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

[ChanaLal]

You only need to move the ball half the bat width (5 cms) to miss the middle and take the edge because any more movement misses the bat completely.

[Marut]

How a bowler can be burn out in IPL. IPL or T20 is the easiest form of cricket in terms of physical effort for a pacer. 4 overs per match that too with gaps. A fast bowler's life cannot get easier than that. You know Ishant Sharma bowled as many overs in 50 days IPL as he bowled in a 5 days Lords test so tell me which is more physically demanding for a fast bowler?

IPL bosses are going to lambast them or fire them if they fail to give their best. There is no such problem in the Indian team as your place is more or less granted for several years. You can continue to loose 10-0 and nobody questions your commitment and place in the side. Bowling 50 overs in the IPL and 50 overs in an international match are different.

[CSK Fan]

Yes, yes, its our bowling which has sucked the whole series. Our batting, on the other hand, was outstanding

[Ultimate_Game]

Yes' date=' yes, its our bowling which has sucked the whole series. Our batting, on the other hand, was outstanding[/quote'] If you follow the thread you will see this thread is more about the long term and not just this series. If we improve our bowling we will be in every match and will win a few when we put up par or sub-par totals as well just like we were able to defend 167 today. Today's the first time in 2-3 years when our bowlers have managed to win a match without batsmen contributing much. just imagine if we were in a position to win lots more without relying on the batting side? That's the power of having a good bowling depth and this is exactly what we should strive to do. We will be in every game and will lots more as having bowling depth is the proven formula for long term success.

[ChanaLal]

If you follow the thread you will see this thread is more about the long term and not just this series. If we improve our bowling we will be in every match and will win a few when we put up par or sub-par totals as well just like we were able to defend 167 today. Today's the first time in 2-3 years when our bowlers have managed to win a match without batsmen contributing much. just imagine if we were in a position to win lots more without relying on the batting side? That's the power of having a good bowling depth and this is exactly what we should strive to do. We will be in every game and will lots more as having bowling depth is the proven formula for long term success.

..but who will do this that is what people are saying. It is wonderful to have something to say but there is no solution to it

[Ultimate_Game]

..but who will do this that is what people are saying. It is wonderful to have something to say but there is no solution to it

This is the job of BCCI who are supposed to be custodians of Indian cricket. If you read through the thread there are some decent ideas thrown about but eventually it all boils down to what BCCI chooses to do. All I'm saying is that we have plenty of resources at our disposal and we can't have the same old attitude of "we never had any decent bowling attack so we may as well not try". Things are different now and we/BCCI should focus on building bowling depth.

[ganeshran]

Our bowling is looking up now because the restructuring process has already started. It may take time and we may have to try new bowlers but atleast there is effort in that direction which will pay off eventually even if there are no immediate gains. It is the batting which is worrisome because it is in decline despite having settled young guns in the squad. 3 collapses in 3 games, how much worse can it get? Having the top half of the side in the dressing room before the score reaches triple figures has become a given nowadays. Dhoni's place in the side seems to be cemented no matter how many home ODI / test series he loses. Even in the 90s we comfortably won at home and managed to avoid whitewashes abroad.

[Ultimate_Game]

Our bowling is looking up now because the restructuring process has already started. It may take time and we may have to try new bowlers but atleast there is effort in that direction which will pay off eventually even if there are no immediate gains. It is the batting which is worrisome because it is in decline despite having settled young guns in the squad. 3 collapses in 3 games, how much worse can it get? Having the top half of the side in the dressing room before the score reaches triple figures has become a given nowadays. Dhoni's place in the side seems to be cemented no matter how many home ODI / test series he loses. Even in the 90s we comfortably won at home and managed to avoid whitewashes abroad.

I hope that this restructuring process never stops and we always focus on our bowling. There's no surer way to the top in cricket than having a good bowling depth. Every great cricketing team had a good to great bowling lineup whereas you will struggle to find any great side with a great batting lineup but an average to below-average bowling lineup. I definitely pray BCCI don't take bowling for granted once we get a few decent bowlers just as BCCI stopped away A tours when we had reached no. 1 in Tests. As for batting, I am not that worried for 2 reasons... i) if we become a better bowling side, the pressure will be lifted from the batting side and the team will be competitive, ii) we will have decent batsmen in Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, Unmukt Chand, Raina (shorter formats), Rohit, Tiwary and upcoming players like Jiwanjot Singh etc. They simply need to be given decent backing and we should be fine but bowling is where we need to focus for getting better overall.

[Sooda]

I would not say bowling is looking up based on one ODI. RPS, Sree, Irfan, Munaf all had great starts to their careers lets see if Bhuv and Shami can keep this up for a few years

[Ultimate_Game]

I would not say bowling is looking up based on one ODI. RPS' date=' Sree, Irfan, Munaf all had great starts to their careers lets see if Bhuv and Shami can keep this up for a few years[/quote'] It's not and that's why we need to make bowling our focus if we have to compete with likes of SA, Aus and Eng in Tests and 2015 WC.

[ganeshran]

As for batting, I am not that worried for 2 reasons... i) if we become a better bowling side, the pressure will be lifted from the batting side and the team will be competitive, ii) we will have decent batsmen in Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, Unmukt Chand, Raina (shorter formats), Rohit, Tiwary and upcoming players like Jiwanjot Singh etc. They simply need to be given decent backing and we should be fine but bowling is where we need to focus for getting better overall.

But the current side is full of decent players too. Raina, Yuvi, Kohli, Gambhir and Sehwag have played very well in the past but suddenly none of them are able to put bat on ball which makes our lower middle order play extremely slowly and scrape to totals which are not defensible at all. The problem is when proven players don't play well, the ones who are coming in new are put in too much pressure which leads to their failure as well. Regardless of BCCI's measures working or not, the bowling will have slim returns over the next 2 years. That is why batting decline is far more worrisome because you cannot have your entire team rebuilding at the same time and still hope to be a competitive side. The batsmen need to step up and provide decent starts again.

[Ultimate_Game]

But the current side is full of decent players too. Raina, Yuvi, Kohli, Gambhir and Sehwag have played very well in the past but suddenly none of them are able to put bat on ball which makes our lower middle order play extremely slowly and scrape to totals which are not defensible at all. The problem is when proven players don't play well, the ones who are coming in new are put in too much pressure which leads to their failure as well. Regardless of BCCI's measures working or not, the bowling will have slim returns over the next 2 years. That is why batting decline is far more worrisome because you cannot have your entire team rebuilding at the same time and still hope to be a competitive side. The batsmen need to step up and provide decent starts again.

Main problem is our openers. Sehwag & Gambhir are not the same players they were just a couple of years ago. Every game India loses both the openers cheaply and is behind the proverbial 8 ball. Pakis showed today that if openers/top order doesn't fire they would be in the same position as well. The difference between the two teams was that Jamshed was able to score at the top of the order whereas none of our top order players was able to do so. It's time we brough youngsters like Kedar Jadhav or Ishank Jaggi in the odi setip along with Pujara. Once a team starts getting runs from its top order, everything else falls into place.