Rude end to India’s tempestuous campaign

India’s campaign in the ICC World T20 was ended rudely by England and they were dumped out of reckoning when they lost to the hosts at Lord’s in a Super Eights game. This was a result which had been feared by a lot, for some time now, yet, its eventual realisation has come as a shock for all those who thought that the team could at least make it to the semi-final; if not go all the way and defend their title.

Weary India, teary India: The most over-abused reason of them all, but the one that we all need to realise for a fact is a huge factor behind India’s loss is the overdose of cricket without the kind of rest that is needed in any sport. The New Zealand tour and the IPL fell a few days short of being held concurrently, and when the ICC World T20 was planned for a start less than a couple of weeks after the end of the IPL, Team India seemed to have enough on their plates.

The first time one felt that India could have an issue was on watching Dhoni look intermittently jaded while captaining the Chennai Super Kings during the IPL. It just rubbed on to the others…

(Bad) luck of draw: While the first reaction after having looked at the groupings was that of a pleasant surprise, the reality dawned upon most when it was known that India would get into the Super Eight stage without much of a match practice; Ireland and Bangladesh hardly providing a fight to the defending champions. Having the two teams in the group did Team India’s chances no good; neither did they earn a carry-over point, nor were they prepared enough for the tougher battles ahead!

Friends turn into foes: While Dhoni has often been christened as the blue-eyed boy amongst the Indian media, he did his reputation no good when he looked to have over-reacted to a potential mole-hill by parading the entire team in front of the team. If ever there was any doubt of issues within the team, then this apparent attempt at solidarity punched holes in all such theories of unity amongst the players. Dhoni, to me, looked like he had dug in his own grave here!

The Sehwag factor: While hypothesising about absenteeism may not earn the right results, it isnt easy to conclude after Rohit Sharma’s fizzling away at the top that Virender Sehwag was very much missed as the opener of the team; not only his runs but also the aura that sends most of the bowlers on their feet and scares some of the rest. The injury was unfortunate, and the situation surrounding it was even more so. In some ways, it did put that extra bit of pressure on Sharma, and he wasn’t good enough to deliver the goods!

Inadequacies against short ‘un: West Indies exposed the top-order first, and England took the right lessons and proved it all over again! Team India found the going very tough in the first few overs with the consistent short bowling at their rib-cage and face, and run-scoring became an object of futility in the first few overs of the both the Super Eights games.

Tactical blunder-I: This one has to take the cake; Dhoni batting himself at number three. While I would refrain from calling him selfish, it certainly was something that he – along with the team management – could do without. Here was a player in Suresh Raina who had had an excellent time of it batting at that position, and for some godforsaken reason, the number was taken off his shoulder and assumed by the captain. By the time the error had been realised, it almost looked like it was too late, Raina had lost his form and the bowlers had found his Achilles Heel; the short ball!

Tactical Blunder-II: The more obvious one of sending in Ravinder Jadeja at the number four slot; more in hope than practicality and that, in essence turned the game on its head. Jadeja was featuring against England in his first game of the tournament and under pressure he succumbed rather badly.

To be fair to Dhoni, had his Midas touch not deserted him in the nick of time, the move may have even come off and the captain may have been hailed – again – as one of the greatest ever. Unfortunately for him, it did not!

The fielding: Tearing a page right from Dhoni’s press conferences, Team India’s fielding wasn’t appalling enough to be castigated, but it could have been much better under pressure. The best – or the worst – example of the shoddiness was the final delivery of the English inning when Yuvraj Singh misfielded a Harbhajan-wide and allowed it to go to the boundary; the margin of defeat was exactly the number of extra runs conceded there! There were quite a few such moments throughout the tournament that changed the complexion for India.

Suneer Chowdhary
Suneer is a freelance cricket writer and can be reached at suneerchowdhary (at) gmail dot com