Backyard blues

Especially poor is their home record: Of the 42 ODIs played at home since Wright took charge in November 2000, India have won 19 and lost 22, with one no result. The last time they won a series was against Zimbabwe in 2001/02. Indeed, Zimbabwe is the only team India have won a series against at home, the other being Wright8217;s first in charge.

They have since lost to Australia, the West Indies and now Pakistan, lost a triangular series involving Australia and New Zealand and drawn against England.

Their away record is far better: Played 88, W 49, L 34, NR 5. They8217;ve recorded some memorable overseas wins, in the West Indies, England and Pakistan, and good runs in the 2003 World Cup and 2002 ICC Champions Trophy. So the latest ICC rankings, released earlier this week, don8217;t lie. India lost one point following their 2-4 series defeat against Pakistan to get a rating of 97, the lowest for the side since the official table was introduced in October 2002. Pakistan 8212; fourth in the table, below Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand 8212;reached their highest rating since December 2003, improving by one point to 110.

So what really is going wrong with India8217;s one-day cricket at home? The nature of pitches has been one of the main causes. With batsmen having a field day, an outstanding bowling performance is as rare as an Indian pitch with juice in it. Hence in Indian conditions 300 plus scores and successful chases have been the order of the day. On pitches with just a little extra bounce like at Jamshedpur in the recent series, the Indian batting falters.

In effect it8217;s a circle, because pitches here don8217;t suit India8217;s bowlers, they become cannon fodder for rivals and if the batting fails the matter is compounded. Former India Test opener Arun Lal reckons that if ever India has to win a World Cup again, it will only happen abroad because the pitches will suit 8216;our bowlers8217;.

8220;This has been a longstanding thing with Indian cricket. We have always had a limited bowling attack. So the moment they go abroad it goes up a notch because the conditions become more helpful,8221; Lal adds.

Lal also reckons that the bowlers have been undergoing faulty training techniques resulting in them losing pace and in some cases even their swing. 8220;We have always had bowlers who can swing, but off late because of our training methods the swing has disappeared and so has the pace. Result is that they depend solely on movement off the pitch, which they don8217;t get in India,8221; says Lal.

Lack of pace is also another reason why Indian bowlers struggle on home pitches, as was evident during the recent series against Pakistan. 8220;At speeds of around 120 kmph you are just too easy for the batsmen, Afridi showed it just how,8221; says Lal.

In his column for a newspaper, Sourav Ganguly blamed the nature of the wickets for the series defeat against Pakistan but also admitted that the team management had a say in the preparations. Both, he said, must change.