Team India may feel shattered after a nine-wicket loss to England at Brisbane on Tuesday, but there is no reason to lose sleep over it. Most of the batsmen have scored runs in recent days and when the selectors picked the squad for the tri-series and the World Cup, they knew that these men can deliver.
Starting from Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina to captain cool MS Dhoni, all of them can bat and bat the opposition out of a match. The only concern is probably opener Shikhar Dhawan’s form, who didn’t score consistently enough in Test series.
But as the experts have felt that he needs to be given time to overcome such shortcoming before taking any drastic decision that can affect his confidence level.
Almost two years ago when India won the Champions Trophy in England, Dhawan played a crucial role in giving rousing starts to Indian innings in most of the big games. So he is someone who can do the job for you. Even a reserve batsman like Ambati Rayudu can justify his place in the playing eleven.
According to what we have seen in last two matches of the tri-series, India now need to push their game to the next level with self-belief. This tournament is definitely not the ultimate test, but it is supposed to give us the time to correct what is lacking in the line-up.
For India, batting remains the main strength and there is not much to ponder here. What is really important for this team is to ensure that Virat Kohli bats the way he generally does to keep India in the game at the top of the order.
In the lower order, a lot would depend on Dhoni to accelerate the score or finish off things in the end. These two cricketers are important in many ways because they are the biggest stars of Indian cricket today.
The whole world is watching and looking up to these two legends to make a difference. And, all the talk about India losing the plot because the bouncy Brisbane track doesn’t hold much ground because this Indian team isn’t scared of anything that is climbing on to their bodies.
They love hooking, pulling and cutting the ball. It’s only a matter of time when they would be back in business!
