With the Indians sitting pretty on a 2-0 lead, the onus is now on Pakistan to come back in the series.
The Pakistanis are certainly feeling the heat, though I am sure Bob Woolmer must be chalking out plans to bounce back.
Known as one of the best strategists, Bob has found it difficult to contain the flow of runs from the Indian batsmen. The inexperience of the Pakistan bowlers, and the flat wickets, have made things tougher for the laptop man to run a successful program. More importantly, the Pakistan skipper has lost crucial tosses and was forced to bat second on both occasions.
The declining role of bowlers in the one-day format is a cause for concern. The nature of the wickets and rules has literally brought the bowlers down to their knees. In this format, one can regularly find that while an experienced bowler goes into oblivion, a rather new batsman reaches envying heights at the same time.
A bowler performing in a hard-fought game is mostly termed as a batting failure rather than giving credit to the bowler. One knock of Dhoni has made him reach near stardom. But a hardworking and a devoted bowler like Irfan Pathan is left struggling to find a place in the side.
My message is not to pitch the intrinsic professional discomfort of the bowlers as against the batsmen's comfort zone, but to bring out the one-sided nature of the contest that is affecting the entire bowling fraternity.
One-day cricket is becoming increasingly secured for the Dhonis, Karthiks and Gambhirs, who can make a ripple-free career out of this game rather than the hapless Irfans, Zaheers and Ashishs.
Test matches are still the ideal platform where the field is wide open for both the batsmen and bowlers. But the popularity of one-day matches is slowly but steadily threatening the longer version of the game. My only contention is that the lack of success for the bowlers in both pace and spin departments has set in for a sure erosion of the bowling fraternity.
The implication of the batsmen's success is already felt at the grassroot level where the major focus of youngsters is on batting, with very few takers on the bowling front. The bowling heroes are not even far or few, but zilch. I only pray that something is done to the rules to make the game more meaningful.
The Indians have used the toss to their advantage in both the games. Our bowlers have rightly exploited the pressure imposed on the Pakistan batsmen by giving them massive targets. In the event of the Indians winning the next two games, it will create a wonderful opportunity to field some fresh talent to test their skills at the international level.
The preceding thought might be a little too optimistic, but there is no better place for proper experimenting with different combinations than at the international matches itself.
Pakistan are sure to load the side with full-time bowlers. The Indians have no reason to change the side, except, may be, Balaji, if he is found not fully fit.
The emergence of Dhoni has created opportunities for the team think-tank to look ahead in terms of going in with five batsmen and five bowlers, giving the much-needed variety to the bowling attack. A batsman at number seven has little to contribute. But which batsman is to sit out? That would be, in all probability, be answered by seven batsmen including Dhoni.
Srinath's previous columns:
- Dhoni should have been spotted earlier
- Pakistan should reconsider batting order
- India need to contain Afridi
- Instability showing in the Indian team
- Much ado about Bhajji's 'doosra'
- Sachin's partnerships with Rahul were crucial
- Looking for a fifth dimension in bowling
- A story of courageous fighting