da heads bet： Just 15 moths ago the sky, it appeared, was the limit. But as soon as the team left the subcontinent, the hot air started to leak out of the balloon
Dileep Premachandran22-Jun-2007
As uncertainty surrounds many of the hitherto ubiquitous faces, the likes of Piyush Chawla get a chance to make themselves indispensable © Getty Images
Just 15 months ago, Indian one-day cricket was riding a wave the size ofbig Pipe in Hawaii, having brushed aside the challenge of Pakistan (4-1away from home) and a feeble England (5-1). The batsmen were piling on theruns, the bowling was both penetrative and tidy, while the fielding hadbeen injected with a shot or two of youthful vigour. Almost everyone wastalking of them as challengers to Australia’s continued World Cupdomination.The sky, it appeared, was the limit. But as soon as the team left thesubcontinent, the hot air started to leak out of the balloon. With thestand-and-deliver methods that worked so well in familiar climes no longeran option, the batting frailties began to show. Intelligent medium-pacebowling from the likes of Dwayne Bravo routed them in the Caribbean, andthere were no answers to the conundrum on the Malaysian adventure either.On seam-friendly pitches, the Indian bowlers didn’t do too badly, but thebatsmen were cruelly exposed by Mitchell Johnson and his ilk.The Champions Trophy on home soil should have provided some much-neededsuccour, but unseasonal weather conditions resulted in some pitches thatwouldn’t have been out of place in the early part of the English summer.Confronted by extravagant seam movement, some swing and occasionalsteepling bounce, the Indian challenge petered out in a winner-take-allencounter against Australia. No Asian team reached the last four, onceagain highlighting why most of them struggle when the pendulum swingstowards the quick bowlers.But it wasn’t conditions alone that ruined India’s campaign. There was acollective meltdown, with the matchwinners of the previous season haplessbunnies in front of high-powered floodlights. Yuvraj Singh, so pivotal ina sequence of 17 successful run-chases, could barely eke out a run, and hethen wrenched his knee to leave World Cup hopes in jeopardy.Irfan Pathan, who had taken 49 wickets in 25 games in 2005-06, lost pace,his natural swing and any semblance of rhythm. What remained of hisconfidence departed soon after. The likes of Sreesanth and RP Singhcouldn’t string together two consistent games, while Munaf Patel turnedout to be almost as brittle as a twig.The underperformance bug also struck down Rahul Dravid, the captain,Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina, hailed as India’s batting futurejust months earlier. It didn’t help them that the starts were disastrous,with Virender Sehwag looking about as secure as a man with an umbrella ina typhoon. The underperformance bug also struck down Rahul Dravid, the captain,Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina, hailed as India’s batting futurejust months earlier. It didn’t help them that the starts were disastrous,with Virender Sehwag looking about as secure as a man with an umbrella ina typhoon Confidence was predictably low going to South Africa, and it plummetedfurther with a resounding series defeat. The bowlers, especially arevitalised Zaheer Khan, provided glimpses of hope in every game, but acombination of wayward slog-overs bowling and wretched batsmanshipgift-wrapped the hosts a 4-0 win.The home series that followed were the equivalent of a fresh lick of paintfor a house that was caving in on itself. On featherbeds where the bowlerswere almost redundant, India regularly stockpiled mammoth totals to seeoff West Indies and a Sri Lanka side that was missing Muttiah Muralitharanand Chaminda Vaas. The old firm of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Gangulyplundered runs in Sehwag’s absence, and there were other strong showingstoo in conditions as benign as a batsman could wish for.The truth was soon revealed, as a ramshackle outfit low on spirit, energy,skill and inventiveness were taken apart by both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the World Cup.After two years of preparation, Vision 2007 had ended with a rude poke inthe eye and a first-round exit. Defeat is not often well-digested in thesubcontinent, but this was defeat with dishonour and it went down reallybadly.There were changes for the one-day games in Bangladesh, and Piyush Chawlahinted once again at a special talent to be nurtured. The likes of Dhonigot back into the groove, while others like Harbhajan, his bowling as flatas beer left in the sun, moved closer to the exit. With Sehwag also inpurgatory, and Pathan and Munaf both unfit, the new faces have a chance tomake themselves indispensable.This though isn’t the subcontinent. There will be few free runs on offeragainst South Africa, or even England. The real test, and the first stepon the long road to redemption, starts here, far away from the brown, brownpancakes of home.