Sport360° view: Dhoni’s hands tied as seam worries continue

Ajit Vijaykumar 05:38 13/10/2014
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  • India eye quick returns Dhoni has no option but to stick with present attack and hope a reliable third seamer emerges

    India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is in a peculiar situation. The World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is less than five months away and problems plagu­ing the Indian team are such that he has to think almost exclusively of getting the mix right for the trip Down Under, no matter where the team plays.

    Dhoni admitted as much after India’s win in the second one-dayer against the West Indies on Satur­day, saying he has no option but to go in with three fast bowlers and tinker with the batting positions.

    Mohit Sharma was carted all around in the first ODI in Kochi and after he got injured, pacer Umesh Yadav was brought in. Tall quick Ishant Sharma is waiting in the wings to have a go and rest as­sured, he will get a look in.

    In such a situation, a few players do tend to miss out. Despite play­ing at home, up-and-coming spin­ner Kuldeep Yadav has been asked to warm the bench even though the conditions and opposition point to an ideal chance for an interna­tional debut. A young chinaman bowler against the attacking West Indian batsmen on wickets that aid spinners would have made for a mouthwatering encounter.

    Who knows, Kuldeep might have thrown his hat in the ring as a pos­sible option at the World Cup. But Dhoni put paid to those plans by making it clear that the 19-year-old will have to wait as the focus right now is on the seamers and that is making life difficult for the Indian skipper.

    India doesn’t have a settled pace-bowling unit by any stretch of imagination. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is by far and away the only reliable seam bowler in the line-up. During a period when the Indians have regularly leaked around six runs an over match after match, Bhuvi has been a model of consistency.

    His economy rate in 25 matches last year was 4.66 (with 28 scalps) while this year he has gone at an equally respectable rate of 4.79 in 15 matches (for 12 wickets). He has shown that no matter who the batsman is or which ground the game is being played, traditional swing and seam merchants will never go out of the trade.

    Mohammad Shami, the next best option, has had a mixed year in ODI cricket. Even though he strikes for India on a regular basis – 36 wickets from 15 matches – his economy rate is 6.04. And five of those matches were held in New Zealand, who are the co-hosts for the World Cup.

    The thing with Shami is he will surely pick up wickets but they sometimes come at a very high price; he registered figures 4-66, 2-84, 3-81 in 2014. Though he does come up with brilliant spells like his four wickets for 36 against the Windies in Delhi that sealed a superb win, you never know which Shami will turn up on match day. Still, he is someone Dhoni should and will bank upon.

    The situation turns bleak once we pan across the rest of the parched field. Ishant continues to wear the tag of a ‘promising’ pacer despite being in his seventh year in international cricket.

    He still hasn’t delivered one consistent year of bowling after a great start in 2007. He has played just two ODIs this year and that make his commendable efforts of 2013 – 22 matches, 35 wickets at an economy of 5.63 – somewhat redundant. Ishant will start from scratch when he plays against the West Indies this series and that is always a game of chance when it comes to the beanpole Delhi quick.

    Umesh, the fastest bowler in the line-up, has been in an out of the team due to back injuries and that has seen him play just 16 ODIs in two years for 17 wickets at an economy of a tick over 5.75. They don’t offer enough data for Dhoni and the management to make a proper analysis.

    The case is similar when it comes to Mohit. He has played just 11 ODIs in his career and one can’t say with certainty how he will fare Down Under.

    There are a few other options available to Dhoni, like Varun Aaron, but the above mentioned pacers are what he has to work with. As India don’t have a seam-bowling all-rounder and slow bowlers Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are unlikely to set the stage alight with their spin in Australia, the men in blue have to stick with the likes of Ishant, Umesh and Mohit and hope that at least one of them finds a period of consistency in his bowling.

    India know very well that almost every team has multiple seam or spin bowling all-rounders, who have been well tested.

    Sri Lanka have Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera, West Indies have Andre Russell and Darren Sammy, New Zealand have Kane Williamson, Bangladesh Shakib Al Hasan, the Aussies Shane Watson, Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell while England have Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan.

    The rest of the world can afford to go with the extra bats­man, spinner or seamer depending on the conditions. India can’t.

    So Dhoni has made peace with the situation and is most likely to stick with this bunch, irrespective of how well or poorly they play.

    For all the riches of Indian cricket, there is poverty on the field.

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