Published: Jan 22, 2016, 10:55 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 22, 2016, 11:23 AM (IST)
Unfathomable, but true: The Indian cricket team that won as many as seven matches on the trot in Australia and New Zealand in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has failed to win even once in the last 11 times they have faced Australia across formats. In the interim India defeated Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, UAE, Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Bangladesh. Against Australia, however, India have struggled miserably. In the ongoing five-match ODI series, in which India currently trail 0-4, the touring party has come agonisingly close to wins, but have succumbed close to the finish line. Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs Australia 2015-16, 5th ODI at Sydney
Without a shadow of doubt, the bowlers have let the team down every single time. They have not only failed to take wickets but have struggled even to contain the opposition — something that requires disciplined bowling on toughe tracks. Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar might be the best that India could muster, but it is a fact that together they have proven ordinary in this series. ALSO READ – India vs Australia 2015-16, 5th ODI at Sydney: Preview
Shikhar Dhawan’s century at Canberra made up for the mistakes the left-handed had made earlier in the series, and with the top-order peaking at just the right time, and Indians are baffled as they search for answers for their string of defeats to Australia in this series.
It is true that their hapless show has drawn a massive chunk of criticism towards the bowlers, but MS Dhoni has been on the receiving end too. Dhoni has struggled with the bat despite trying his best; the venerable batsman has garnered only 52 runs in four outings at an average of 13. The other lower-order batsman, Ravindra Jadeja, has made only 45 runs in four innings.
This is exactly where the problem for India lies.
Dhoni and Jadeja’s recent poor showing with the bat has hampered India for some time now. Dhoni has been trying hard in the past few months; he changed his batting style, his approach, and even his role in the team. But seldom have his experiments yielded favourable results. Against South Africa, Dhoni was able to avoid criticism with his splendid match-winning 92 not out at Indore, but his failures in the ongoing Australia series have exposed India’s shortcoming badly.
Dhoni has tried to give himself enough time in the middle by batting at No. 4 and 5 twice in the last four matches. On all four occasions, Dhoni had the opportunity to make runs but failed. Apart from his rapid 9-ball 23 at Canberra, Dhoni has not been able to execute all that he has planned off the field.
Another worrying factor is Jadeja’s inability to score those crucial runs in the end. It was in September 2014 that Jadeja last hit a half-century, and since then he has been in search of runs. The argument that can go in favour of Jadeja would be that he usually does not get enough overs in the middle, which is justified too. However, at Canberra, India needed more than 70 at a run-a-ball equation when he walked out to bat, but the left-hander played a bizarre innings of 24 not out off 27 balls and launched no counterattack despite witnessing a fall of wickets from the other end.
Australia, on the other hand, have been more meticulous. While their top-order has made merry just like India, their lower-order has finished the job whenever the opportunity came up. Glenn Maxwell’s 96 at Melbourne was the perfect example of Australia fighting till the end. While the Australians in the lower-order have done what they are supposed to do, their Indian counterparts have failed to deliver their promises.
Time and again, India’s lower-order — which also includes rookies in Gurkeerat Singh, Manish Pandey, and Rishi Dhawan — has spoiled the games that top-order have set. These three are young cricketers and will need time to find their feet. On the other hand, the Australian batsmen haves stood up for their side whenever it was needed.
While it is true that bowlers deserve stinging criticism for their flop shows, the real reasons cannot be ignored if Indian cricket needs to take out something from their failures in Australia. Dhoni and his men have serious pondering to do as there will presumably be no room for error allowed by Indian fans during the ICC World T20 2016.
(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)
