Can we now bounce back? I don’t think so

This may sound harsh but I don’t think India have a chance to bounce back at all. They might have lost to the best team in the competit...

This may sound harsh but I don’t think India have a chance to bounce back at all. They might have lost to the best team in the competition. Australia, undoubtedly is a superb, well-balanced team brimming with all the confidence in the world. But that doesn’t mean we should have given up hopes right from the time the toss was won. Our body language itself gave it away.

All the advantages India had before the match started were squandered in a meaningless manner. First, the toss was won. Second, the wicket genuinely looked like a good batting track shorn of any grass. It was dry and, more so, little cracks were noticed to help India’s spinning duo too. The team also appeared to have been selected keeping in mind the opposition’s strength and the wicket.

So it appeared that the die was cast for India to restore the confidence that had been missing for some time. Every Indian present in the crowd at Centurion Park had come prepared with the Indian flag, expecting a change of fortune for the team.

But it was not to be.

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Why such a steep decline in performance? Where has the fighting spirit disappeared? Except in the match against Holland (and the exception proves the rule), the Indian team had not been able to muster more than 125 or 130 runs in the last eight matches. With their so-called best batting line-up, they are finding it difficult to complete even the 50-over quota.

In New Zealand, one was given the impression that the Indian bowling had started looking menacing and that the bowlers could have changed the destiny if only they had some support from their batsmen. However, here in South Africa, it looks an ordinary lot.

Their fielding has gone from bad to worse. The running between wickets is atrocious. They have completely forgotten the need to rotate the strike and keep the scoreboard ticking. I don’t have to talk about their spineless batting, everyone’s been watching it with consternation and astonishment. Does that mean that the Indians have forgotten the simple basics one learns in school? Does it suggest that they have to start from scratch once again? Or does this Indian team need a complete overhaul?

It’s a hard, perhaps impossible, task ahead for them to stay in the tournament for the Super Six. Certainly, in the next match against Zimbabwe at Harare, they will be greeted with the wicket full of grass, bouncy, seaming and swinging. If India lose then, they might as well forget about getting into the Super Six.

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I am reminded of what Martin Crowe said in New Zealand. The Indian think-tank needs to think seriously about what number the captain should go in or whether he should rest for awhile with his everlasting bad patch. Perhaps now, with every genuine fan of the Indian cricket losing all hope, they may strike back.

Wishful thinking? Well, the Indian team has that reputation for sure.

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