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Business News/ News / Business Of Life/  Introspection or inspiration: What will work for India at World Cup 2015?
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Introspection or inspiration: What will work for India at World Cup 2015?

The only teams that have been successful in defending the World Cup title are West Indies (1975 and 1979) and Australia (1999, 2003, 2007). India aren't in the same league

Will the Indian team give us, and themselves, reason to cheer? Photographs by Theo Karanikos/AFPPremium
Will the Indian team give us, and themselves, reason to cheer? Photographs by Theo Karanikos/AFP

NEW DELHI :

Indian cricket fans are disappointed and apprehensive as India prepare to defend the World Cup title. This is understandable. Barring the pyrrhic win over Afghanistan in Tuesday’s warm-up game, there has been little else to cheer since the team landed in Australia in November. And what is a victory over a minnow team really worth?

Not much, to be honest. But poor form leading into the tournament does not necessarily make a team a basket case. Those academically inclined in such matters will find that unfancied India stunned the world in 1983, as did Australia in 1987 and Pakistan in 1992.

There is a flip side to this too. In 1983, the West Indies bombed, as did home favourites Australia in 1992 and South Africa in 2003. India’s performance through the years highlights the vicissitudes of fortune in sport too.

In 1996, for example, Mohammad Azharuddin’s side were odds-on favourites, more so because the tournament was being played in the subcontinent. As in 2011, home conditions and fan support was expected to help, but the team came to grief against Sri Lanka in the 1996 semi-finals.

The most telling contrast in India’s performances comes from the 2003 and 2007 World Cups. In the earlier one played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, Sourav Ganguly’s side—loaded with youngsters—was off to such a poor start that there were calls by disgruntled fans that the team should be called back home. But the team recovered strongly, after some initial hiccups, to play some riveting cricket and reach the final.

In 2007, however, with a far richer side in terms of experience, and widely touted to at least reach the final, the Indians crashed out in the first round itself.

Interestingly, teams like South Africa, England and New Zealand have never won the world cup. They’ve been very consistent (England, in fact, have been in three finals), but up to a point: For one reason or another, they have failed to make it count when it matters.

A robust build-up is obviously of help, no doubt, but not necessarily a guarantee that a team will go on to win/defend a title. Cricket is a gloriously uncertain sport, the limited-overs variety excruciatingly so, and topsy-turvy results are aplenty.

The only teams that have been successful in defending the world cup title are West Indies (1975 and 1979) and Australia (1999, 2003, 2007). But these were astonishingly strong teams that won most matches across formats for a fairly long period.

Dhoni needs to step up his game.
View Full Image
Dhoni needs to step up his game.

The format of the tournament virtually ensures that the top eight teams will be in the quarter-finals. After that, a team needs three good days, perhaps even just three productive sessions, to win the World Cup. But this entails some things falling into place.

India’s bowling has so far looked very weak. Even lowly Afghanistan were not bowled out and managed to play through their 50 overs. While batting has always been the touted strength, it is worth remembering that in 1983 and 2011, the bowlers had performed splendidly to take the team
to victory.

In Australia (and New Zealand), conditions are generally helpful for bowlers. But given the trend, the onus has to shift to the Indian batsmen to consistently score 300-plus runs as buffer against the profligacy of bowlers. But even in this department, the team has lagged behind.

The opening pair looks unstable, with Shikhar Dhawan’s form still iffy even though Rohit Sharma seems to have found his groove. Virat Kohli, the team’s best batsman, is facing a drought of runs after a superb streak in the Test series, while Dhoni himself has not been up to scratch with the bat.

These are serious concerns, with the tournament beginning on Saturday. How and where will the turnaround come from? In my opinion, it has to be based in self-belief. Few can question the talent of the players in the squad; even fewer will contest that there is a crisis of confidence.

In such situations the buck inevitably must stop with the captain. After the Tri-Series, Dhoni had asked the players to rest and do some introspection. I would say the greater need is for inspiration from the leader himself.

Ayaz Memon is a senior columnist who writes on sports and other matters.

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Published: 11 Feb 2015, 07:45 PM IST
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