West Indies tri-series 2013: Match 4 - India vs WI - India Preview

10 days after 5 consecutive victories and a Champions Trophy win, 2 back to back defeats have brought out the naysayers again

Barely 10 days after clinching the Champions Trophy title, doomsday seems to have arrived for some Indian cricket fans.

The “closely-reaching-mythological-proportions” skipper, MS Dhoni, is out injured; brash young Kohli has taken over, and India has lost two consecutive matches – one of them against their best buddy Sri Lanka.

(I wonder if Dhoni, Raina and Kohli have actually started picking up words in Sinhalese after years of trying to decode opposition’s conversations in the middle.)

Burnout is the word being bandied around for India’s insipid performance; and while it may be true, even the fans are suffering from a somewhat similar issue to care too much about it. The BCCI would be least worried about TV viewership for now, probably relieved that the IPL spot-fixing drama has been pushed under the rug with the Champions Trophy win.

Moving onto the on-field issues. Despite the twin losses, there doesn’t seem to be too much pressure on the players from the outside. Even after being ruled out of the tri-series, MS Dhoni has decided to stay back. Although his presence provides Kohli an uncertain control over the squad, it would keep the mood of this young team stable even after the worst of losses.

Let’s face it; it wasn’t supposed to be an important series. How many fans who’re ‘worried’ about the current state of affairs under Kohli’s leadership actually remember what transpired in 2010 in Zimbabwe when India finished third behind Sri Lanka as well as the hosts in the tri-series? The likes of Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Umesh Yadav, Ashwin, Jadeja and Murali Vijay, who are also in the current squad, gained valuable experience though.

Recalling the proceedings of the previous two matches, India’s batting has been a massive failure, especially after the exploits in England. Yes, the openers were in Midas touch there, but the middle and lower-middle order has been extremely dependable in the past and was India’s strongest point, along with the ace up the sleeve – the spinners.

And here, the man makes his appearance again. Without Dhoni, the batting looks absolutely brittle all of a sudden if Dhawan and Kohli fail. Be it the act of early consolidation or late assault, Dhoni has been carrying out the role of Mr. Dependable with unnerving regularity and without any fuss.

It took a batsman, a wicketkeeper and a captain to fill in for MS Dhoni’s place in the side – India is missing Mr. Dependable

Mind you, this is not a team which has been dragged to victories by a single player. Contributions right at the top of the order from Dhawan down till the end by Ishant have contributed significantly in making India’s Champions Trophy successful. But they all have been glued together by Dhoni’s leadership. He didn’t contribute much with the bat in England, but Dhoni’s work from behind the stumps was akin to that of a master orchestrator; it was beautiful, and much reassuring for an Indian fan.

Dhoni-worshipping aside, it’s important to note that mere ‘experience-gaining exercise’ won’t do much good to the Indian team or its fans’ morale. The skipper himself had said at the start of this series, “if things are moving, it will only move in one direction which is up.” Clearly, the target was to do grow as a team.

But the failure to cope with conditions which aren’t best suited for free-flowing strokeplay isn’t growth. Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik would do their careers a world of good if they succeed here. If anything can be learnt from the data we have on hand via Messrs Gayle, Charles, Jayawardene and Tharanga, it is that once you get a start on these pitches, converting it into a big score is of paramount importance.

Ishant and co. have struggled in their search for the same pace and bounce they exploited in England. Anything short or too full is only going to make them look more clueless in these conditions. Though the spinners have found the turn, the slowness of the pitch isn’t to their liking. The decision to leave out Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the last game surprised many. Despite the absence of swinging conditions, his accurate line and length pose a much greater threat than a newcomer’s variations on these pitches.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s regular scalps at the top of the order were missed against Sri Lanka as Jayawardene-Tharanga piled on 213 for the 1st wicket

I have nothing against Kohli for going with Shami Ahmed ahead of Kumar, taking into account the fact that this Indian team couldn’t have got a better opportunity to do some shuffling on this tour, especially with Dhoni now out of the picture for a while. But if that decision was born out of the reasoning of lack of swing on offer, it is a poor show of faith in Bhuvneshwar’s abilities by the team management.

Kohli’s leadership has been a topic of hot debate, but it’s too early to take a stand on it. How the Delhi dasher gets things done on the field may not have to be necessarily in the mould of his predecessor, but it’s crucial that he doesn’t look hopelessly confused out there.

As the first part of the tri-series comes to an end, the venue now shifts to Port of Spain. The change of venue, however, doesn’t signal a change in conditions, at least not drastically.

As things stand currently, India have to win both their remaining matches and hope West Indies defeat Sri Lanka to avoid any need of a bonus point to qualify for the final. In this endeavour, they’ll do good to remember these words from Dhoni, “What is very important for us is not to look too far ahead, but take it one match at a time.”

Players in focus:

Murali Vijay - With each passing series, he looks like a liability in an overseas tour. Call it his promotion or demotion in the order, the move to send Vijay at no. 3 in the last match was clearly a horrendous one.

It is understandable that Kohli didn’t want to disturb the successful partnership at the top and an out-of-form and on-the-sidelines Vijay couldn’t have been counted upon to immediately start slogging towards the end of the innings. But Kohli’s presence at no. 3 was crucial for India, especially in chases (and against Sri Lanka, it is the word of God).

In such a case, the ever-so-flexible Dinesh Karthik could have been demoted to no. 5 and Vijay brought in at no. 4. If a sudden sense of adventurism doesn’t descend upon the Indian team management tomorrow, making them pick Ambati Rayudu in the XI, Vijay better start giving the team management some reasons to include him in the touring sides.

An overseas dud – Murali Vijay’s credentials outside the sub-continent aren’t encouraging

Ishant Sharma - The lanky pacer backed his strengths to bowl short and got good results in England. But as always, and ever so frustratingly, he doesn’t seem to have a Plan B in place. He’s has 51 Tests and 62 ODIs under his belt and, rather unfortunately in my opinion, is the ‘leader’ of India’s pace attack.

Ishant had a stupendous Test series here in 2011, where he picked up 22 wickets at 16.86 runs apiece, ending up as the highest wicket-taker in the series. But in two years, the pitches have undergone drastic changes and Ishant is still searching for the same bite he extracted off these surfaces earlier.

Pitching it either side of absolute ‘good-length areas’ is not going to work for bowlers on these pitches, and Ishant would do good to remember that Dhoni’s ‘luck’ won’t rub off on him every day.

Playing XI (probable): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Venue: Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Start time: 7:00 PM IST (1:30 PM GMT)