Indian batsmen under pressure to deliver

The last time India beat Australia in a one-day game was back in January 2004. The last time India beat Australia in a do-or-die clash was way back in October 2000, when a brash Yuvraj Singh announced himself to the world. The last time India successfully chased a target against Australia was way, way back in April 1998, when Sachin Tendulkar was giving Shane Warne and Co. "nightmares". The last time... One can go on and on but you'd have figured by now that for India to stay alive in the Champions Trophy, they need to come up with something special. Not a miracle, but probably something approaching it.

It's a surprise that it has come down to this. Not so long ago, India were probably the only team that could look Australia in the eye, the only side whom Australia really feared. "We had our key players performing," reflected Rahul Dravid when asked about what had made them compete on a level footing. "We had people scoring hundreds, putting up big scores. You can discuss a lot about strategy, tactics, conditions, toss, but at the end of the day cricket matches are won by performances. And that's what we need to do. Not very long ago we had a lot of people averaging more than what they've done over the last ten games. Some of our key batsmen, who have very impressive records haven't performed."

He hit the nail on the head. For a batting order that has often carried the tag of "most feared line-up in the world", sample the stats over the last ten games. Virender Sehwag averages 28.55, Rahul Dravid 14.88, Yuvraj Singh 32.62, Mohammad Kaif 35.28, Suresh Raina 17, and Irfan Pathan, who's often batted in the top order, 14.25.

Since the first one-dayer of the West Indies tour in May, India's batsmen have managed only one hundred between them (from someone who's not even on that list, Sachin Tendulkar). Kaif, who averages the highest in the above list, can't find a place in the final XI. Dinesh Mongia, whose last innings was a fighting fifty, also finds himself carrying drinks.

India's slump has been largely because of the batsmen, a factor that Dravid readily acknowledged. Though he made a fighting 49 in the previous game, Dravid's own form has suffered. "My role in the team is as a batsman," he continued, "and scoring runs is definitely important. I haven't had success in the last 10 games. Whether I was captain or not, it would always hurt me if I didn't score runs. If I was going through a lean patch and we won games, it wouldn't hurt that badly. But looking back and saying, 'I could have done this, I could have done that' is not something I want to do."

Pathan at No.3 worked initially but ever since it's changed from an experiment to the norm, things have gone awry. "We have consciously gone in with a decision to play five bowlers," said Dravid when asked to explain the line of thinking. "It's something that's worked really well for us. It worked during the world record number of chases (17 in a row) and Irfan is a critical part of that."

So what's Dravid's bottomline? What does this bumbling batting line-up need to do to take on Australia in a crucial shoot-out? "If you want to succeed, you can't see them as burdens. They're opportunities to succeed. You got to want to be part of such games. If you do well and stamp your authority, it gives you a name, people take notice. We'll need good performances. In both the games in Kuala Lumpur, we bowled very well, restricted them to 244 and 213. The game we didn't chase was very disappointing personally. Tomorrow we need to complete the job and finish it off."