Plugging the loopholes

By the time this article is published, the 15 players representing India in the World Cup will have been announced. These 15 are the best the country has to offer. Many of them are currently playing in New Zealand, where they have just had the stuffing knocked out of them. Not once, but four times in a row.

The truth is, outside India most days are bad days for the Indian team. If the second one-dayer in New Zealand is any indication, this World Cup is going to be one long bad day unless they make amends in every aspect of their game. Proof of the pudding is in the taste, and if they continue to bumble along and not win a few matches in the current series then it'll be England, Australia and Pakistan who'll be licking their chops after they've had India for dessert.

Despite the calls to axe Sourav Ganguly – one comes from Martin Crowe – there is no way the selectors can remove him from captaincy a month before the big event. Ganguly will have to pull up his socks and start emulating the person he admires the most – Steve Waugh. Nothing is more disheartening to the viewers than a captain with sorry body language and sorrier technique.

But he's not the only culprit. Each player must take the blame for operating like they never saw a coach or physical trainer in their life. And the coach himself must do some deep introspection on why his plans are going awry. There are too many loopholes that need to be plugged, predominantly:

The wicket-keeping: Don Bradman was an apostle of having the best wicket-keeper in the side regardless of his batting. Admittedly, he was talking of Test cricket, but one-day cricket requires even more precision work behind the stumps. A side has limited overs to get a batsman out. Rahul Dravid had been doing a fair enough job, but he is not a specialist. He does not have the reflexes of a Parthiv Patel. The second game proved that if a side wants to lose, one of the easiest ways to do it is to put your best batsman behind the stumps. That way you kill two birds with one stone: You gift the batting side extra runs and you make the wicket-keeper tired and dispirited from missing a stumping, a few deliveries that go by for a boundary and a catch or two. So dispirited that he gets himself run-out, atypically.

The fielding: How does one describe the Indians fielding except to say they resemble sluggish airport handlers? Compare any top team to India. The batsman taps the ball away and ambles off for a run. The camera pans in on the ball and just when you start to think it will lie there forever like unclaimed baggage, a fielder slowly comes into view. He picks up the ball and in leisurely fashion applies spittle to it, barely glancing at the batsmen reaching their crease. When an Indian batsman taps the ball away he has to think carefully before setting off; sprinting feet and an outstretched fielder's hand always seems to be a meter away. Forget about sliding prettily on the boundary field, it's enough if the Indians make the opposition learn that the days of buy one get one are over. Otherwise, this is one race the tortoise is bound to lose.

The discipline: Zaheer Khan's bowling is improving day by day but not his overstepping. His figures lose some of the sheen when he gives away 10 runs too many. Harbhajan Singh is a world class spinner but proves expensive; too many deliveries drift down leg or are wide enough to crash through covers. Ashish Nehra is inconsistent. Anyone who can field as badly as he did one day before the World Cup squad is announced either has terrible discipline, or an arrogant belief that he will be selected on the strength of one performance alone. Either way, the team does not need one-race legends.

The hands-down approach: If reports are to be believed, Parthiv Patel opened the second innings at Hamilton because the leading lights of Indian batting had put their hands firmly behind their backs. If there is one thing the Indians will have to be comfortable about, it's flexibility in the batting order. Right now, Ganguly is struggling for form. He should be shifted down the order to number five. But first, someone needs to put his hand up and get some runs at the top along with Virender Sehwag. All it'll take is some courage and some discipline.