The Hindu : Sport : Batting in the middle overs, a problem

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 13, 2007
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Batting in the middle overs, a problem

Vijay Parthasarathy

Margao: Indian sides of the 1990s were especially notorious for their inability to chase down moderate targets on decent wickets.

The Yuvraj Singh-Mohammad Kaif-led resurgence in the 2002 Natwest Trophy final did much to foster a sense of belief. India's performances while batting second have since improved significantly, to the point it now holds the record for the highest number of consecutive wins recorded while chasing — 17. A majority of the current squad was involved in the careful construction of India's reputation as good chasers, which is why the manner in which Rahul Dravid's men capitulated in Rajkot was particularly disheartening from the Indian perspective.

That the team hasn't chased too often in the recent part contributed to the rustiness. But as a stand-alone excuse it doesn't bear scrutiny. As Dravid pointed out, the inability of either of the set batsmen — Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly — to shepherd the side, as Sangakkara had done in the Sri Lankan innings, was a crucial factor in this loss.

The fledgling partnership between Mahendra Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik was impeded at every step by energetic fielding and tight second and third spells.

A serious problem

The obvious problem India has now is that several members of its World Cup squad — who also comprise the fifteen who are playing the current series — are either battling injuries or poor form. If Yuvraj and Irfan Pathan have recovered from their injuries, they will still take a few matches to settle.

Fortunately for them, India plays Bangladesh and Bermuda before meeting Sri Lanka once again. To expect them to perform right away would be unfair, though. At the moment Rahul Dravid isn't picking his best eleven — he has been compelled to select whoever is fit.

The middle order, meanwhile, has run into problems. The captain's form appears to be sliding. Tendulkar's fifty in the last match was attractive, but there will be pressure on him to capitalise on his recent form. As for Sehwag, he is in the squad on borrowed time; unless he manages a few runs in Margao and Vizag, he could be relegated to the periphery of the eleven.

A troubling consequence is that the side is losing momentum in the middle overs. It happened while batting first against the West Indies in Chennai last month, after Robin Uthappa failed to convert his imperious start into a century.

Something similar happened on Sunday, and if a pattern emerges India could find itself in trouble, not just in the middle portion of its innings but also in the middle stages of the World Cup.

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