dailyO
Sports

#IndvsSL: Loss shows Team Dhoni still isn't prepared for World T20

Advertisement
Debdutta Bhattacharjee
Debdutta BhattacharjeeFeb 10, 2016 | 10:18

#IndvsSL: Loss shows Team Dhoni still isn't prepared for World T20

How things change so fast!

It seems only yesterday that we were cock-a-hoop at India's historic T20 series whitewash against the mighty Australians, that too in the kangaroos' own backyard, and indeed at what seemed Yuvraj Singh's triumphant return to international cricket. India's preparation for the World T20, which is to be held at home in March-April, couldn't have been better.

Advertisement

In a Twitter poll run by this website, 79 per cent of the 516 respondents felt that the clean sweep in Australia indicated that India was the firm favourite for the World T20.

It just took little more than a week for those high hopes to be brought crashing down and for all the ecstasy to fade. On Tuesday, Dhoni's men were handed a thorough beating by the World T20 champions Sri Lanka, and as we did to the Aussies, it is now our turn to face the ignominy of a home defeat.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra had tweeted after India series win Down Under that India was very close to knowing its best T20 XI.

There is a tendency in India to jump the gun. We are the masters of passing judgments, often without delving deep. We often make the mistake of listening to our hearts more than our minds.

What the five-wicket loss to the Lankans at Pune has done now is that it has brought us back to reality. And the reality is, the World T20 is not a fruit that we can just pluck, eat and walk away. The reality is, there are still many questions to be answered, and many gaps to be filled for India before the showpiece event gets underway.

Advertisement

The reality is that Yuvraj Singh can hit some lusty blows, and indeed play cameos, but he can no longer be the fulcrum of India's batting. The reality also is that this team is starting to get over-dependent on Virat Kohli and seem rudderless in his absence, as it did on Tuesday.

The reality, sadly, is also that Mahendra Singh Dhoni looks to be past his prime, both in terms of his batting and captaincy. He held his main strike bowler Ravichandran Ashwin back till the 12th over, when he had only 101 runs in the bank. Defies logic.

And Ashwin showed why he should have been brought on earlier when he dismissed a set Chamara Kapugedera in his very first over. Dhoni certainly missed a trick there.

When Yuvraj danced down the track and clobbered Sachitra Senanayake for a clean, straight six, an over-enthusiastic BCCI tweeted, "The Prince is back!!!"

The "prince" turned out to be a pauper in the end, perishing to a reckless shot, a crime most of the Indian batsmen were culpable of on Tuesday.

Advertisement

It looks like the Indians, who used to be called "Tigers at Home" would soon be losing that title. Not too long ago, they faced a rout at the hands of South Africa at home and the way they have started against the visiting Lankans, the fear of another rout looms large. So much for the so-called home advantage.

India's performance in T20s in recent times has not been all that flattering, except for the series win in Australia. Before the loss to South Africa, it was held to a 1-1 draw in a two-match series against lowly Zimbabwe, and lost in England. Consistency has never been what Indian teams over the years have been characterised by, and this team is no different. It may win spectacularly one day, and slump to the most embarrassing of defeats the next. It had won three consecutive matches, that too against Australia. A defeat had to come, and it did.

Rohit Sharma, who could do wrong in Australia scored a duck. To be fair to him, he got out to a superb catch by Dushmantha Chameera, so let's refrain for the time being from saying that Rohit had exhausted his six months' quota of runs in Australia itself!

Ravindra Jadeja failed with the bat again. God knows why he is being regarded as an all-rounder. His bowling wasn't extraordinary either. Had it not been for some late fightback by Ravichandran Ashwin with the bat India wouldn't have scored even a hundred. But in any case, 101 was never going to be enough, and it ddn't.

The way Dhoni and company surrendered doesn't augur well for their chances in the World T20. The Sri Lankan team that they lost to, is in a rebuilding mode post the retirement of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, and is made up largely of unheralded players. If they are too hot for India to handle, imagine what our plight would be when we face stronger opponents.

Surely, to have any chance in the World T20, the Indian batsmen have to show more application. Granted that the pitch offered a fair amount of assistance to the bowlers, but there could be no excuse for scoring so less. Things were so bad that Ashish Nehra, about whose batting abilities less said, the better, had to come out to bat in the 14th over, with India reduced to 72/8.

The bowlers tried hard, and Suresh Raina took a fine catch, but the batsmen lost India the match on Tuesday, as the bowlers did in the ODI series in Australia.

As the noted sports statistician Mohandas Menon pointed out on Twitter, the last two totals put up by the Indian batsmen in T20s at home were 92 (against South Africa), and 101 (on Tuesday).

If this is going to be the performance Dhoni's boys, who by the way, had climbed to the summit of the ICC T20 rankings after their win in Australia, are going to put up, god save them in the World T20. Virat Kohli is allowed to take rest, isn't he? He is understood to have suffered a break-up with actress Anushka Sharma. Give the man some break already.

Meanwhile, Team India was taken apart on Twitter for its shoddy performance on Tuesday. Here are some Twitter reactions:

Last updated: February 10, 2016 | 18:03
IN THIS STORY
Please log in
I agree with DailyO's privacy policy