a mis-conception about the Indian cricket Team

...well nearly a mis-conception should be the word ... but thing is the Indian Cricket Team is in a rather peculiar state now. All the TV channels are shouting their throats and possibly their satellites hoarse that 'Yeh Cup Kahi Nahi Jayega', and there is the team trying hard to live up to its reputation of being T20 champs. But come to think of it the way the team is playing, certainly makes one think whether there is room for improvement at all. Because I, personally feel that this team is under-performing. For one, they have the best batting line-up the cricket world has seen in a long time, and two they have had the bonus of playing a full domestic season before the world cup, and yet their batting seems strained (excepting a few of course) and lacks the punch which these guys otherwise seems to have in abundance.

Yesterday I watched the Indian innings in the India-Bangladesh match and was feeling rather sad. I have to admit it. Rohit Sharma, IPL star, and with two scintillating warm-up matches under his belt, looked so very out of touch. Gautam Gambhir too seemed a little casual, and though he scored a half century, it seemed rather slow for a batsman of his calibre. Even captain MS Dhoni, appeared unnecessarily stressed .. in fact he isn't at all performing well nowadays. The "batsman-in-form" Suresh Raina couldn't do much too ... I would say that had Yuvraj not played yesterday, Bangladesh would certainly have won.

What the hell? The first five batsmen in this team, are all match-winners in their own sense. Gambhir, Rohit, Dhoni, Raina, Yuvraj. Then they have the likes of the Pathan brothers, explosive all-rounders. A team which can easily lift the cup, even if any one of the afore-mentioned players get going per match. Yet, when such a team struggles to put ball to bat in the slog-overs, and that too with so many wickets on hand, it does raise several questions regarding their champ status. Because the matter is very simple ... not that India has to win the world T20 cup, it won't change our lives, but that they SHOULD win it. It would be a joke if they didn't. Trust me, if Ricky Ponting had players like these, Australia would have won the world cup without even batting ... i mean an eye lid :D . If Gavin Hamilton had players like these, Scotland would have won too. I mean, with a batting line-up that has some the biggest hitters in the world today, it is a natural thing to gao ahead and win. A loss here would mean shame ... nothing more.