I have lived and breathed this sport for the past 25 years. I`m giving you an objective assessment of this side`s shortcomings. To claim that we have a fully equipped middle order in Rayudu, Karthik, Jadhav and MS Dhoni (current) is a claim that suits someone like Shastri but not reality. I`ve followed all sides with the same passion and can safely say that the current lineup is no comparison to Yuvraj, Dravid, Kaif/Raina and MSD (1.0) when it comes to sheer match-winning ability in crunch situations. And I`ve watched all those sides, even really crappy sides which had guys like Sujit Somasundar, Vikram Rathore and MSK Prasad.
Us denying the shortcomings is just a disaster waiting to happen. England were living in denial with regards to their test match top order and they have been exposed in the Caribbean. I can see something very similar happening to us in a WC knock-out game if this is all we have. I`d want to be proven wrong but this middle order has very little big-hitting pedigree and/or proven big match ability. Its our bowling that has ensured our success. We are a good fair-weather side but we have very little rough weather experience which is vital for winning big events. Its also why we have`t won any ICC events since 2013.
I`d like to know what someone like Sai or LiveLoveABD have to say about this.
I totally agree with what you've said,
@aditya123 . The team that we had with Sehwag, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Kaif, Dravid, MSD (1.0) was far superior to the one that we have at the moment. At the current moment, we have way too many batsmen who do not find it easy to get going from the outset (Rayudu, Dhoni, to an extent even Jadhav). Dinesh Karthik finds it harder to pace the innings if he has to come out to bat before the slog overs actually start. And if India are in a delicate situation where they have lost wickets and Karthik needs to consolidate, his freedom to hit out is curbed and Karthik tends to perform below par in such situations.
As you said, we have a good "fair-weather" side but in a big tournament like the World Cup, there is bound to be that one match where we hit some really rough weather and I have a feeling that our seams could come apart rather rapidly at that moment. We just have to pray that such a moment does not happen at all. That moment happened to us in the final of CT2017 and that's why we ended up as runners of the tournament. Wish it had happened earlier in that tournament so that we could've woken up and smelled the coffee. But I have a feeling India is due for a change after the WC with Dhoni likely to finish. Also I think we are slowly moving away from a superstar-driven generation as the next generation seems to throw up a lot more quality that also the audience is spoilt for so much sporting entertainment that they wont be easily awed by one player and therefore the superstar-driven generation is likely to end with Dhoni/Yuvraj.
Irony is that Rohit Sharma wanted Indian batsman to face this situation of swinging conditions and apply themselves.
I feel what Rohit did at the toss and his reasoning was absolutely spot on. Yes the batsmen have not backed him, but he has done a great job. It was easy to pick bowling first and let NZ batsmen face the heat.
But my worry is that, these runs that Ambati Rayudu is scoring could do India more harm than good. With Dhoni being a sure shot in the XI, Rayudu also playing is going to slow us down and hit us in the gut when a crunch situation requires faster scoring. I just pray that Rayudu can switch gears faster in the WC.
