India’s Asia Cup success must not be overrated
Saturday - September 29, 2018 10:47 am ,
Category : WTN SPECIAL
WTN- India’s Asia Cup win was more or less certain. Nobody at the start of the games would believe that India could be outplayed by the minnows.
Being the strongest team in the game, at least on paper, no one could doubt India’s capability of convincingly crushing all the opponents. Yes, India won the cup but it could not be a thumping win. In some of the matches, the struggle was clearly visible.
India had to fight for every run even in their matches with comparatively insignificant teams like Afghanistan and Hong Kong. Pakistan was the only country India could comprehensively crush, but that is more due to the Pakistan team’s inherent weaknesses than India’s greatness.
When Bangladesh or Afghanistan or Honk Kong applied themselves fully into the game, India felt jittery and were on the brink of a collapse every now and then. The vulnerability of the middle order was particularly exposed in the matches – a common factor in all the games.
No one did exceptionally well and for any consistent period. There were flashes of excellence but no sustainability which could be banked upon. This showed us the importance of Virat Kohli in the team and how his consistent contribution is seminal to India’s victory run.
Our openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan blasted centuries but only against the underdogs. There heroics may thrill us, as do the close fought matches, but their vulnerability and inconsistency stood badly exposed against the quality English bowling attack in the last series in England, where they miserably failed to make a mark. How well they perform against tougher teams is a question to ponder.
The Asia Cup outing may have given India some match practice before the upcoming more important fixtures and allowed them an opportunity to test their bench strength, but she cannot sit back and relax on the laurels of this success. The Australia tour a month later is certainly going to trouble India if her middle order is not strengthened. We have picked and dropped players randomly in recent times, not giving them much chance to prove their abilities.
The insecurity in players’ minds also affects their performance, since they know that one bad outing can ruin their career. They are not getting the right backing from their coach and captain and the chinks in the armour are visible. Several players are also undergoing fitness issues, which need to be resolved soon before the big matches. Senior most player MS Dhoni has to up his game if he wants to be an important part of the team. One cannot continue for long on the basis of past records.
Dhoni’s average as well as strike rate in the ODI format has plummeted in the last two years. His bat has lost the Midas touch and Dhoni is the best person to decide his strategy and take a call on his future. His scores in Asia Cup have been dismal, especially going by the MSD benchmark. Players like Jadhav, Jadeja and Karthik too have contributed but, again, the consistency is missing. It is more like a hit or miss attempt. Someday we may have R Ashwin proving the saving grace; sometimes it is Bhubaneswar Kumar chipping in.
We cannot have such a mishmash of team composition to take on formidable teams. Our dependence on one or two players to save matches cannot help us in the long run. It is not the tail-enders who are going to save us every time. Keeping the World Cup in view, we need to have a strong and consistent team in place that can perform equally well in all types of diverse situations and against the best teams. We need to honestly locate our weaknesses, take some strong decisions to axe the non-performers and work out diligently on the best combinations and strategy to stand up to our name.
The players need to apply themselves more assiduously to the task. If the ability is there, it is only practice and sincerity that is lacking and if that is so, the blame squarely falls on the team management and the players for not giving their full.
-Window To News
Being the strongest team in the game, at least on paper, no one could doubt India’s capability of convincingly crushing all the opponents. Yes, India won the cup but it could not be a thumping win. In some of the matches, the struggle was clearly visible.
India had to fight for every run even in their matches with comparatively insignificant teams like Afghanistan and Hong Kong. Pakistan was the only country India could comprehensively crush, but that is more due to the Pakistan team’s inherent weaknesses than India’s greatness.
When Bangladesh or Afghanistan or Honk Kong applied themselves fully into the game, India felt jittery and were on the brink of a collapse every now and then. The vulnerability of the middle order was particularly exposed in the matches – a common factor in all the games.
No one did exceptionally well and for any consistent period. There were flashes of excellence but no sustainability which could be banked upon. This showed us the importance of Virat Kohli in the team and how his consistent contribution is seminal to India’s victory run.
Our openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan blasted centuries but only against the underdogs. There heroics may thrill us, as do the close fought matches, but their vulnerability and inconsistency stood badly exposed against the quality English bowling attack in the last series in England, where they miserably failed to make a mark. How well they perform against tougher teams is a question to ponder.
The Asia Cup outing may have given India some match practice before the upcoming more important fixtures and allowed them an opportunity to test their bench strength, but she cannot sit back and relax on the laurels of this success. The Australia tour a month later is certainly going to trouble India if her middle order is not strengthened. We have picked and dropped players randomly in recent times, not giving them much chance to prove their abilities.
The insecurity in players’ minds also affects their performance, since they know that one bad outing can ruin their career. They are not getting the right backing from their coach and captain and the chinks in the armour are visible. Several players are also undergoing fitness issues, which need to be resolved soon before the big matches. Senior most player MS Dhoni has to up his game if he wants to be an important part of the team. One cannot continue for long on the basis of past records.
Dhoni’s average as well as strike rate in the ODI format has plummeted in the last two years. His bat has lost the Midas touch and Dhoni is the best person to decide his strategy and take a call on his future. His scores in Asia Cup have been dismal, especially going by the MSD benchmark. Players like Jadhav, Jadeja and Karthik too have contributed but, again, the consistency is missing. It is more like a hit or miss attempt. Someday we may have R Ashwin proving the saving grace; sometimes it is Bhubaneswar Kumar chipping in.
We cannot have such a mishmash of team composition to take on formidable teams. Our dependence on one or two players to save matches cannot help us in the long run. It is not the tail-enders who are going to save us every time. Keeping the World Cup in view, we need to have a strong and consistent team in place that can perform equally well in all types of diverse situations and against the best teams. We need to honestly locate our weaknesses, take some strong decisions to axe the non-performers and work out diligently on the best combinations and strategy to stand up to our name.
The players need to apply themselves more assiduously to the task. If the ability is there, it is only practice and sincerity that is lacking and if that is so, the blame squarely falls on the team management and the players for not giving their full.
-Window To News
