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Batting averages reflects inability to cope with conditions

S. Dinakar

Virender Sehwag's century the sole highlight; team clearly missing Sachin Tendulkar at the top

— Photo: AFP

IRONING OUT THE FLAWS:While skipper M.S. Dhoni seems to be taking it easy here with no pads on at a practice session, he should be worried with India's batting coming a cropper.

Dambulla: The Indian batting has been shockingly inept in the Micromax ODI tri-series so far. The men who sizzle on flat tracks have, so far, fizzled out on the seaming pitches of the Rangiri Stadium.

Virender Sehwag's game-clinching unbeaten 99 against Sri Lanka in the first duel between the sides has been the lone highlight.

Interestingly, Yuvraj Singh's 38 — the left-hander did bat with poise — against the host on Sunday is the next highest contribution from an Indian batsman.

India has missed maestro Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the order. The Indian averages in the competition reflect an inability to cope with the conditions.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni averages 17.50, Suresh Raina 11.66, Dinesh Karthik 11.00, Ravindra Jadeja 10.00 and Rohit Sharma 5.00.

The capitulations

The Indian capitulations have been sensational. The side was skittled out for 88 in just 29.3 overs by a disciplined but by no means a threatening Kiwi attack in the first game.

India was in trouble on the chase against Sri Lanka — the side was 32 for three — in its second game before Sehwag's brilliance rescued the team.

And India folded up for 103 in only 33.4 overs against a crafty Sri Lankan pace attack on Sunday. The pitch offered deviation off the seam but was without any extra bounce. The side went on to lose the duel with a whopping 209 deliveries remaining.

At least, Karthik has been unlucky to be at the receiving end of two rough decisions. Many of the other batsmen do not even have an excuse.

Rohit Sharma seems unwilling to learn from mistakes. He has repeatedly played across the line and around his front pad when he should have shown a straighter bat.

Brought up on different kinds of pitches, where whipping the ball from the off-stump is commonplace, Rohit is struggling to make the adjustments here.

Tentative

His feet movement is tentative and he is often caught at the crease. Indeed, too many ODI games on run-filled surfaces and a welter of Twenty20 matches have adversely impacted the young batsman's technique.

The left-handed Raina has greater desire and resilience but needs to tighten up his game, work on his back-lift; he tends to play away from his body at deliveries leaving him.

Where do these abysmal performances leave India? The young batsmen come up short against well-directed short-pitched bowling — India has been exposed in successive ICC World Twenty20 editions . They also get caught out on seaming tracks due to ordinary feet movement and the inability to pick the direction of movement.

But then, these are days when the urge to follow the right methods seem to have gone right out of the window. Hitting the ball far and long on surfaces that reduce the bowlers to mere fodder is far more lucrative to the aspirants. This is the age of the Kieron Pollards and the megabucks.

The future of Indian batting appears bleak after the giants of the Test team drift into the sunset. The indications are that India will have gaping holes in its line-up.

Immediate need

The immediate need of the hour is to prepare wickets with some juice in domestic cricket. It would not be a bad idea to hold regular competitions in surfaces such as the one in Mysore where there is movement and good carry for the pacemen; the formative years are crucial for emerging batsmen. And the internationals stars should play a fair amount of domestic cricket.

These are not the easiest of times for skipper Dhoni. He does appear to be under some stress. Dhoni expressed open displeasure over the practice facilities here and then played soccer to keep the media waiting for 90 minutes after India had suffered its worst ODI defeat in terms of balls remaining for the opposition.

To be fair to the captain, there is little he can do about the batting failures. Batsmen cannot develop right technique overnight. There is a process involved.

And when cricketers jump from one format to another without working on strong basics, they are bound to be found out when the odds, even slightly, favour the bowlers.

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