New Zealand vs India 2014: Things to remember for rest of the series

New Zealand vs India

A closely fought game (courtesy prodigious Virat Kohli’s 18th ODI ton) in the 1st match of the bilateral tournament between India and New Zealand had given rise to the faint hopes of India turning on the heat in the series thereafter.

Such hopes, however, died swiftly with India’s 15-run loss in the very next match – a result that has now displaced the ‘world champions’ from the coveted numero uno status in ODIs and coldly prognosticated a not-so-happy future for the fledgling Indian side.

The illustrious journey of the Men in Blue through various shades of thick and thin in 2013 now seems to have come to an ignominious end – as familiar travails in both batting and bowling in foreign conditions have resurfaced in a team that was on a winning spree back home, two months ago!

A victory drought in South Africa and back to back ODI setbacks in New Zealand is bound to inject unwanted panic in the Indian camp now, as they head further into the wilderness of the island on the Pacific Ocean.

A closer look at the visitors’ performance in this series so far, however, reveals that all is not yet lost and it shall require some strong changes in the team’s on-field composition and mindset to announce a fighting comeback in this ODI series as well as reinsert themselves in the list of contenders for the no 1 spot in ODIs.

Firstly, one of the most prominent elements in India’s loss in the two closely contested ODIs is the inability of the lower middle order to steer the innings home. The mercurial Mahender Singh Dhoni, however, cannot be included here – for he has been forced to play the dual role of holding a faltering chase as well as display brute aggression in the aftermath of the nervy openers’ departure for cheap scores at the beginning of the innings.

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are thus the focus of our discussion here – both of them have more or less been wicket-less and largely ineffective with the ball, and subsequently failed to make amends with the bat. This begs the questions as to why both are being given slots in a playing XI, which is desperately in search of an effective finisher, besides MSD.

Perhaps, this is the time for the selectors and the team management to bring the little known Staurt Binny to the forefront, in place of either Jadeja or Ashwin.

Secondly, the curious rejection of Gautam Gambhir for this tour ought to start reverberating in our minds by now. The fragility in the Indian opening pair was highly accentuated by the end of the South African campaign, in which they failed to manage even a single 50+ stand at the top of the order.

Gautam Gambhir

Besides, Gambhir’s shining track record in New Zealand ought to have acted as an additional boost for his chances of selection prior to this tour. The selectors, however, chose to coldly neglect anything that remotely suggested the legitimacy of selecting Gambhir as a probable opener for this series – and the outcome of that bizarre move has been manifested by a volley of dot deliveries played by the inexperienced openers which has inevitably led to their dismissals very early in the innings.

Hereafter, one can only hope that such an appalling selection blunder is not repeated in the near future.

Thirdly, Ishant Sharma’s case now seems to have gone beyond the scope of logical reasoning – in spite of being the butt of countless jokes emanating from his hideous career stats, the lanky pacer continues to enjoy a place in the Indian team in any part of the world.

Ishant Sharma

His pace as well as wicket taking capability have declined precipitously in the last few years – yet, the captain continues to brandish him as a ‘strike bowler, integral to the team’s chances of success anywhere on earth’! Such Herculean confidence of the captain on a doting Ishant Sharma has cost the Indian team dearly in the past, and it continues to pay heavy taxes for the medium pacer’s place in the team.

With 2-0 down in a series against the 7th ranked ODI side, a bell might now ring in the captain’s mind to ‘momentarily’ lay aside his love for Sharma and welcome newcomer Ishwar Pandey to have a crack on the international stage. Letting genuine bowling talent sink into coma on the benches and gifting Sharma the license to kill his own team’s chances is perhaps one of the most outrageous and self destructive strategies employed by a cricket captain in the history of the gentleman’s game.

The time is just ideal for the team management to utilise the full strength of the touring squad instead of persisting with worn-out entities who are perhaps doing little other biding their time for the future, using the glory of their past laurels.