The series in South Africa was the last chance for the Indian players to get a feel of the ODIs just before the ICC World Cup 2011 at house. Competing against a crack team in their own backyard was almost certainly the toughest and the greatest dress rehearsal for Dhoni's men.
India is facing injuries galore. Most of them are either lengthy standing troubles or recurring in nature. Virender Sehwag's shoulder is dodgy given that last two years Gautam Gambhir's dream run with the bat has been woefully replaced by a streak of injuries.
But possibly the principal reason behind the wrinkles on Dhoni's forehead is his inconsistent and brittle fast bowling attack. Praveen Kumar is out of the series with an injured arm, Sreesanth is nursing his hurt elbow. Zaheer Khan is currently on a break from his lengthy-term relationship with injuries and that break could end any time. That leaves us with Munaf Patel, whose fitness levels are not precisely world class.
Even if it is assumed all these men will be fit and readily available for the World Cup, the worry doesn't end there. Except Zaheer, every person on that list has the tendency to blow hot and cold in the identical over.
While Sreesanth, with his perfect seam position and swinging abilities, can be lethal, his desire to make too lots of things happen in one delivery normally results in a ridiculously wayward pitch-map. Praveen Kumar is the 'king of nights'. He relishes bowling under the lights and makes the ball move around in overcast conditions but when it's dry and sunny, his military medium pacers are anything but unplayable.
Nehra and Munaf have experience on their side. But again, accuracy and pace-variation are their only weapons. And none of the two men is Glenn McGrath. The unresponsive sub-continent tracks will only expose their weaknesses. Yet, the truth is, these four men comprise India's finest achievable pace attack and MS Dhoni has accepted the fact, or rather, resigned to it.
"Honestly speaking, these are the four-five rapidly bowlers we have got. We do not have a lot of options to play with. So we have to back them to do well. Whether they are in match practice or not, what is crucial is that we take care of these bowlers and they should really go in the World Cup without any injuries."
Agreed that it's not that only the bowlers who are guilty of inconsistency. The young middle-order led by the senior but terribly out of form Yuvraj Singh has hardly anything to boast about when it comes to producing outcomes day in and day out. But the presence of fitter than ever Sachin Tendulkar and return of the Sehwag-Gambhir duo will lend them immense solidity. Reborn Virat Kohli and versatile Dhoni are capable of playing the adapting game. And as far as injury issue goes, batsmen are a lucky lot as compared to the quick bowlers.
Dhoni's most desperate World Cup prayer would be that his four pacemen rise above their possible to put up a powerful consistent performance and at the exact same time, maintain their brittle bodies. A lot of India's chances in the will depend on how that prayer in answered.
As the cricket World Cup kicks off from 19th February 2011, catch all the action over the internet including cricket world cup live scores, videos, images and considerably more.
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