The incongruity behind the seeming Indo-Pak cricketing congruity

A lot goes on both before and after an India-Pakistan cricket match, especially the World Cup ones. Raging emotions, soaring passions and most of all, reputations to maintain and jinxes to break; all form a part and parcel of an Indo-Pak World Cup encounter, be it in any cricketing format. But is winning against Pakistan the only high point for an otherwise struggling Indian cricket team or is there more to Indian cricket at the World Cups?

The overwhelmingly persistent excitement displayed by the cricket fans, recollecting the Indo-Pak Super Eight encounter, seems like a promotional ad for DTH (Direct to Home) cable operator brands that provide recording services for favourite programs. There’s this state of apparent oblivion where only one match appears again and again before the eyes, erasing the previous hammering by a relatively-lesser known side and along with that, the knowledge that one more crucial tie still remains to be played.

Amidst the talks of the captain selecting the best-possible squad, getting back an in-form opener, removing a once-best spinner and using the pitch conditions to his optimum advantage, no one seems to recollect that South Africa is still a potent threat. And that the last time that India played South Africa in a World Cup, they slaughtered us as the team failed to capitalize on a good opening score. Shouldn’t we be worried that after the 2007 T20 World Cup, the Indian T20 cricket team has failed to proceed beyond the Super Eight stages instead of making merry on an almost-stale victory?

Granted that the team composition worked out pretty well against Pakistan, but as the captain keeps repeating, it’s not as though the Indian team is through with experimenting. Changing bowlers and batting combination, just to find the right team structure seems frivolous and thoughtless just as coming up with a novel way of broaching the night-watchman concept in T20 cricket provided no apparent benefits, but only ended pinpointing all the subtly obvious deficiencies in the team composition. Emphasizing on ‘finding the right team composition’ also means that even after the victory against Pakistan, there’s no surety that MS Dhoni will retain the squad that got him the results. Taking each day as it comes is fine, but when the team doesn’t have enough days in its kitty; it’s time to collect from whichever source it can.

With the ever-perennial question of a seven-four combination over a six-five one still haunting us, the encounter against South Africa is not unlike a metaphorical Jack-in-the-box. Though their openers haven’t taken the team score anywhere, the South African lower order has far over-exceeded its obligatory contribution. In contrast, where the Indian batting line-up has only shuffled between good and average, it’s the Indian bowling that’s the most worrisome of all reaching new lows and attaining newer heights, almost as if in the same breath.

Zaheer Khan might ‘spearhead’ the bowling attack and be the bowling equivalent of ‘Sachin Tendulkar’, but he still hasn’t managed to find his right rhythm and length. His over-quota still features a few extras, while the spin attack seems all the more crumbly with the inclusion of a second spinner. The South African bowlers, in comparison, seem to be operating with just the right depth and potency required to frustrate their opponents, even with less-than respectable T20 scores.

The question that thus arises is this – with both the batsmen and the bowlers fluctuating in their performances, does India then have a retaliatory answer to the South African bowling assault featuring Steyn, Kallis – who surprisingly has been a better bowler than batsman – Morkel brothers, Parnell and Peterson? A failure to win against South Africa in its last Super Eight match means definite curtains – again – for the Indian T20 team. What happens to India, then? Would the victory against Pakistan suffice then, just as it did when we won against them in 1992 and 1999 but they went on to win the World Cup and reach the finals respectively?

With a better NRR, Pakistan needs just enough mileage against Australia to help them get through to the semi-finals. And as the team scheduled to play first, it’s them who have the momentum swinging with them, in spite on the onus on their shoulders just as it’s us who need to think beyond Sunday’s heroics.

For where winning on Sunday might have been everything to the fans, winning on Tuesday is essentially the only thing that can salvage the Indian team’s hopes and chances at the 2012 T20 World Cup.