We can't succeed unless we improve our bowling. Period.

[Ultimate_Game]

We can blame the batsmen for not scoring enough runs, captain for being too defensive or even the team management for selecting the team combination but the truth is that we will suck unless we improve on our bowling drastically. When all we have are likes of Dinda and B Kumar as our spearheads what chance do we have? In the recent times, especially the WC our batting (maybe the deepest ever in a WC) was the one which bailed us out by chasing stiff targets, and thankfully Zak was at the top of his game with Yuvi able to complete his quota of 10 overs economically. Even then we struggled to get teams out and if we look at our matches against top teams (SA, Eng, WI, Aus, Pak & SL), we were only able to bowl out 2 teams - WI without Gayle and Pak with likes of Afridi. Most of the time we had to either bat out the opponent or chase a big total. We were fortunate enough to do so in that tourney but this modus operandi is unlikely to be a long term mantra for success. Since our batting fell away our bowling has failed to win even a single game. We are lost even if we manage a par total and without a cushion of 300+ total in odi, we are doomed. Kohli specials or 300+ totals may look good but they won't win you too many matches. Plus with the new odi changes with 2 bouncers and 5 fielders in the circle at all times, we hardly stand a chance against any decent side. Can you imagine what will happen in the 2015 WC in Aus when we have to square off against Steyn/Morkel/Philander, or Finn/Broad/Anderson, or Pattinson/Cummins/Starc etc. with likes of Dinda B Kumar? Fact is bowling wins matches and we were extremely fortunate to have relied on a deep batting lineup till 2011 WC but that formula doesn't succeed for long and unless we unearth wicket taking bowlers we will wallow in mediocrity. For crying out loud every team has at the very least one go to bowler. SA has Steyn/Morkel/Philander, Aussies always have decent pacers, Eng has Finn, SL has Malinga/Mendis, Pakis have Ajmal and upcoming pacers and even WI have Narine. We have absolutely nobody to turn to and the best we have are likes of Jadeja/Dinda/B kumar. How can we compete with such a huge handicap?

[Number]

Definitely. Our batting at the moment is world class. Dhoni is doing great job as a captain.

[Ultimate_Game]

Definitely. Our batting at the moment is world class. Dhoni is doing great job as a captain.

Pls read the OP again. You cannot rely on batting every time. Every good/great team had a good bowling attack. As for captain, feel free to have anyone captain and see what they do when all they have are Dindas and B Kumars. We have major issues and bowling tops the list as you cannot win without quality bowling.

[vayuu1]

You deserve to lose if u pick dinda,jadeja,besharma over shami,anwar Ahmed ,mohit sharma

[Sid]

Definitely. Our batting at the moment is world class. Dhoni is doing great job as a captain.

:cantstop:

[vayuu1]

And not giving chances to youngsters u deserve to lose

[CG]

Why should only poor bowlers be accountable.Everybody from captain to senior players have Job guarantee which would put govt employees to shame.Why the hell there performance matter.

[Tridibans_16]

Definitely. Our batting at the moment is world class. Dhoni is doing great job as a captain.

:giggle:

[Tendulkar_Bhai]

Definitely. Our batting at the moment is world class. Dhoni is doing great job as a captain.

+1. Bowling is a constant concern but in this game restricting Pak for 250 was a great effort and on this pitch getting out for such a low total is a batting failure and would be for all international teams. 2 years back we would have chased 250 at Eden Garden with ease. But when you have openers who have averaged in the 30's for 2yrs and a middle order which has lost 3 of the greatest ever ODI players it is no surprise. Plus a captain which persists in leaving out Rahane, Rohit over Jadega and even Munaf/PK/Nehra/Irfan if fit should all be in the team! Bowling will be weak for yrs to come but the positives are that we have seen Yadav, DHindi, Awana, Kumar, Aaron all given chances, its up to the selectors to stick with potential and not judge players by IPL . No point thinking of 2015 we will get smashed in Aus.

[The Realist]

Whole "team" looks finished. Need to rebuild ASAP with fresh players, coach, captain and strategy.

[ganeshran]

Our bowing atleast did a good job today. This target was chaseable on this pitch. Our batting collapsed in both matches No thanks to amazing batting by dhoni who gave a fitting reply to critics who said he cannot bat well in tests. :hatsoff:

[NareshK]

Batting at the top is poor. Gambhir is a dead duck against the short ball and when there is bounce in the wicket. Sehwag nowadays cant even score those quick 40s or 50s anymore because his reflexes have slowed down. Yuvraj is a good batsman in ODIs but he doesnt have good enough technique to survive on pitches which have a bit of assistance and when bowlers are bowling well. Bring in Pujara, Rahane and one more batsman who has good technique. Bowling is still largely inexperienced but B Kumar is a good find however you look at it. He can swing the ball both ways, bowl at 135+ and touch 140, has control and also a good temperament. Umesh Yadav is a good bowler and Ashwin is decent in LOIs. Ishant bowled well today and there are some other good prospects in bowling.

[CG]

Our bowing atleast did a good job today. This target was chaseable on this pitch. Our batting collapsed in both matches No thanks to amazing batting by dhoni who gave a fitting reply to critics who said he cannot bat well in tests. :hatsoff:

:hysterical::hysterical:

[Ultimate_Game]

Bowling is the bigger concern if you look at the big picture. We are the only intl side without even a single decent bowler. Ashwin maybe can be termed as a decent bowler but that's about it. No team in the history of the game has succeeded with such limited bowling resources. Even back in 90s we at least had Kumble and Srinath with occasional decent performance from Prasad or Agarkar. Even till WC 2011 we could rely on Zak. Now there's simply no one. Batting has to take the blame as well but to be competitive in all forms of the game we have to focus on our bowling woes. I mean it doesn't say much when whoever captains India will have to scratch his head regarding whom to give the first over itself. Other teams have to think about filling in one bowler's quote but here we literally have to fill in 40-50 overs!!! There's a reason why the saying goes "bowlers win matches" as bowlers impact a game much more than a batsman. With batsmen we may win a few matches but to be consistently good we need to have a good bowling attack. if BCCI doesn't start a long term project to enhance our bowling and focus on bowling grass-roots upwards, I doubt we will do much of note other than a few odd wins here and there courtesy a Kohli blinder or a Yuvi special.

[Dumbbells]

Fast bowlers baby,,Fast bowlers...Pak had it and smashed Indian batting order. We are bit unlucky on missing Umesh, and Varun. However, we should have played Shammi ahmed instead of Buvneshwar when the ball was clearly not swinging.

[NareshK]

Bowling is the bigger concern if you look at the big picture. We are the only intl side without even a single decent bowler. Ashwin maybe can be termed as a decent bowler but that's about it. No team in the history of the game has succeeded with such limited bowling resources. Even back in 90s we at least had Kumble and Srinath with occasional decent performance from Prasad or Agarkar. Even till WC 2011 we could rely on Zak. Now there's simply no one. Batting has to take the blame as well but to be competitive in all forms of the game we have to focus on our bowling woes. I mean it doesn't say much when whoever captains India will have to scratch his head regarding whom to give the first over itself. Other teams have to think about filling in one bowler's quote but here we literally have to fill in 40-50 overs!!! There's a reason why the saying goes "bowlers win matches" as bowlers impact a game much more than a batsman. With batsmen we may win a few matches but to be consistently good we need to have a good bowling attack. if BCCI doesn't start a long term project to enhance our bowling and focus on bowling grass-roots upwards, I doubt we will do much of note other than a few odd wins here and there courtesy a Kohli blinder or a Yuvi special.

Zaheer, Munaf, Nehra, Bhajji who used to be part of ODI set up and part of WC squad are no longer there. So the lineup now is largely inexperienced. You cant expect too much from them so soon.

[R.D forever]

Ya 130 all out and we still blame the bowlers

[Ultimate_Game]

Fast bowlers baby' date=',Fast bowlers...Pak had it and smashed Indian batting order. We are bit unlucky on missing Umesh, and Varun. However, we should have played Shammi ahmed instead of Buvneshwar when the ball was clearly not swinging.[/quote'] It's not just a question of fast bowlers or playing Shammi over B Kumar. There's a serious systemic problem as far as bowling of any kind is concerned. We don't have decent spinners, we don't have decent pacers, hardly any swingers to speak of. The only decent prospect I have seen is Sandeep Sharma from u-19s but he bowls in early 120s. This points to huge problems which picking one bowler over another can't fix. BCCI has to see why bowlers have simply stopped coming through the system and fix the root-cause. When you can't even have one automatic bowling selection in the team, that says it all.

[Ultimate_Game]

Ya 130 all out and we still blame the bowlers

Problem is we can't rely on our bowlers to win us matched even on pitches which has something in it for bowlers. No way was today's pitch a 250 pitch and in the last game 228 was a pretty decent score given the conditions and grass on the pitch. problem is that we rely on our batting so much that we will need to out-bat opponents even on a bowler-friendly pitch which won't happen too many times. If we have to get better in all formats we have to do something about our bowling else playing on flat patta pitches where bowlers don't matter and 320 is the par score only option left for us.

[panther]

Lack of world class spinner coming out of India is really hurting Indian cricket.