“Be positive, why you have to think negative all the time??” exclaimed the venerable K Srikant. That was the way he played his cricket, so I guess he is entitled to expect leaps of faith from everyone else. And a closer look at the final 15 selected by his team will reveal cracks of a worrying nature. Cracks that will be decisive in the chase for India’s elusive second World Cup title. Cracks which will in my opinion prevent India from winning this in about a month’s time.
Don’t get me wrong, Srikant is right when he says he’s selected the best 15 possible. A post-selection mental poll reveals that most people agree with the selection, save for one or two choices. Most think Rohit Sharma should have got his chance. Most also think there should have been a second wicket-keeper. Some think there is one spinner too many. Well, all these viewpoints make sense, and so will the selectors’ counter. Rohit Sharma has not been doing too well recently. Besides, the decision was made to go with the extra bowler, so where was the place he could have taken? The extra wicketkeeper is usually a passenger, one of the few that will never get a significant game unless there was an injury to Dhoni, or if you wanted to rest him for one of the insignificant games (the premise being we will win every match before that, thus confirming our place in the knockouts well in time for us to experiment-a rather pompous assumption). The extra spinner provides variety. Harbhajan is an automatic choice, Ashwin the next best, and since both are offies, traditional common sense makes it mandatory to have a leggie over a left-armer.
There are flaws in each of those arguments, but let’s put all that aside and take a gander at what we have finally assembled as a team that is tasked with winning back the Cup.
1. The Mystery Triumvirate – This is the trio that will head India’s batting order. I presume Sehwag and Tendulkar will open, and Gambhir will follow. Besides the obvious injury concerns, none of these 3 have played too many one-day internationals recently, have not really proved consistent form, and are in constant danger of breaking down. Besides, India have played, and won, quite a few matches without them. No one doubts their caliber, but and one wonders if their reputations are worth tweaking a combination that works and was just coming good. If the 3 play, Pathan and Kohli or possibly Yuvraj are almost certain to miss out playing in the final 11. Ironic, since the first two just mentioned are in great form, and Pathan has certainly emerged as someone who could make the difference between a loss and a win.
2. The prince and the incumbent- Yuvraj and Raina will almost certainly make up nos 4 and 5. Both are in, to put it generously, indifferent form. It has been a while since either has won a match for India, though like the top 3, their past reputations had confirmed their place in this line-up ages ago. Can either of them win a match from 60 for 4 chasing 280 or more? I wouldn’t bet my valuables on it.
3. The Super Skipper – Well, of all his qualities, I think the average Indian fan will hope he will bring whatever lucky charms he uses to retain his Midas touch. There is no argument against his record, and his persona has brought about a certain strength in the team, an aggression that was hitherto missing in previous teams. When he won the inaugural T20 World Cup, the commentators had remarked on his team’s fearlessness that seemed to carry them out of seemingly hopeless situations. That team is older now, and positions of grandeur usually leads to delusions of other kinds of superiority. Of his batting, there are times when he has excelled when others fail, but the bite and bluster of old is now replaced with a sterner, more austere outlook towards batting. Like Raina and Yuvraj, the game –turning innings is a thing of the past. That along with his wicket-keeping burden will test Dhoni’s skills and temperament to the fullest. One wonders who will don the gloves if his dodgy back acts up again. It is all very well to say we will cross that bridge when we come to it, but with not even a part-time keeper in the team(Uthappa, Rohit Sharma are names that come to mind), one hopes that bridge never arrives.
4. The Mythical Allrounder – Let’s get realistic, there is no such thing as a genuine all-rounder in this line-up. We may like to think Pathan is one, and Dhoni may think Harbhajan is slowly turning into one, but we are just fooling ourselves here. An all-rounder is one who is expected to perform with both ball and bat. Pathan is a batsman who can bowl, and Singh the corollary to that. Lowering the standards will not change the definition. If Pathan is an all-rounder, so is Michael Clarke.
5. The Faulty Turbanator – My feelings on Harbhajan Singh aside, if this is India’s best spinner, we have a lot to fear for. Sure, he’s making a meal of the South Africans, but you don’t say you are number one if you beat Bangladesh all the time, do you? Sri Kanka and Pakistan play Singh with ease, and so too, ironically, Bangladesh. I can’t remember the last time the man actually had a match-winning performance with his tweakers. Yes, he’s in form with the bat, and I think we will see a lot of his batting given the form of our specialist batsmen, but that’s not what he should be bringing to the team. The team needs wickets, and wily craftsmanship – the Saeed Ajmal variety. Singh just does not make the cut in that department. What’s more tragic, nobody seems to want to tell him that.
6. The Middlers – Zaheer Khan is a super bowler, and I think he’s proven to be the spear head of this bowling attack. But does he figure in any impartial Best Bowler list? At a best pace of mid 130s, he’s certainly not the fastest, and on Indian pitches, doesn’t even carry the fear of swing and movement that he has in South Africa. On some of these pitches he will be carted for runs galore, and it won’t really be his fault. Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel will most probably make up the rest of this genuinely medium pace attack. The former has injury concerns, but if he’s free of that, can prove to be someone hard to get away. Munaf has been a revelation in South Africa, and will have his days in the sun in this tournament, but he’s also someone capable of giving runs away at the rate of knots.
7. The Bench – If Dhoni has his way, Yuvraj and Raina will play in the 11, and the most consistent performer India has had in the limited overs game in recent times will spend more time on the bench than not. There is some talk of Yuvraj being dropped now, because of the sheer force of Kohli’s feats, but it all depends on what Dhoni will think is appropriate. Ashish Nehra will get a game or two as well, given Praveen Kumar’s tendency to break down easily. But that like replacing glass with paper. Nehra has had his own share of fitness and injury issues, so one does not get the warm, wooly feeling when one looks around and sees him on the bench. The reserve spinners may never see a game, though that would be a travesty at least in Ashwin’s case, cos that is one truly exciting prospect in this bunch. I had touted him as possibly leading the spin attack, but that is set to remain a pipe dream. I really can’t think of a situation, even in the sub continent where India would go into a match with a batsman or a “pacer” less. It’s happened before, of course, so no real point discounting it. But when that happens the chances of India winning that match reduces by a considerable percentage.
Winning a tournament takes loads of talent and hard work, but it also needs dollops of luck. India has hosted the World Cup twice already, and have seen their dreams crash around them, once because of some exciting and innovative batting from Sri Lanka, and once when a resurgent Australia pulled of a major surprise. This time around too, most pundits give India the best chance to win, and Ladbrokes has already installed them as the favorites. Home advantage, a hatful of confidence, and Captain Superb are what is in their favour. An unsettled 11, a batting line-up in uncertain form, a brave yet weak bowling attack, and a captain who just can’t correctly at the toss are what aren’t
On the balance sheet, this is a team that promises a lot, but on current form, I think we will find more reasons to doubt Srikant’s effusive optimism. I wish them luck – they may need a lot of it. And I wish me luck as well – to be able to watch with hope and to have my hopes of winning another World Cup, a perfect swansong for the greatest cricketing personality the world has ever seen. For Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar’s sake, I wish to be proved wrong. Go, India Go!
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