MR NOT SO GOODY TWO SHOES

Last week, my favourite actor had a few things to say about my favourite cricketer, putting me in a tricky spot. Which side to choose? Many agreed to what Naseeruddin Shah remarked. We Indians have had a long list of calm and composed captains. (I know you are thinking of the one exception to that list. I am coming to him in a bit). It's just not in our nature, they all feel. Well. Welcome to the world of a 30 year old Delhi boy. That's essentially what Virat is, isn't he? A young Delhi cricketer who exudes a potent amount of self confidence and passion for the game! Now I know what those on Mr. Shah's side would argue. Was Dravid not passionate about cricket? To which my reply is - this is the beauty of India where a Karnataka lad's expression of passion is so different to that of a Delhite.

So, did Virat cross the line? As someone who has witnessed Sourav Ganguly bringing that much needed attitude in Indian cricket, I say he did not. Ganguly's attitude had a context of what was going on in Indian cricket at the time. A complete overhaul of the mindset was needed and Ganguly systematically inculcated that attitude in his players. For Virat, it's just another day, doing what he had dreamt of doing since his childhood. When you see him reacting to each and every ball bowled by the Indian bowlers, you first admire his energy and the capacity of his mind to handle such a deep sense of involvement in the game. He is there every ball, cheering the wonderful bunch of fast bowlers he has got. He is there in the dressing room balcony, giving standing ovations to his centurion batsmen. He doesn't mind showing his annoyance when someone misfields. You don't have to be a scientist to know how mentally exhausting it must be to do that for 540 balls in a day. Seldom has Indian cricket found such a character before. I won't be a fool to elevate him to the pedestal of an idol. He comes with a lot of flaws as every one of us does. (I do agree that his remark of leave India was distasteful.) What we must realise is that its part of his personality and perhaps the key reason for his phenomenal success. 

We as a society are always quick to pass our judgments about others. It is important to note how that one person who was appointed by the ICC in that position of passing judgements handled the situation which has led to this conversation. Umpires never (I first thought of using 'often' here but 'never' describes their position correctly) get their dues in Cricket. It is the toughest and the most thankless job on that cricket field. Consider Virat's dismissal in the first innings of the Perth test. One of India's biggest bollywood superstars chose a social media platform to declare that Virat was not out, essentially alluding that the umpires had erred. He has that freedom to be emotionally charged to make such statements but the umpires simply followed the procedures to arrive at a decision. Interestingly, Virat's post match presentation answer to a question on the dismissal presents a case on why his on-field behaviour should not be a judgment on his character. "Umpires followed a procedure and made a decision. That is that. Nothing further", he said. 

Let's go back to how Chris Gaffaney handled the situation. His tone while separating the two captains, gentle but firm, made it evident that both of them had not crossed the line. As a spectator, the umpire’s actions indirectly told me that all was well; that it was alright to have enjoyed that banter. I will bite the bullet to go on to say that I enjoyed that confrontation, and his weird bhangra in Adelaide, his extravagant celebrations on fall of every Aussie wicket. It reminds me of a captain who never cared about what people might say. Test cricket so desperately needs such characters on the field. Virat and his antics (which seem organic than forced) make him the player he is. As Rahul Dravid had said - Virat's attitude is the reason for his success. Being who you are is a cornerstone of any successful person.

So to my favourite actor, I will say this. Remember Om Puri Sahab's role in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro? Take Virat's on-field behaviour in the same light. A tad over the top, sometimes slapstick, may seem arrogant to some but extremely essential to the overall picture.
Let's trust Virat's judgment on where that ever so imperceptible line between modesty and arrogance is. In the mean time, I suggest we sit back and be entertained by his extra-terrestrial batting and off course, by the drama of his emotional outbursts on field which, let’s be honest, we so dearly enjoyed 18 years ago from another captain.

THE BEST VERSUS THE FAVOURITES

Against the run of play, as Ravi Shastri likes to call it, India has stormed into the Semi Finals of the World Cup 2015. Apart from the tricky 15 overs spell from Bangladeshi bowlers, India looked in ultimate control and the result of the Quarter-Final was a pre-known eventuality. Indian bowlers have picked 70 wickets in 7 matches. Almost all of its batsmen are looking in a good nick. So India goes into the Semi Final with lot of confidence and good form, which wasn't the story 3 months back when it was repeatedly outclassed by a dominant Australian side. Glen Maxwell has already reminded India of those horrendous 3 months in a press conference. So how should India approach the most important match of its tournament?

To begin with, India needs to win the toss more than Australia does. Though India has chased targets four times in this tournament, three of them were against associate nations, one of which was almost lost if it wasn't for Raina and Dhoni. The Indian top order has looked sharp but a head by head analysis throws in some interesting perspective. Shikhar Dhawan has quickly turned around his fortunes in this World Cup but he now faces the same bunch of bowlers who had made the early part of his Australian summer miserable. As for Rohit Sharma, his innings against Bangladesh was as important as it gets but it is far from suggesting that the man has arrived. It is very difficult to not like the guy but the one word that often gets associated with greatness is consistency. This is his best chance to shun all the criticism because a good batting display from him would certainly take India a long way.

Throughout the Australian test series, only three Indian batsmen came out shining. Two of them are playing this World Cup. This World Cup has thrown two double hundreds, some 440 odd sixes and many 300 plus scores. However, if you want to come on top of this Australian bowling, only big bats will not suffice. Technique is what you need against this fiery Aussie pace attack as each one of them will test every ounce of your technique. Technique-wise, only two batsmen look capable of handling the Australian bowling attack. It is imperative for Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane to be at the top of their game. Because if India has to score anywhere near 300 (my bet is India needs at least 275), both of them have to score a bulk of those runs. Suresh Raina has been wonderful so far in this World Cup but facing the 150 kms plus Mitchell-duo will be a formidable task for him.

That brings me to India’s bowling. It has been the most successful bowling attack in this World Cup. It has bowled out each of its opposition. Surprisingly, short pitch bowling has claimed some 30 odd wickets. However, will the short length be successful against the Australian batting? The answer was perhaps given by Wahab Riaz yesterday. He did make some of the Australian batsmen uncomfortable and India can draw some comfort from that fact. (Indian bowlers can rest assured of no butter fingers in the deep when they are bowling.) Indian pacers must also keep it under control though. Over doing anything is always harmful and the pressure of a semi final may compel the young Indian fast bowlers to overdo the short pitch stuff. India’s real key to success is its spinners. South African spinners (even if that’s a rare species) took 7 wickets on a Sydney pitch. India must not forget this stat. Australia possess Glen Maxwell in the middle order who can take any spinner apart but the line, length and speed with which Ashwin is bowling in this World Cup, it would be very difficult for even someone like Maxwell to hit him consistently. Jadeja is seemingly getting his length right and for an entirely right handed middle order of Australia, he can be very tricky to handle. The Indian fielding will match Australia’s for sure and bowlers will get extra help from a brilliant fielding unit.

All said and done, the best team of the tournament so far meets the favourites and that itself assures a high octane Semi Final. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has never lost a Semi Final of an ICC Tournament. He has not been at his best so far in this tournament, but neither was he in the 2011 World Cup till the final. He chose the final of that World Cup to show his class. Perhaps he is waiting for 26^th of March 2015 for another of his specials. India has been playing wonderful cricket in this tournament without its captain performing. What a statement it would be if the captain chooses the toughest match to come to party.

TALE OF TWO CAPTAINS

The win against Ireland has ensured that India will top Pool B. But that’s not the only achievement this result brings. The win has again brought the age old debate to the fore. Who is the best Indian Captain ever? After being humiliated by Australia in its second match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, India registered 8 consecutive wins to reach the final, where it was beaten comprehensively by Australia again. ICC World Cup 2003 to date remains India’s most romantic cricketing story. M.S. Dhoni now holds the record for the most number of consecutive wins in World Cups for India after India made a meal of the Irish team in the last match. So is it the man who made us believe or is the man who fulfilled our greatest dream?

Comparisons are inevitable in Indian cricket. But the circumstances in which these two cricketers took over captaincy do not give us a fair ground to compare. These very circumstances decided and defined the actions of the two. For Saurav Ganguly, the main task was to instill faith and confidence in the team. He needed to be aggressive, expressive. He had to bring a sense of belonging. He had to carry the excess baggage of poor performances of previous teams and the suspicious eyes of Indian cricket fans. It always played its cricket in a ‘good boy’ manner. Even India’s premier fast bowler Srinath would apologise to a Ponting when his fast bouncer hit his head. No previous Indian captain had dared to speak a few words here and there. So by making Steve Waugh wait for the toss seemed arrogant at that time but gave the team some confidence in a strange way. It was all about making a statement. That punch in the air through a mistimed jump at Brisbane made a statement or the famous shirt wave from Lord’s balcony made a statement. We will not back down. This uncanny confidence rubbed on to the team and this confidence helped India achieve those fantastic results in England, Australia, Pakistan and of course in World Cup 2003.

Dhoni’s choice as captain was a measured risk. Indian cricket had just recovered from a shocker stint of Greg Chappell as coach. What the Indian team required was a bit of calm. That was Dhoni’s biggest strength. Dhoni had to captain a side which had six senior cricketers; some of whom were legends of the game.  Dhoni had the task to captain a team which had three former captains. That is never easy. Dhoni needed to be patient, calm but assertive. These exact qualities made him the captain he is. He had the base of a good team ready. He had the formidable middle order, a bunch of quick bowlers, a great spinner and great young talent. His job was to channelize his resources. It is one thing to have the resources and altogether a different thing to use them effectively. Many times, his captaincy looked rigid, stagnant but almost every time, it yielded results. His ability to extract the best out of a player with minimal words is a great quality to have.

Statistics are often used as a base to compare. Dhoni has the most no. of wins in test matches as Indian captain. He is the only captain in the world who has ICC treble. He led India to the no. one rank in test cricket & to being the best one day team in the world. He is the most successful Indian captain. Statistically, Ganguly does not even come close to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. But Ganguly’s legacy is not in statistics but in the attitude and unorthodox, sometimes controversial decisions he made; be it pushing Rahul Dravid to no. 6 position or asking him to keep wickets, risking a quality player like Sehwag to open the innings, giving unconditional support to youngsters like Yuvraaj, Harbhajan, Kaif & Zaheer Khan.

So how does one compare their performance as captain, if it is that much necessary? The answer has perhaps emerged during the last three-four years. Without the batting legends and a smart bowling leader, India’s test performance reached a new low every time it set foot on a foreign shore. The 4-0 test series losses in England, Australia reminded everybody of India of the 90s. The recent drubbing in England and Australia underlined one huge difference between the captaincy of Saurav Ganguly and M.S.Dhoni.  Where Saurav Ganguly excelled at Test captaincy due to his positive and aggressive attitude, M.S.Dhoni often lacked intent in crucial moments in many away test matches. His ultra defensive techniques allowed matches to drift away. On many occasions, he was found waiting for things to happen instead of making them happen. But the moment he puts on colored clothing, he is transformed into a proactive and attacking captain. It seems he prefers the energy of the shorter format. Also the fact that he is a far better and more successful ODI batsman than a test batsman must help. Overall, there is no doubt in my mind that he is India’s greatest ODI captain of all time. But the test crown belongs to India’s first leader. So have I answered the million dollar question? Perhaps not. May be there is no answer to this question. What I do know for sure is that I am blessed to have watched Indian cricket under both these fantastic leaders.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF WEST INDIES

The idea behind starting this blog was to analyse India’s performances in the ICC World Cup 2015. With a pool that has Pakistan and West Indies, I knew it would be hard to not talk about them. Against Pakistan, India gave me a chance to talk about its spectacular performance. Pakistan too was not at its erratic best in that match. West Indies over the years have given us so much to talk about. The yester years were all about the menacing fast bowling and of Sir Viv Richards. Presently, it’s all about unpredictability and a strange team combination. From the great tales of fast bowling to Samuel’s farcical run out in the last match, West Indies cricket never fails to amuse you.

So, let’s do the headcount. West Indies gives us this giant who regardless of his form intimidates you. Often, he consumes 10 to 15 deliveries to get going and when he gets going, even the big Australian grounds start looking like your backyards. But the thing with him now-a-days is you never know which Gayle would turn up; the one who shreds bowling attacks to bits or the one who is apprehensive about short pitched balls and opts for a hurriedly chosen pull shot to end his misery.  Furthermore, if an official from the West Indies Cricket Board celebrates your failure publicly on twitter, one can guess how difficult life currently is for the man.

When one of your openers is struggling for runs, the other one has to step up. That holds true for every team, except the West Indies. Only West Indies would dare to open with a guy who averages 18. Dwayne Smith might be a handy opener in IPL but West Indies just does not seem to be able to tell between IPL & International Cricket. Even stranger is the reason why it does not select Sunil Narine. He is a good T20 bowler, they say. The fallacy in these two selections is obvious unless of course you have followed West Indies Cricket for a while. The One-Down position is a revered position in cricket. Greats like Rahul Dravid, Rickey Ponting, and Jack Kallis have held this position. West Indies goes with Marlon Samuels. He is inconsistency personified and to put him at number three is being a bit too optimistic. When a batsman who averages 28 in the domestic cricket is playing for you in the middle order in a World Cup held in Australia, ahead of Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, you cannot help but ask yourself - has the quality of this great cricketing nation deteriorated so much or has politics completely taken over?

It’s the West Indies after all and you never know what it would come up with. So after a mediocre batting performance, only West Indies could have made this match close. For the better part of the Indian innings, West Indies bowlers had a hold on the in-form Indian batting. Jarome Taylor, Jason Holder and Kemar Roach bowled with pace and purpose. It was Ashwin’s sensible and calm presence which made Dhoni’s task much easy. West Indies’ only chance to win this match was to pick 10 Indian wickets. Hence the decision to give Marlon Samuels those last few overs was baffling to say the least. Every frontline West Indian bowler had overs up his sleeve when the match finished. Then again, it’s the West Indies and such a move should not come as a surprise.

Anyway now, enough about West Indies! India gained 2 more precious points and is almost certain to top Pool B, but some uncomfortable questions still haunt it. When is Rohit Sharma going to come out of his talent cocoon and start delivering consistently? Will Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina be able to handle serious fast bowling come the business end of the tournament? At the present moment when West Indies seemed to be riddled with some grave problems, India cannot shy away from the fact that it has got one or two of its own.

SLOW DEATH ON THE FASTEST PITCH

Many a times, Media and Experts romanticize a particular match. It could be a statistic or a past incident or a piece of history of the venue or the teams. As Vikram Sathaye says, “half the credit of the excitement of Sachin’s Sharjah innings should go to Tony Craig and his ‘straight down the ground all the way for six’ remark”. With Perth, it’s always the bounce.  Everybody likes to talk about the bounce and the difficulty batsmen face in handling it. It makes the match that much more exciting. Well! Not this one. After a few short balls from Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Mohit Sharma and a brief fiery spell from Umesh Yadav, M.S. Dhoni decided to end the ‘Perth excitement’ and introduced R. Ashwin in the 11^th over itself.

There is a wonderful short story by Alfred Hitchcock in which a nurse is hired to take care of a lone ailing old lady with a healthy will. The nurse tries a ‘slow poison death’ on the old lady by mixing a small portion of a poison in her daily milk. Every time Dhoni’s spinners choke the opposition batting, I cannot help but think of this analogy. That’s how M.S.Dhoni likes it, doesn’t he? While Ashwin and Jadeja slowly strangled UAE’s batting, one fact emerged very strongly, which is encouraging and possibly the most crucial in India’s title defense.

India’s pace bowling looked sharp against South Africa but history of Indian fast bowling tells us that it has been very consistent in one aspect, its inconsistency. India’s current fast bowling is definitely prone to inconsistency.  It is natural and to some extent acceptable if this young pace bowling attack cracks under the pressure of a knock-out game. It needs a dependable back up. Ashwin and Jadeja are experienced enough to take that responsibility.

Quality spin attack is the only factor which distinguishes India from rest of the Quarter-Finalists. It certainly gives India some comfort in a potential banana skin match against Ireland. In Australia, spin has to be the ventilator in case the heart fails. UAE is an associate nation. Sachin’s Desert Storm in 1998 is the most scintillating moment in India’s association with UAE till date. It was unlikely that this match was going to match up to it. But Ashwin and Jadeja’s performance in the match, on the back of last two matches will give India confidence that it can depend on them. Dhoni will be beyond doubt depending on his spinners with all his silly points, short legs and leg slips. That’s how he likes it. That’s how he prefers it. Strangle them until they choke. Slow death so that you enjoy every bit of it. Just like the master, Alfred Hitchcock.

THE LITMUS TEST

It was in 7^th standard when I was first introduced to litmus paper. I still have no idea when and why that paper turned pink or blue or whatever. But it helped me realize two things; one that I had no career in science and the other was the true sense of the phrase the Litmus Test. The Indian Cricket team has certainly passed its Litmus test yesterday at Melbourne Cricket Ground, which actually could have passed as any Indian venue. Out of the eighty six thousand gathered, at least eighty five must have been Indians. But that’s a given in any country at any Cricket ground. Mark Nicholas got the exact sense of the atmosphere when he called MCG a Colosseum. The grandeur in the atmosphere definitely deserved a befitting performance.

The Pakistan game helped India in many ways. The top order has cracked the code, it seems. Give the first 20 overs to the bowlers and take the rest. Virat Kohli for all his angry man’s image has never looked so calm. His innings was again the foundation even though his score was not that big. He set the tone with his 46 and guided India’s approach against the lively South African bowling in the early parts of the innings.

Ajinkya Rahane has scored a test match century on a green pitch at Lords and another on a bouncy pitch at MCG and has established himself as a good test batsman. He came at a crucial juncture in this match when South Africa tried to get the initiative back. He started striking the ball cleanly and his rate of scoring never allowed South Africa to get its nose ahead. His innings was the most decisive in terms of keeping the momentum with India. Another mini collapse at the end raises an alarm but by that time yesterday, Indian batting had already put up a challenging score, all thanks to one man.

Shikhar Dhawan looked lost in the test matches and the triangular series that preceded the World Cup. He showed a bit of spark in the practice matches. However, the innings against Pakistan has brought back his swagger. He is looking much more in the zone now. Shikhar Dhawan definitely does not possess the greatest of techniques but more often than not in One Day Cricket, confidence makes up for lack of technique. He has certainly found his confidence, his form and some valuable runs for India. As it turned out, his innings was the real difference between both the sides.

About six to seven months ago, when Indian bowlers were getting smashed all over the place on flat Indian pitches, a troubling question emerged - can India have any chance in the World Cup with such an average attack? It is very early to say that the question does not hold its ground today but surely, it has started to fade out. The length and the speed at which Indian pacers bowled yesterday were unbelievable, in fact at many occasions shocking. In a match that featured Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Wayne Parnell, Umesh Yadav bowled the second fastest ball of the match at 147 Km/h. When was the last time Indian bowlers outperformed Dale Steyn & Co. in bowling fast? Not in the last decade and there is quite a good chance that it won’t happen again for another decade. After seeing South African spinners do a good job, Indian spinners were naturally expected to do well. Jadeja, after a long time found his immaculate line and length. Ashwin has continued his rediscovery. However, with four spinners on offer on the field, two legends stole the show with some brilliant camaraderie and superb one-liners in the commentary box. Anil Kumble and Shane Warne were the two best spinners yesterday for sure.  

This now brings me to the best part of India’s performance. Indian fielding was at an altogether different level yesterday. They matched South Africa if not bettered them and that requires some taking. There was a school boy enthusiasm to India’s presence on the field and its captain cool just let them be. India has not seen its fast bowlers dive and stop the ball so many times in one match. The two throws from the outfield that resulted in two crucial run outs would have made Brett Lee very proud.

“When it’s your day, it’s your day.” That was Michael Hussey’s summary of the match. On many counts, it holds true but perhaps the source of team India’s near perfect performance was its game against Pakistan which has calmed nerves. And here’s the best part.  With Bangladesh sharing points with Australia, and England being England, there is quite a good chance that India might be playing its quarter final against Bangladesh. India is now just one good game away from a place in the World Cup Semi Finals. Then on, who knows……

WHY THE WIN AGAINST PAKISTAN WAS IMPORTANT!

For the last 2 and a half months, Indian Cricket fans have been turning on their Television sets at inhuman early hours to see a worthy performance from young Indian side. While the Indian batsmen surprised us at almost every juncture, the Indian bowlers compelled us every time to ask one question, why did we sacrifice our sleep to see this school level bowling? 

After the test series, we somehow tricked ourselves into believing that the miserable performances were related to the format and not the team and the coloured clothing would bring the best out of this team. But then some strange team selections took over. Shikhar Dhawan was persisted with despite poor form. Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma were all given the new ball. Every possible spinning combination was tried which included 2 left arm spinners as well. But the most worrisome move was Virat Kohli’s batting position at number 4. His form was the key to India's ambitions in the World Cup and he evidently struggled at his new position.

So after 70 days of continuous defeats, India’s World Cup chances looked very bleak and worst of all, it made everybody very skeptical about India's big ticket match against Pakistan. Lack of form was a concern, if not the concern, but India's history in the previous World Cups suggested that it had one more odd stacked against it.

If we look at the previous World Cups, India has never started its campaign convincingly. It has always struggled in the early parts of the tournament, be it losses against Australia and Sri Lanka in 1996 or that agonizing and frustrating defeat against Zimbabwe in 1999 or its lethargic batting performance against the Dutch and a humiliating loss against Australia in 2003. Even in its triumphant 2011 story, Indian bowling conceded 280 runs against Bangladesh in its first match, tied its second match against England and lost to South Africa. The format of the tournament in these editions (with minimum 5 league games) allowed India to recover and gather much important momentum. Perhaps it was one of the crucial reasons for India's group stage exit in 2007 as it lost 2 out of only 3 group matches. In this context and in the backdrop of a disastrous couple of months down under, India's first match against Pakistan was much bigger than the much talked about 6-0 record.

So what has this match achieved? First and foremost, it has given India its playing 11. The idea to persist with Shikhar Dhawan has yielded fruitful results. His calm and composed innings suggests that he is ready to battle his natural instincts. You are never away from a rush of blood from Shikhar Dhawan. He did not have one against Pakistan; more importantly, he never looked like having one. One good innings is definitely not the yardstick but his desire and perseverance was definitely visible. In Australia, It’s a pre-requisite to have your openers in form. In that sense, Shikhar Dhawan’s innings was reassuring to say the least. India had successfully implemented a theory in its ICC World T20 title in 2007. Even though it had a destructive opening pair in Sehwag and Gambhir, more often than not, India had chosen to score at 7 runs per over in the first 7 to 8 overs. It allowed its middle order to cut loose. There was a similar pattern to Indian top order’s approach in this game. They looked to keep wickets in hand for the last 10 overs. Even Pakistan, in its early stages of chase seemed content with 4.50 runs per over. The new rule of only 4 players outside the inner circle in non-Power Play overs will allow teams to catch up in the last 10 overs. India certainly possesses the hitting prowess for the last 10 overs. In this perspective, Shikhar Dhawan’s innings and his form are priceless for India.

Virat Kohli is India’s best batsman today and he needs to play at the best possible position. In the post match presentation, he said that his role is to anchor the innings such that big hitters around him could do their job. If Virat Kohli is India’s anchor, then number three has to be his place. He looked to bat through the innings against Pakistan and he can best do it at number 3.

Even though the World Cup is in Australia, the need of a quality spinner is of paramount importance for every team. R. Ashwin’s middle-leg line has been good for containing runs but he has to be India’s wicket taking bowler. Surprisingly, he bowled a perfect line, just outside of off stump, in this match and the returns followed almost immediately. To add to his superb line, he gave flight to the ball and bowled at a much slower than usual pace. R. Ashwin’s performance has to be one of the biggest positives of this match and a lesson to him on his line and the pace at which he should bowl.

The most important thing that India’s win over Pakistan has achieved is now India goes into its match against the much fancied South African team with much more confidence and much less pressure. A loss against Pakistan would have put added pressure on the match against South Africa and 2 straight losses would have jeopardized its entire campaign.

India’s performance against Pakistan was far from being perfect. Its collapse towards the end hints at the lack of form of its skipper. Jadeja is seemingly struggling with his batting. Umesh Yadav’s frequent loss of sense of direction while bowling is a major concern. Yes, his was the over which turned the match around but the deliveries on which he got his wickets were definitely not wicket taking scorchers. Both were more of a batsman’s mistakes than the bowler’s wickets. The ease with which Misbah-Ul-Haq hit boundaries towards the end highlights the vulnerability of Indian pacers to bowl in the Power Play and in death overs.  Despite these shortcomings, it is perhaps the most important result for India in this World Cup Defense. Not so much for the 6-0 statistic. That one is for media glorification to build bytes and stories. This one is important because it certainly has brought back some hope and much required self belief in the Indian dressing room.