The 3 missing pieces that India need to find to win World Cup 2015

Can India defend the world cup title in 2015?

Indian cricket team will be defending its World cup title in two years’ time. While it all looks rosy with what appears to be a settled unit now, after winning the two multinational tournaments in a row, I still believe there are three missing pieces to the puzzle that Indian team is yet to search for.

It starts with the captain. The aspect on question here is Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s batting position. Dhoni is certainly among the top batsmen in ODIs at present, along with Hashim Amla, AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli. To rate where he stands among the best, as a batsman, is a futile task and one that I am unwilling to do.

But as a complete package? (By which I mean as an all-round cricketer) Well, without any doubt, he’s the number 1, courtesy his added workloads of wicket-keeping and captaincy. Of course, ABD has recently started doing the same but till he accomplishes the results that Dhoni has achieved as a captain, without giving up on wicket-keeping, Dhoni will continue to lead the list.

While we have such a great asset in our hands, are we under-utilizing him? Or let me re-phrase it, is Dhoni under-utilizing himself? I believe, in any format of the game, your best batsmen need to be in the top 4. Where do we have ours? At number 6.

You may argue that even with him batting too low down the order, India has won many tournaments. But the case is not so simple. In how many matches has Dhoni been left alone, battling for a lost cause or in a position to take undue risks just because if he doesn’t, opposition would run away with the match? Had he not been forced to change his game style in such situations, could we have won so many matches?

Why does he need to put himself in such onerous situations, if he can obviate them by controlling the innings, coming in early at the crease?

Please don’t give me this ‘he knows what to do’ lecture by citing reasons like India has won multinational tournaments (World Cup, Champions Trophy and Asia Cup) even with him coming low down the order. Look at the conditions on offer.

Both the World Cup and Asia Cup were won in sub-continental conditions while the pitches in Champions Trophy surprisingly turned out to be like the sub-continental ones, lacking much swing and bounce. Not to forget the assistance that it offered to the spin bowlers.

If the next World Cup was scheduled in the Indian sub-continent, I would not bother writing this piece. On sub-continental pitches, Suresh Raina and Manoj Tiwary/ Dinesh Karthik/ Yuvraj Singh/ Rohit Sharma at their best, could still have the same impact that Dhoni is capable of at no.4 and 5. Even if they fail, Dhoni would not be left with too much to catch up with and we could pull back with our spinners.

But the World Cup is scheduled in Australia. Now it becomes even more important to send your best batsmen in top 4.

However, there comes a situation where the lowest he could bat down the order can be at no.5. It depends on who your no.4 is. The men who are lined up for the spot after Yuvraj Singh are – Manoj Tiwary, Ambati Rayudu, Cheteshwar Pujara and Dinesh Karthik.

Rayudu and Tiwary are two very similar type of players who have only one gear to their game – at best they could deliver a run-a-ball innings in ODIs with an ability to increase that strike rate by hitting big when the spinners are on the attack.

While Dinesh Karthik has been too inconsistent to count upon, Cheteshwar Pujara can’t yet be considered a no.5, based on his lack of exposure in this format till now. I believe, for any batsman to be successful at no.5/6, he needs to have the ability to hit fast bowlers out of the park. So, a little flexibility is needed since India do not have any options who could do justice to what is expected of a no.5 batsman.

Not to be mistaken, all of Tiwary, Rayudu and Pujara could be very good at no.4 considering the typical expectations of a number 4 is to lend stability to the batting order and anchor an innings. There is a very fine line between a number 4 and number 5 in one day internationals.