#IndvsAus: Dhoni and boys committed harakiri at Canberra
Implosion!
That's probably the way to describe India's loss to Australia in the fourth ODI in Canberra on Wednesday. From a position of considerable strength, with Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli flaying the Australian bowling all around the park. Dhoni's team was cruising at 277/1, and the next thing you know, it was all out for 323, losing by a good 25 runs. Nine wickets for a mere 46 runs. That's how big the collapse was.
The bowling did not threaten life and limb, there were no spectacular run-outs either. In fact, catches were dropped, which you don't really associate with the Aussies. But did the Australians have to exert themselves when the Indians made their job easy?
Can this Indian team win anything in Australia now? Things look really grim, and a 5-0 whitewash looks more and more certain.
While the match is another example of what captain Steve Smith called the Australians' "never-say-die" approach in the post-match presentation, you really have to question the application of the Indian batsmen.
The way Gurkeerat Mann and Rishi Dhawan gifted their wickets away, playing utterly reckless shots can't be pardoned. It just goes to show that these youngsters are probably still not mature enough for international cricket.
And frankly, when you have Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh available for selection, both of whom have been there and done that, and are known finishers of a game, why go with completely untested players like Mann and Rishi?
Granted they are talented, but you can't throw them in the middle against a side like Australia in a pressure situation and expect them to bail you out. Had they done it, it would have been brilliant, but nine times out of ten, they wouldn't have, and they didn't.
Perhaps they could have been tested against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, or even a West Indies before being given a chance against Australia.
When you play Australia, you need to field your number one side, and bring in your A-game. The current Indian ODI side is clearly not the best that the selectors could have chosen. If Raina and Yuvraj were to be played in the T20s, why not in the ODIs? Just defies logic.
After the first three matches of the current series, plaudits were being showered on the Indian batsmen from all over, and the bowlers were being castigated. It was being said that our bowlers can't defend any total that the batsmen give them.
But what we probably missed in all that was, the praise for the Indian batsmen was largely on account of the good job done by the top order. The top order fired today as well. Rohit Sharma now has two centuries in the series, so has Virat Kohli, and Shikhar Dhawan scored one today.
But what after them? When you had to close out a match, as you had to today, the middle order crumbled.
You can have an off day, as Dhoni did today, but numbers five, six, seven, and possibly eight in the batting line-up simply have to do better. One fails to understand if Ravindra Jadeja knows his job in the team well, or at all.
He is neither taking truckloads of wickets, nor is he winning you matches with the bat. Hasn't he got more than his fair share of chances to prove himself? If you tell me that he will only win you matches on the dustbowls in India (as he did against the hapless South Africans in the Test series last year), where the ball turns square, sorry, I don't want him in my team.
And Umesh Yadav. It looks like he will never learn from his mistakes as a bowler. He is extremely talented, mind you, and possesses genuine pace. It is really sad to see a player like him going down the path that he is. He is not known much as a batsman, so probably you can forgive his horrendous, and at times comical, batting display today.
All in all, let's say this: the Indians (except Rohit, Kohli, Shikhar, and Rahane) were simply not up to the mark, and let's accept our defeat. It is only so much that the efforts of a few individuals can achieve in a team game.
The anger of the Indian fan was palpable on Twitter. Here is a collection of tweets that proves it:
Just can't believe what happened??India will be disappointed&hurting?? #IndvsAus
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) January 20, 2016Don't like to be proved right but this Indian team has a knack of turning easy victories into defeats #IndvsAus https://t.co/UpJncHwmd0
— Minhaz Merchant (@minhazmerchant) January 20, 2016Dhoni will leave the team like every other typical senior star by becoming a liability that cannot be carried anymore. #Ind Vs #Aus
— Suresh Chouksey (@sureshchouksey8) January 20, 2016This Kind OF Batting Colapse Is Terrible To Watch Our Team #Ind Vs #Aus (4th ODI)@ESPNcricinfo @cricbuzz pic.twitter.com/kcgRzqu3Ru
— Revanth somashekar (@RevanthS10) January 20, 2016I think Umesh Yadav is doing all these things just to trend on twitter.
— Silly Point (@Sarcaism) January 20, 2016Umesh Yadav is the only bowler in the world that can only swing the bat not the ball. LMAO!
— Sidharth | Cristiano (@Sidian_Ash) January 20, 2016Akram: Incredible innings from Umesh Yadav ! He wanted to get out and he did that successfully ! Brilliant ! Me [despite India losing]: ROFL
— Mridul Awasthi (@lucknowsehoon) January 20, 2016After watching Umesh Yadav & other tail ender's batting, my respect for Agarkar, Nehra has increased million times.
— Sir Lazy (@iLazyLad) January 20, 2016