Australia debacle: India couldn't bowl, couldn't field, couldn't finish

Sydney: Despite losing the five-match ODI series 4-1, India managed to successfully chase a 300 plus target against Australia Down Under, at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, courtesy Manish Pandey, who struck a brilliant unbeaten 104. With this win, MS Dhoni-led Team India put the brakes on Australia’s push for a clean-sweep with a record run-chase to notch up a thrilling consolation six-wicket victory in the fifth and final ODI.

Chasing 331, India’s batting rode on Pandey’s maiden ODI ton and a superb opening stand of 123 between Rohit Sharma (99) and Shikhar Dhawan (78) to overhaul the score with just two balls to spare. After having bungled a similar chase in the previous match, the Indians made sure that they did not suffer any catastrophic collapse with Pandey being the glue that held one end.

India will feel they should have crossed off that achievement in the previous game itself but Dhoni admitted that he was helpless, equipped with an inexperienced bowling attack, the likes of Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar indiscipline in their bowling.

Here’s what went wrong with Team India in the five-match rubber:

Bowling woes

India were erratic and wayward with the ball. The kind of bowling that the Australian batsmen had on offer was nothing but ordinary so much so that the canary yellow lads had no problems in getting their eye in, and then converting their starts into big scores. A wicket-taking delivery was followed by a loose one, which didn’t build any pressure on the opposition.

Bowler in question here in Mr Umesh Yadav. Compare his figures to the ICC World Cup (the last tournament he played in Australia), the economy rate has shot up by leaps and bounds. During the Sydney ODI, Yadav’s figures read 8-0-82-1, with an economy rate of 10.25, a stark difference to his previous tournament Down Under.

Look at the match at the MCG, where Yadav was given the ball in the 43rd over when Australia were under a fair bit of pressure as they required 59 runs from 48 balls. In this over, Maxwell smashed a six and a four and took fourteen runs of the last four balls. This eased the pressure off the hosts and only formalities were left to be done.

With 79 ODI matches under his spikes, India’s lanky Ishant Sharma’s bowling has lacked maturity, his fielding does takes the cake although, specially when he dropped a sitter during the second ODI at Brisbane (at the crease was Shaun Marsh, who went on to score 71 runs) where Australia were just taking shape with their innings.

Compared to Yadav, Ishant has managed to pick up wickets during vital moments, but his economy rate is quite alarming, picking up an average of close to 6 runs in the entire series.

Bhuvneswar Kumar and Ishant failed to deliver even during the Canberra ODI. While Bhuvi leaked runs at an economy of 8.62, Ishant proved another costly customer. Though, he picked up a 4-wicket haul but had a disastrous economy of 7.70.

Chopping and changing

The Indian team management is left with a major conundrum with its bottom half. While Rohit, Shikhar Dhawan, Kohli, Rahane (doubtful for T20s, Gurkeerat is his backup), Dhoni occupy the first five, the No 6 spot has been an eternal issue for the selectors. Ravindra Jadeja looks most likely to occupy the slot after his disciplined bowling and brilliant fielding has won the Saurashtra cricketer laurels.

While the batting order looked well-set, Team India, on the whole saw a number of changes, with their line-ups. Ravichandran Ashwin, who was the hero during the South Africa series at home, lost his spot to debutant Gurkeerat Singh Mann. Ashwin thus proved that he’s a threat only on home conditions and continues to seal his spot when the team travels overseas.

Ashwin, who featured in the first encounter at the WACA, did add two wickets to his name, but finished his spell of 9 overs for 68 runs at an economy of 7.55. At Brisbane, the Indian tweaker went for a run-a-ball in his allotted 10 overs without any wickets.

Many veterans advocated the need for a specialist all-rounder. While Ashwin did prove his mettle at home against South Africa, the scene Down Under looked the opposite. Gurkeerat, who was brought in didn’t serve the purpose at the MCG going away for 27 runs in his 5 overs.

Rishi Dhawan and Manish Pandey were also introduced into the scheme of things, Pandey replacing the injured Rahane. While Pandey’s inclusion turned out to be a match-winning one, the bottom half of the squad is a problem that has to be addressed with utmost urgency, with the 3 T20s staring close.

Able finisher

Immaterial how long Dhoni continues to represent India, the team needs to zero in on someone who can hold his nerve in crunch situations and finish off the games in India’s favour – a role MS Dhoni ably played for more than a decade in the shorter format of the game.

Criticising MS Dhoni for the loss of his midas touch and questioning the abilities of the players picked to take that role is in vogue. However, if the Indian team management thinks Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Rishi Dhawan or Manish Pandey are best suited for that role, then they must be given a longer rope to get acclimatised in that position.

There may be failures but as MS Dhoni had himself said once he too learnt the art of taking India across the finishing line after failing when he was novice in that role.

And if the team management feels that Ravindra Jadeja is the best bet, then he must improve his finishing skills along with his ability to communication well. If not him, then Suresh Raina, who was dropped for the ODI series in Australia, could be India’s go-to-man in the finisher’s role.

Sloppy fielding

To their credit, India’s fielding has grown by leaps and bounds. While there are some easy targets in the field for the opposition, that number has gone down big time. In fact, the current crop of cricketers has taken the fielding revolution Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif started a notch higher.

Keeping in mind that background, witnessing the indecisiveness in the field was difficult to fathom. Umesh Yadav is perhaps India’s best fielder (from the group of bowlers). However, his uncertainty to throw to end Glenn Maxwell’s innings in Melbourne was baffling to say the least. It eventually cost India the game and the series.

While Ishant Sharma dropping Shaun Marsh (a dolly of a catch) in the second ODI of the series could be termed as one off incident, it just can’t be taken lightly. Although the tall pacer is generally a safe catcher, oppositions do think of stealing a run or two when the ball is hit in Ishant’s direction. While he did not drop a catch in India’s first win of 2016, there were instances when he was late to approach the ball and throw it back quickly.

The young debutants Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Rishi Dhawan were not too impressive in the field either. It is not often that MS Dhoni visibly loses his cool but witnessing Rishi Dhawan’s sloppy work in the Melbourne ODI, Dhoni did. Although the duo’s rather below-par show in the fielding could be attributed to the nervousness or big stage, they need to iron out that area alongside their batting and bowling.