bowling comes in as a good weapon to deal hard-hitting batsmen. He has evolved so well into a very matured cricketer. Ravichandran Ashwin with his off-spinning capability clearly needs a mention. A very confident bowler who can deliver the goods at any given position and against any bataman and still grab his wicket. I have seen him from his TamilNadu cricket days, he bowls with a great passion, with a fire in his eyes and most importantly will look for every chance the batsman gives and sneaks through.
There are so many negatives that needs correction in a short span of time .. Yet.. Hoping to see Team India back with a bang in the upcoming Asia Cup. My best wishes for the team ! Cheers !!
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