How India can get their groove back

Eight games, six losses, several lessons. There are several reasons for India's poor recent record against West Indies and high on the list is their inability to rectify failings. Here we look at five areas where India have fallen short and, after watching India at the nets, an indication of how they could set things right

Starting troubles

India have had just two 50-plus opening stands in the eight games - the opening match at Kingston, which they won, and the first game at Kuala Lumpur when they amassed 309 and lost thanks mainly to rain. Three starts of 1 for 1, 1 for 1 and 0 for 1 have pegged them back. Ian Bradshaw has nailed the first wicket on three occasions, Dwayne Smith and Wavell Hinds, irritatingly good swing bowlers, have tasted success too.

India's openers could do worse than emulate Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the most successful fire-starters in one-dayers if you take opening pairs who've aggregated over 1500 runs. It's not as if they don't have options, what with five openers in the squad. Ganguly/Tendulkar is the most obvious option - they average close to 49 and remain one of the most destructive pairs in history. Robin Uthappa's sensational domestic form offers a new option; he's been successful as an opener and it makes sense to keep him there. Then there's Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik in the mix. Both, together with Uthappa, had lengthy net sessions today and the plan seemed to be 'whack as hard as possible'.

Middle-over dawdle

It's a disease that India picked up at Basseterre, during the third one-dayer. At the 35-over stage of their innings, they were cruising at 204 for 3. Virender Sehwag had joyously swung his bat, it was just a matter of starting the final assault. As it turned out, India could only muster 41 in the last 15 overs. No boundary, no intent, only panic that resulted in three run-outs. In the next game, they were 127 for 3 in the 32nd, Yuvraj in control, but scraped out only 90 in the final 18. Similar story in the Champions Trophy: 130 for 3 in the 31st, Yuvraj and Dravid at the wheel but ended up with a modest 223. Tendulkar's presence in the middle order may be a solution - he's a master of angles and can also pinch the odd boundary. Karthik's energy will come in handy as will Dravid's accumulating skills.

Final kicks

Once India have fallen asleep in the middle overs, there's been no comeback. The final charge has been absent, the big hitters being neutralised. It's to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Joginder Sharma and Ramesh Powar that the team will look to for beefy hitting. Dhoni and Joginder had entertaining stints today - both packed with muscle and both capable of bunting across the line. They will have to watch out for Dwayne Bravo's slower ball - a delivery that spelt misery on more than one occasion. Both batsmen try to crunch the ball straight will need to improvise a lot more. Lap shots and glides may be options to break up the pattern.

Handling the spin threat

India's batsmen haven't been done in by guile and rip; just been taunted by Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels firing arrows on their pads. Samuels, in his last six games against India, has averaged a miserable 11.8 with the bat but held his place because of his nagging spells with the ball. India have tried to hit them out of the attack but failed; they've tried to play them out with singles but failed. What they haven't tried that much is to turn unorthodox - change their stance, glide, sweep, shuffle across and back away. It's going to be one hell of an ask pummeling these bowlers down the ground but using the pace deftly seems the better option. Gayle simply can't be allowed luxuries of 1 for 33, none for 35, 2 for 13 and none for 34.

Tight opening bowling

West Indies' openers will miss the sight of Irfan Pathan at the start of the innings. In the six games against them, mostly with middling scores, even his best effort cost five runs an over. Figures of 1 for 34 in five overs, in the Champions Trophy, and 0 for 22 in two overs, in Kuala Lumpur, allowed West Indies to break away. Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth will need to find a method to stop Chris Gayle - bowling short cannot be the answer to a player who pulls so well. They can try the ploy that Rana Naved-ul-Hasan used so effectively in the recent series in Pakistan - short of a length and jagging back from off to middle. Naved-ul-Hasan dismissed him four out of four times and cramping Gayle and Chanderpaul for room might be India's best chance.

Short cuts

Instructions for the day As India's nets session was underway, it was impossible to miss the whiteboard placed in the centre of the field. The writing on the board went thus: Pre breakfast - warm-up outside the square, Problem to be solved, batters/bowlers - specifics. Breakfast After breakfast - Nets, The Colin Blands, Bobby Simpsons, Meetings, bowlers, batters. On closer investigation, Colin Blands (named after one of the greatest South African fielders) were found to be run-out drills - players running in a semi-circle, picking up balls along the way and trying to hit down the stumps - while Bobby Simpsons was a catching routine - players taking a barrage of skied catches.

Time to say goodbye Kishore Pradhan, the curator at the VCA Stadium, has decided that Sunday's game will be his last in charge of the pitch. Pradhan, who was turned into a villain in 2004 after India lost the series against Australia on a green-top, didn't have too many regrets. "Even today I maintain that that was the best pitch I prepared," he told Cricinfo. "It had bounce, movement and something for all bowlers. Also, I am an elected member of the VCA and have to follow the instructions of my president [Shashank Manohar]."

Pradhan says he holds absolutely no grudge against Sourav Ganguly, who made no bones about his displeasure at seeing a green-tinged pitch. "He hasn't come up to me yet but I have no problems in speaking to him. He's a fine player and I've always enjoyed watching him bat. It was unfortunate that we had to get into that position in 2004." As a parting gift, Pradhan has prepared a belter of a strip. "Anything less than 300 may be tough to defend." Now it's up to Ganguly to lap up the advantage.

The numbers game Narendra Bunde is a jeweller by profession but makes his name as a cricket numerologist. Sitting near the pavilion, Bunde talks about the importance of the numbers that players display on their shirts. The No.99, according to him, is the cricketing equivalent of No.10 in football. "The best player should wear 99," he asserts, "and Dinesh Karthik is doing well now because he's wearing that number". He's dead sure that 2007 is going to bring a "change of fortunes for India" and isn't impressed when a few players sport T-shirts without any numbers behind them. "No number, no hope".