Picking through the wreckage
Dileep Premachandran picks through the wreckage of India's 4-0 trouncing by South Africa in the one-day series and finds it very hard to pick out many positives
Dileep Premachandran
05-Dec-2006
After the one-day highs of last season, India have plunged back to granite-hard Earth in recent times. The defeats in Malaysia and at home during the Champions Trophy were desperately disappointing, but nothing had prepared the team for the absolute shellacking they got from a South African side that rarely needed to shift into top gear. The bowlers acquitted themselves well in patches, but the batting was abysmal, and the 4-0 scoreline was an apt indicator of the gulf between the two sides. Here, Cricinfo looks at what went wrong in a series where little went right.
 |
|
Bowling
Zaheer Khan bowled some superb opening spells, giving Graeme Smith more than the odd headache, but the other pace bowlers lacked consistency. Irfan Pathan wasn't close to the standards he set last year, and Ajit Agarkar couldn't continue the good form of the last few months. Sreesanth was impressive in spells, but also profligate, and it was left to the returning Anil Kumble to exact a measure of control in the middle overs. The good starts were wasted though, with death-overs bowling that can best be described as woeful. Faced with the mighty hitting of men like Justin Kemp, India just had no answers, and the yorkers and accurate slower balls were as hard to find as a black face in the Centurion crowd.
Zaheer Khan bowled some superb opening spells, giving Graeme Smith more than the odd headache, but the other pace bowlers lacked consistency. Irfan Pathan wasn't close to the standards he set last year, and Ajit Agarkar couldn't continue the good form of the last few months. Sreesanth was impressive in spells, but also profligate, and it was left to the returning Anil Kumble to exact a measure of control in the middle overs. The good starts were wasted though, with death-overs bowling that can best be described as woeful. Faced with the mighty hitting of men like Justin Kemp, India just had no answers, and the yorkers and accurate slower balls were as hard to find as a black face in the Centurion crowd.
Batting
If they were being graded, most of India's top batsmen would be closer to Z than A for this series. Once Rahul Dravid exited with a broken finger after a plucky 63 in Cape Town, they unravelled like a cheap pullover. Sachin Tendulkar came up with a sedate 55 at Centurion and Mahendra Singh Dhoni lived dangerously to contribute 139 runs, but no one else even passed three figures for the series. Batsman after batsman was undone by bounce and movement, while stand-and-waft techniques were ruthlessly exposed by Shaun Pollock and company. The lack of confidence after the recent slump was all too evident, and as Greg Chappell said after Centurion, it's hard to go out and bat with any confidence when you have none to begin with.
If they were being graded, most of India's top batsmen would be closer to Z than A for this series. Once Rahul Dravid exited with a broken finger after a plucky 63 in Cape Town, they unravelled like a cheap pullover. Sachin Tendulkar came up with a sedate 55 at Centurion and Mahendra Singh Dhoni lived dangerously to contribute 139 runs, but no one else even passed three figures for the series. Batsman after batsman was undone by bounce and movement, while stand-and-waft techniques were ruthlessly exposed by Shaun Pollock and company. The lack of confidence after the recent slump was all too evident, and as Greg Chappell said after Centurion, it's hard to go out and bat with any confidence when you have none to begin with.
Fielding
The return of experience in the shape of Zaheer and Kumble sharpened the bowling, but did little for the fielding. Yuvraj Singh's absence was a major blow, and Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif apart, there were no exceptional fielders on view. Even Kaif blotted his copybook by dropping AB de Villiers early in the piece at Centurion. South Africa pouched some stunning catches, India rarely grabbed the half-chances, and the three lives that Kemp received before his century in Cape Town summed up India's butter-fingered display.
The return of experience in the shape of Zaheer and Kumble sharpened the bowling, but did little for the fielding. Yuvraj Singh's absence was a major blow, and Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif apart, there were no exceptional fielders on view. Even Kaif blotted his copybook by dropping AB de Villiers early in the piece at Centurion. South Africa pouched some stunning catches, India rarely grabbed the half-chances, and the three lives that Kemp received before his century in Cape Town summed up India's butter-fingered display.
|
|
|
Ultimately, no one else can bat, bowl or field for you, but the loss of Dravid was a big blow, given Virender Sehwag's appalling run of form in the one-day game. Question marks over his commitment and attitude led to him being removed as vice-captain of the Test side, and combined with his lack of runs, there was no question of leadership from the front in the final two games. Dravid himself could do little at Durban or Cape Town, and it was clear that morale wasn't what it should be. Then again, which losing team is a happy team? The challenge now is to pick the players up before the first Test, and big runs from some of the major batsmen in the tour game at Potchefstroom will help immeasurably in that regard. For the moment, the bowlers have every right to feel cheated.
The imponderables
Since the tour began, there have been constant whispers of a couple of players not exactly contributing to the building of team morale. By this time, board officials should have had a word with the offenders, but it's not a healthy sign. Not everyone is a model professional like a Dravid, a Tendulkar or a Kumble, and some of the younger players have been treated shabbily by those who should be mentoring them. Halfway through such a crucial season, it remains to be seen if the disgruntled elements fall into line, or whether they pay the price.
Since the tour began, there have been constant whispers of a couple of players not exactly contributing to the building of team morale. By this time, board officials should have had a word with the offenders, but it's not a healthy sign. Not everyone is a model professional like a Dravid, a Tendulkar or a Kumble, and some of the younger players have been treated shabbily by those who should be mentoring them. Halfway through such a crucial season, it remains to be seen if the disgruntled elements fall into line, or whether they pay the price.
For the all the series averages click here
Dileep Premachandran is features editor of Cricinfo