Indian team for West Indies

India take on West Indies at Chennai over the weekend. They are desperately looking to gain some credibility as contenders. Australia and South Africa look like runaway favorites at this time. Pakistan and Sri Lanka have also asserted themselves at different times in the tournament. New Zealand too have won in style against Pakistan. England eked out a great win against South Africa.


India is the only team that has no wins against elite competition. If anything, they have had tough wins against Ireland and Netherlands. Their very first game was about the only one that went to script. The tournament committee too planned belters for their games against elite teams. I'm assuming the hope was that India's batting would blast the team to high enough total to spook the opposition. Strangely, it was England that burst this bubble in Bangalore and led everyone else to believe, leading to South Africa not only stiffling the middle order, but also overcoming their choking ghosts.

Dhoni reminded everyone after the Ireland game why India was playing seven batsmen. It took that many to put away Ireland. However, all of these batsmen didn't manage to put away England or South Africa. It appears that the bowling weaknesses are screaming, but are not getting a listen. Against South Africa and England, India's bowlers couldn't defend fourteen runs in the last over. It appears that batsmen, including tail enders realize that India's trundlers are easy meat. While the debate about whether Harbhajan could have stopped South Africa is a good one to have, the fact that Dhoni didn't trust him to bowl the last over shouldn't be glossed over.

So what should India do versus West Indies. I feel that they should go with five bowlers and bench either Kohli or Pathan. Given that so far acceleration in the last ten hasn't happened, I'm inclined to think that Pathan should be benched for Ashwin. However, the equation in a chase could be different. Pathan becomes a different force in a chase. However, Kohli deserves to anchor a chase as well to see if he still has it. India's batting strategy is to depend on the top three to score the bulk of the runs and let the next three provide the finishing touches. So it's time to hold Sehwag and Gambhir accountable to their roles.

Strengthening the bowling will also provide insurance against potential meltdown of part timers. While people might argue that West Indies will easily use the pace of fast bowlers, I will suggest that the ground doesn't support that theory. If the pitch plays like it did in the game between England and South Africa, India's fast bowlers will be effective. India's batsmen should be able to overcome the threat posed by Benn and Bishoo, much more effectively than Gayle and Pollard are able to handle Zaheer, Bhajji and Ashwin. Yuvraj can bowl a few if Nehra or Munaf get some stick.

Bottomline is that India needs to register a good win against West Indies to gain some momentum going into the quarters. Given the way they are playing, it looks like another semi-final loss is coming. Unless, the team suddenly rediscovers it's mojo that is. This team can scare other teams, if it comes to the party. The top order is nearly there, it's time for Yuvraj and Dhoni to really step up their game.

Will the real India please stand up?