The composition of a team is heavily dependent of four regular bowlers while a few non-regular bowlers mostly take the slot of the fifth bowler. It is always a big risk if one or two of the regular bowlers concede a few runs extra.
Ideally, the four bowlers should bowl really well in order to give that extra cushion to the fifth bowler. As it is, extreme domination of batsmen in one-dayers these days has put the bowlers under enormous pressure. When the regular bowlers are struggling to keep the batmen quiet, the role of the non-regular bowlers can only worsen the situation.
To me, the Indian plan of going with seven batsmen, that too on subcontinent wickets, seems luxurious. The problem with the current Indian team is that neither do they have an experienced fifth regular bowler, nor they can rely on the current crop of bowlers.
While Murali Kartik is hardly inspiring, newcomer Ramesh Powar's off spin is not in the same league that of Harbhajan Singh.
The absence of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan has multiplied the bowling worries not only in the fifth bowler's slot but also with the place of the fourth bowler. The opponent straightaway gets 20 easy overs. And if one of the three fast bowlers concede too many runs, then the entire bowling department looks pathetic.
When Pakistan were struggling at 65 for 4 on Friday, a regular bowler running in to get wickets would have been more purposeful than Sachin or Sourav chancing their arms. Indians definitely lost the game missing out on the regular bowlers.
Let me also tell you this is not the first time such things have happened. We have lost so many games in the recent past because of non-regular bowlers. Only a bowling department, working independently within the team, can find solutions to these problems.
Shoaib Akthar's action once again became a point of discussion after the Indian captain made some comments on it. But then, Ganguly was only answering to a question put across by the media.
This topic, perhaps, will be debated forever. Sourav also is well aware of the authority, who gave Shoaib's action a clean chit after it had come under scrutiny a few years ago.
Moin Khan kept his cool and allowed Abdul Razzaq to be more aggressive. Moin's experience took the game away from the Indians, who fought back so well at one point of time. The wicket had something in it for both bowlers and the batsmen.
After the fall of Younis Khan's wicket, Indian should have applied pressure by operating through Zaheer or Balaji. Ganguly relied on Sachin a lot. It only took the pressure away.
Ganguly will have to rethink about Powar's inclusion. Powar was not able to bowl his full quota of overs in both the matches. Although Powar has shown some fighting character overall, he has to contribute more with his bowling.
Ganguly is not converting his initial twenties to big ones. In my opinion he should come at number three. Having opened the innings successfully for long, Ganguly coming in at number three can create problems for the Pakistan bowlers in finding the right length and line for the right-hand and left-hand combination.
With the Indians trailing in the series, it is time to level it first and then going for the kill.
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