Team India’s prospects more sanguine now

The Indian ODI machine is firing on all cylinders now. Even the weakest links are not just performing, but purring on par with the best. The sobering thought that the result at the MCG could have been quite the obverse if South Africa won the toss should not be dismissed offhand.

However, the fact that Team India are up and running on a World Cup campaign that is even better than their start in 2011 says much for the astute planning that went behind Dhoni making the World Cup the focus rather than the Test series Down Under or the tri-series.

The pack of Indian bowlers, who could hardly shift their opponents in the Tests and were giving away runs freely in the tri-series, look a different set of operators now, getting the white ball to swing and swerve most effectively, in the two games played so far.

Mohit Sharma’s arrival on the big stage from being just a reserve seamer is the fairytale that cricket throws up now and then. He has used the bounce of Australian pitches well in getting his shorter balls to hurry on to the batsmen, bowling more like the leader of the pack rather than an emergency add-on.

The bowlers and fielders will always be extra keen when they have 300-plus at their back. Beyond that, the Indian attack has been impressive enough in the limited-overs sense even if it did not seem as if they attacked the South African openers as much as teams with a score on the board would.

Perhaps, they let the conditions do the talking as the ball swayed in the air and gripped the MCG surface. It could be different if India is to bowl first, but that is a bridge they can cross when they come to it.

Right now, it appears India, with games on hand against UAE, West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe to go, can bank on topping their group and facing qualifier no. 4 from the other group — probably Bangladesh, England or Sri Lanka — and so avoid running into host teams Australia and New Zealand till the semi-finals.

This is a fine place to be in. The odds have not changed dramatically as the bookies do not seem convinced yet.

They are keeping India as fourth favourites at 6/1 and South Africa the third favourites at 4/1 even as the volume of business seems to have shortened the odds on Australia to 13/8 from 2/1 while New Zealand remains the firm second favourite at 3/1.

Economic conditions in India have changed so drastically over the last couple of decades that today Indian supporters — or ‘Bharat Fauj’ as some of them used to call themselves to counter England’s ‘Barmy Army’ — constitute about 80 per cent even at a large ground like the MCG.

It is not only the diaspora that has grown but also the number of Indians travelling out of the country for the cricket. So, these are very much like home games for India. The drop-in pitches in Australia are giving the team dream conditions straight out of the sub-continent. The prospects seem far more sanguine after India’s win over South Africa. But then, as the saying goes, there is still a long way to go in this World Cup.