The Indian and Pakistani cricket teams have one particular trait in common. Both produce outstanding talent as if on an assembly line but when it comes to their performance at the highest level, they are consistently inconsistent. There are recent cases to exemplify this.
Pakistan, after a wretched start in the recent Twenty20 World Cup with three defeats on the trot, went on to win the event, which thy had missed narrowly last time. It was a kind of turnaround that you see rarely. The same can be said of the Indian team, currently on the tour of the West Indies. After scoring a convincing victory in the first One-Day International, Dhoni's boys tumbled from the high perch like Humpty Dumpty. With the exception of skipper Dhoni himself, the leading lights, who had gone through earlier with their bats blazing, fell in a heap to reach 82 for 8 in no time.
With the ignominy of being dismissed for under a total 100, Dhoni found an unlikely batting ally in left-arm pace bowler, R.P. Singh, who bats right-handed, and India achieved a face-saving score of 188. This was easy meet for the Windies, with Chris Gayle seeing to it that not much time was wasted in achieving victory and level the series at 1-1, with to matches to go.
The Indian batsmen continue to get their wires crossed. In Twenty20, some of the batsmen, including Dhoni, batted as if thy were playing a 50-over match and now, when that should have been the mode, the likes of Rohit Sharma and Yusuf Pathan played as if it was a 20-over game.
Young Rohit Sharma, who was the most outstanding under-23 player in the IPL2 in South Africa, continues to suffer from its hangover. He hasn't had one decent knock since. Call it over-confidence or youthful exuberance, he wants to hit almost every ball, unmindful of the length or pace. He ought to realize that being in a hurry is no aggression.
The precarious situation that India were in the second ODI suited Dhoni's current cautious style of play. But then that will not help in the long run, especially when the going is good. However brave a front the Indian captain my put up, there is no denying the fact that the team is sorely missing the dashing batting of Virendra Sehwag and the experience and the sobering influence of Sachin Tendulkar. Still very eminently suited to the 50-over format.
At the moment it looks like confusion time in the Indian team. The sooner they get out of it, the better. Dhoni's own stern warning to his boys is to perform or perish. With so many eagerly waiting on the sidelines, they have no choice.
