BackIndian cricket team’s middle-overs dilemma
Bowling continues to be India's Achilles heel. Dhoni experimented with part-time bowlers, but now that the tactic isn't working, he seems to have run out of ideas
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Hamilton, New Zealand: During the fourth One Day International (ODI) versus New Zealand at Hamilton on Tuesday, defending a target of 279 runs, Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni introduced spin in the 11th over. In the ensuing six deliveries, Ravindra Jadeja got consistent turn away from the right-handed batsmen at the crease, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor.
Dhoni then put in R. Ashwin immediately, and for the next 10 overs, the two spinners bowled in tandem, giving away only 30 runs. Enough pressure had been created on the two in-form batsmen and India needed to build on it. But then, Dhoni deemed it fit to bring back his medium pacers, who leaked runs profusely—the next 10 overs yielded 70 runs. The chase was dead, and the series was lost.
“The way we started off, our medium pacers gave away a lot of runs," said Dhoni after India conceded the series 3-0. “When the spinners came on, they bowled very well and I wanted to save them for later, when the batsmen would need to go for big runs. But when the medium pacers came back on for a second spell, they couldn’t sustain the pressure, giving one boundary away every over, and the batsmen never needed to play those big shots to chase down the target."
In this period, Dhoni has relied more on Suresh Raina (87.1 overs in 38 matches, two wickets, economy rate 5.02) and Virat Kohli (32.5 overs in 39 matches, one wicket, economy rate 6.82). The experiment hasn’t really worked, and has only increased the onus on his regular bowlers.
But bowling continues to be the Indian team’s Achilles heel. Therein lies another problem, and the Indian team management’s solution was to ignore it altogether. The last time Dhoni opted to bat first, before the fourth ODI at Hamilton, was against England at Kochi in January 2013. In the 18 matches since, home or away, the Men in Blue have preferred to field first whenever the coin-toss was in their favour.
It’s not just Dhoni. When he was rested for the tour of Zimbabwe in mid-2013, and Kohli led the side, India won the toss in four out of the five ODIs and bowled first. The last time India batted first abroad, after winning the toss, was against Sri Lanka at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, all the way back in August 2012. If the subcontinent is taken out of this consideration, then the last time India batted first after winning the toss was against South Africa in Johannesburg on 15 January 2011, a full three years ago.
Inadvertently then, the Indian batting ends up chasing targets, and they got pretty good at it too. Before the ODIs in South Africa, India had a winning percentage of nearly 73% since January 2011—whenever they fielded first after winning the toss. When you consider their four losses and one tie (and one no result) since December, this success percentage comes down to 60%.
It is because, at home, on flat-bed wickets, the Indian batsmen regularly chase down targets of 300-plus. Overseas though, it’s a different story. Bowlers need to restrict the opposition from flying away, especially in the middle overs, because with the new ODI rules in effect, teams are
always on the lookout to save wickets for the final 10-15 overs and blast away. This has been the Indian team’s big problem in this five-match ODI series, and the earlier ODIs in South Africa.
In South Africa, before the 35th over, only two wickets came in the first ODI at Johannesburg, and none in the second at Durban. In the third ODI at Centurion, before rain washed away the match, there were three quick blows in the first eight overs, but a fourth wicket didn’t come until the 38th over.
In New Zealand, only three wickets fell before the 35th in Napier, with Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor batting from the eighth over. It was much the same in Hamilton. In Auckland, three wickets fell before the 35th over, as was the case when India bowled second for a change in Hamilton again.
“It is not a weakness in the middle overs. We bowl to a plan and that is not to concede runs. Sure, the wickets haven’t come but we can only try harder," said Bhuvneshwar Kumar ahead of the third ODI in Auckland on 25 January.
“We can reduce the pressure on the batsmen by asking them to bat first, but even then with the kind of bowling attack we have, they will need to score 325-340 runs every time they bat, irrespective of conditions," said Dhoni, after that pulsating tie.
The summation of these two comments is amply clear. This Indian bowling doesn’t inspire any confidence in its captain, who has run out of ideas trying to find a solution to this chronic problem.
Chetan Narula is the author of Skipper: A Definitive Account of India’s Greatest Captains.
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