To say that MS Dhoni’s team were pretending to be the number one Test side is a bit harsh, although the statement is both true and false. The scoreline tells the obvious truth. However, climbing atop the rankings with such a pale bowling attack is what makes the whole thing a fallacy. When the going was good, the Indian batting might exerted itself against Australia, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka, both home and away. And the same wiry bowlers made taking 20 wickets seem a routine job for them.

It is a wonder how things unravelled with such consistency in just this one series. When was the last time Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman missed out for so long, so much so the others couldn’t fathom putting up any resistance themselves? Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma bowled their hearts out, but India missing a wicket-taking spinner is an odd aberration to say the least. It made the attack toothless at best and that is a recipe for disaster. Injuries completed the misery, with their first choice settled pair half-fit when playing. There are times when a captain can make his team look good, surely Dhoni has done so on many occasions. But even his Midas touch deserted him, bringing forth the adage – a captain is only as good as his team.

And taking everything in summation, India were poor and definitely so. The last time they were so comprehensively beaten was in 1999, when Australia romped home 3-0. The similarities from back then are revealing. Only one batsman made any sort of impact on the Aussies, Tendulkar doing what Rahul Dravid did in England. The fast bowlers were medium pace at best, Venkatesh Prasad and Ajit Agarkar come to mind therein. Anil Kumble bowled bravely, but away from home he wasn’t as distinguished then as he was at the time of his retirement, and the attack as a whole was spineless. The only contrast being the end of that decade marked a turn-around for India, giving hope for much the same this time around.

Yes it is time to work on a whole lot of issues. Preparation was by no means enough for a contest this important, and it doesn’t just include match fitness. Physical fitness, mental freshness and ample bench strength are all part of this one term. It is very easy to lay all blame at the doors of the BCCI and make no mistake they should get the majority of it. But the players themselves need to step up and be able to make tough choices, like not playing the IPL when you know an aggravated shoulder injury will put you out of action for nearly eight weeks. Naming them or listing down a ten-point program isn’t going to help anyone, for those to blame know who they are.

Yet, if a timely leaf is taken out of this miserable lesson India have been taught, there is no harm in it. Compared to 1999, they have a blueprint readily available at disposal. It is just the willpower that needs to be exercised now, like it was done back then. The other memory from that eventful turn of the century was of course Australia’s ascendancy to supremacy. And perhaps England will want us to believe that in this huge, crushing victory is their first step to world domination of their own. The signs are ominous yes. They have a well-placed leader in Andrew Strauss. That he will step out for five months and then return to lead the side against Pakistan in the winter shows belief is strong in the leadership.

The batting is clicking and being given new direction with every innings, be it Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott or even Kevin Pietersen, who seems to have found new inspiration. Matt Prior’s rise with both the bat and gloves has been prominent, indicating confidence is high in this bunch of players. Perhaps their only open spot in the eleven is that of number six. Eoin Morgan hasn’t done enough to cement it just yet, but another way of looking at it is from Tim Bresnan’s point of view. Surely, as their third line of attack after James Anderson/Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, he has maimed the Indians to such an extent that he can easily fit in as the all-rounder all champion sides boast of.  Whenever the need to play five bowlers arises, and it surely will in the sub-continent, England won’t have to think long and hard. Yes, sterner challenges will come ahead as India found out to their miserable fortune, but Strauss and company can look up with greater confidence than their predecessors.

That word fortune doesn’t favour the brave anymore. Instead it helps those who plan well ahead, hedge all risks and set greed aside, for modern-day cricket demands all this and more. It sets one thinking, what if India had done all of that? Maybe Zaheer wouldn’t have been injured in the first Test, maybe Bhajji would have bowled with venom and maybe the batting – free from injuries and rookies – would have clicked. Maybe then, this series would have been as iconic as it was presumed to be. That question will equally haunt cricket lovers, joyous, depressed and neutrals, all around.

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma

The only problem is that these are pretty much the same names that were there in England last year and that didn’t really go too well for our team, thanks to some injuries suffered in the IPL. Guess what, the injuries have made a return snapping an opening batsman and a fast bowler this time around as well. It was Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan some ten months ago, and now Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra.

The main difference is that at the moment the two players are expected back shortly while Sehwag supposedly carried his injury to England and Zaheer altogether missed out. However this does reflect on the losses that are being incurred due to an unduly long T20 tournament played just before important world events. My only prayer is that Lalit Modi schedules next year’s IPL after the ODI World Cup.

R Vinay Kumar is one new name in the side and it has come deservedly for he has been giving wonderful performances for Karnataka on the Ranji scene for the last couple of seasons, and has managed to carry his form into the IPL. Saurabh Tiwary and Manish Pandey are two others like him but to select them would be too radical a step, their turn will come. Piyush Chawla is the surprise selection for he hasn’t been in that fiery a form. That decision seems more due to West Indian conditions then and also the fact that Ravindra Jadeja will be the left arm spinner in the side, so the selectors neglected a fifth pace bowling option. As it is who would you pick? Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth have been bordering on the poor and awesomely poor for quite some time now.

Dhoni has a back-up in Dinesh Karthik this time, something he didn’t have last year and therefore the need to include another pure batsman. But Rohit Sharma’s inclusion is even more surprising than that of Piyush Chawla. As a leg spinner atleast he brings some variety to the table, but Sharma’s only claim to fame so far has been that he has great talent/potential. And so Virat Kohli is really unlucky to have missed out here. He may not measure upto Sharma on talent in some people’s books but he has worked off his socks to earn his spot in the national side. And he looks like he wants to be in the thick of things at all times while Rohit, to his discredit, seems content performing only for Deccan Chargers while laid back on most other occasions.

The one question on everyone’s mind was whether Sachin Tendulkar would reverse his mind and step forward to play. As an eternal Sachin fan, one wanted him to. For, he is in stupendous touch and that touch could be the difference between India making it to the knock-out stages and exiting early. But knowing the way he has carried himself on and off the field all these years, one didn’t expect him to renege on his decision of three years ago. Now only if Dhoni’s men can repeat their feat from 2007 as well.

Praveen Kumar’s hat-trick came in the 17^th over of the innings. The swing bowler’s first victim was Damien Martyn (bowled), debutant Sumit Narwal (caught in the deep) and Paras Dogra (bowled) with his second, third and fourth deliveries of his third over. This was the seventh hat-trick of the three-year-old IPL tournament.

Earlier, put into bat, Rajasthan batsmen struggled as Dale Steyn, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar and Kallis contained the openers Naman Ojha and Lumb, scoring just 27 runs in five overs.  Rajasthan Royals had the slowest start of the tournament so far, scoring 45/3 in 10 overs.  The big-hitting Yusuf Pathan broke free by clubbing Vinay Kumar for two sixes in the 12^th over. But he was back in the pavilion, run out for a 24-ball 26 as Kohli broke the stumps with a brilliant throw from covers. Martyn (19 off 24 balls), who was a pale shadow of his playing days, got his first boundary after 22 deliveries but was yorked the next ball by Praveen Kumar who then completed his hat-trick.

Orange Cap  holder and man-of-the-match Jacques Kallis (44 not out, 34 balls, 7×4), the tournament’s highest run-getter with198 runs, and Manish Pandey (42 not out, 30 balls, 7×4, 1×6) completed the formalities with 56 balls to spare.  Bangalore Royal Challengers have chalked up their second successive win while Shane Warne-led Rajasthan Royals tumbled to their third defeat on the trot.

Match report courtesy Adfactors PR.

Squad: Anil Kumble (captain), KP Apanna, Balachandra Akhil, Mark Boucher (wicket-keeper), Rahul Dravid, Dillon Du Preez, Sreevats Goswami, Jacques Kallis, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Eoin Morgan, Manish Pandey, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith, S Sriram, Dale Steyn, Ross Taylor, Robin Uthappa, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Cameron White.

Strengths & Weaknesses:

A major headache awaits Anil Kumble and Ray Jennings when they sit to pick their first choice eleven. It is a problem of plenty and not a bad one to have unless it affects the balance of the side, which is exactly the point here. The foreign players for this side are all match winners in their right and it will be a major riddle to select the best four out of them. Sample this list: Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Roelef Van der Merwe, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Dillon Du Preez, Steven Smith and Cameron White. And this list doesn’t include Kevin Pietersen, new signing Eoin Morgan and Jesse Ryder. While the first two will be away for most part due to international duties, the Kiwi is out injured.

Even so, selecting four of those remaining names means that the balance of the side will be seriously tinkered with every time they have to make a change. This will place a lot of onus on the Indian players, young and old. And unless the whole equation comes out right, they will struggle to find the right combination on the Indian pitches. Why are pitches important here? Because playing in South Africa allowed their foreign players to have a bigger say in the scheme of things than they did in the first season.

Jacques Kallis and Ross Taylor especially were changed players. Though Taylor might yet again fire in the batting friendly conditions here again in India, Kallis may struggle a bit with his bowling. The other question mark pertaining to him is whether he can regain his touch with the bat from last year when it seemed he could do no wrong as a 33-year-old T20 player.

And so the pressure to perform will be high on the likes of Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar and Sreevats Goswami. A couple of these players have had a brilliant domestic season, Kohli has been making waves on the ODI scene but again the untested ones remain a problem. Rahul Dravid and Kumble were exceptional last year and so they would have to be this season as well. With their age, form and fitness again a bit of a talking point, it remains to be seen if the Bangalore Royal Challengers can go one better than last time.

Note: This is an extract from the Bangalore Royal Challengers preview first published at www.cricketworld.com. To read the full article, click here.