Dhoni must teach Indian top order how to face fast bowling

Indian top order batsmen might have very good record but they were not in form and let India down in the semifinal against Australia. If you can’t play the fast bowlers comfortable why you should be in the team? They might have scored fluently in the past but their form in the world cup was visibly bad. They let India down in the match against West Indies and Bangladesh. It was narrow escape from sure defeats. Captain Dhoni saved the team from embarrassing pre quarter final defeat with his brave knocks which had quality and character. In the semifinal against Australia Dhoni made another valiant effort to make a turn around. But the target was too huge to chase. To hell with India’s top order who could have contributed at least 200 runs to make the chase possible. For the first time the India pace trio failed to restrict the Aussies’ onslaught. It was quiet expected as the Australian batsmen were used to quality fast bowling. The team India did not have quality spinner except Aswini. It was a handicap. With their handicap they did well except in the semi final.

But Indian top order showed they cannot bat in pressure situation. They cannot tame dangerous pace attack with a brave heart and cool mind. Dhoni not only tamed the pacers but cracked them too. It happened because Dhoni hardly fears fast bowling. But the Indian top order batsmen played pace bowling with chicken heart and butter fingers.

The point is who selected the top order when they were not capable of playing quality pace bowling? Players should not be selected on the basis of their past record but on the basis of their present form and their ability to play in Australia condition. The selectors have ignored this for the reason best known to them. What happened to the bench strength? The players in the bench remained in the bench and returned. This was the biggest blunder for not having strong players in the bench. Had there been Yuvraj Singh things would have been different. Yuvraj knows no fear when he faces fast bowler from any country. India needs brave hearts who can face the fast bowler without fear. If you drift your feet and body from line you cannot tame the fast bowlers. Dhoni said he was disappointed with the team’s performance.

Cricket is more a game of mind than body. The controversy over captainship change during Australia tour was actually the beginning of the trouble. Virat Kohli may be a good batsman but he is not at all a good leader and declaring him captain in the middle of the Australia tour was a blunder. People behind this move have actually done great harm to Team India’s moral. When India has world’s best captain the captainship change should have passed through smooth transition. It had affected Kohli’s performance. News and rumor about Anushka Sharma during world cup should not have been there. World Cup was a serious affair and the Team Management should have taken all measures to let India’s batting power Virat Kohli focus on his game only. India has missed the world cup due to some missing links.

By Sudhansu R Das