Report Card

The Indian team did well recently in Australia and followed it up with a convincing performance in Bangladesh despite losing the final.

The youngsters that form the nucleus of this “New India” have been contributing to these victories. As expected, the cyberspace is replete with writers showering encomiums on players who haven’t quite established themselves in International cricket. Taking nothing away from the way India have fared in the recent past, let’s do a reality check and analyse whether this team has got in it to do something, that the previous teams couldn’t quite manage to, i.e. take their cricket to the next level.

The Success Stories

No doubt India has the best batting line-up today following the 2007 World cup embarassment. Gautam Gambhir has proved himself over and over again and is more dependable today than he was a year ago. Yuvraj Singh has been a revelation in the limited version of the game. Barring a poor ODI series in Australia, he has been more consistent in the shorter version of the game and has proved himself against quality opposition. Rohit Sharma has impressed one and all with his technique and flair. He blends technical brilliance with hard hitting and could develop into a great asset for India if he could handle his recent popularity and star status with some maturity that has eluded some senior players. It is however too early to tout him as a replacement for Sachin in the test middle order. An average of 26 in ODI cricket doesn’t qualify him for that. Suresh Raina is a valuable player in the middle order. He too has a solid technique and can wield the long handle when required. His fielding is brilliant and he is a good runner between the wickets. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been an admirable captain. As a batsman, he neither has a great technique nor is he pleasing to the eye. But somehow, he has been effective and has recently shown that he can play the waiting game as well in addition to clearing the stands.

In the bowling department, Ishant Sharma impressed everyone in Australia with good pace and bounce. He managed to trouble the best of the batsmen. Though his form with the ball has not been any convincing after that, we must take the dead, docile pitches in the sub-continent into account while criticizing him. But he is only 19 and the only way he can go from here is northward. RP Singh too looks good when there is a bit of help from the wicket or from the overhead conditions. He too has gone for runs in the limited overs cricket and his economy is something he must try to reduce if he wants to get a nod ahead of the other pacemen. Piyush Chawla has come good in piches assisting spin, but has been taken for plenty in batsmen-friendly conditions. His economy rate is too not very convincing.

The disappointments

Virender Sehwag has been a major disappointment up the order. He has been making the 20’s and 30’s but has not carried on to make the big scores that count. He showed signs of coming back to form in Bangladesh and that is something we want to see more from him, being a senior member in this side.  He could have played his natural game when the Indian team had Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly at the helm. Now that the Indian team contains untested players, he, as a senior, must stand up and make it count. Dinesh Karthik has looked extremely fragile with his batting and has been dropped by the selectors after repeated poor performances. Greg Chappell found him to be the captaincy material. However, he hasn’t quite lived upto the expectations.

Irfan Pathan has been a huge disappointment with a ball. He is not getting it to swing and he doesn’t have the pace to trouble the best of the batsmen. He has also been taken for runs at an average rate of 7.5 RPO and has eased out the pressure created by the opening bowlers on a few occassions in the recent past. India still lack a genuine spinner in the side. Harbhajan’s form has waned and he has been banned for disciplinary action. Now is the time for India to look beyond him. If they think Pragyan Ojha is the next big thing, then they must play him in the team and test him in the middle. Picking someone up to just warm the benches does not help matters. We have seen Powar and Chawla for a while now and we know their strengths and limitations. They are not convincing and definitely are not in the same league as that of Kumble and Harbhajan in their prime.

So here’s goes the report:

Gautam Gambhir : 8/10. Batting looks ok, must improve his throwing and outfielding.

Virender Sehwag:4/10. More is expected of him. Must take bowling seriously to fill in the 5th bowler void.

Rohit Sharma     : 7.5/10. A good start to International cricket. Must not fritter it away.

Yuvraj Singh      : 7.5/10. Must keep improving.

Suresh Raina     : 7.5/10. Must get some more runs to cement his place ahead of Uthappa.

Mahendra Dhoni : 8/10. Must not be rigid with his tactics. Should play himself up the order in times of adversity.

Irfan Pathan       : 3/10. Batting is all fine, but he must qualify to be in the side solely as a bowler.

Piyush Chawla    : 6/10. Must learn to bowl well in flat tracks as well.

Praveen Kumar   : 7.5/10. Keep up the good work.

RP Singh            : 5/10. Must bowl economically.

Ishant Sharma    : 7/10. Must bring more variations into his bowling. Mere pace will make him predictable.

The Verdict

People who call the present Indian LOI team a more-balanced and a world-beating unit are definitely those that breed mediocrity. They are happy with temporary successes. They don’t want to see the big picture. But as rationalists, we have to go one step forward and rate a team that has played similarly on several occassions in the past decade, but has lacked consistency.

Though India looks a champion team, they are still some distance away from Australia and South Africa, who are the best current ODI teams.