By contrast, India were slow in the field. Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma look good, not world beaters but good, and there are at least four slow movers in the deep. But the most worrisome is Yuvraj Singh. Not long ago, he was electric at point, hit the stumps from anywhere and was among the best fielders in the world. I don’t know if it is the knee injury that is hampering him but he is now a shadow of the fielder he was even as his frame grows larger.

Batting shocker

But in the end, as Dhoni pointed out, it was the batting that let India down. Anil Kumble, who was with us in the studio, believes 75 per cent of matches are won by the batsmen and indeed, batting has always been India’s stronger suit. It was one area that nobody believed India would have trouble in, especially after the IPL and after a couple of encouraging performances from Gambhir after that. But here, he wasn’t the dominant batsman he can be and Dhoni has now evolved from a punisher into a nudger. Maybe it was by design initially, but it is now part of him, though I sense, based on what he said after India’s exit, that he will renew his search for the destroyer who still lurks within him.

The other major difference with the IPL that was overlooked by all of us, and which became increasingly apparent, was that at the World T20, teams have four or five quality bowlers. By contrast the Deccan Chargers played the second half of the event with no more than two good bowlers in RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha. The Royal Challengers had to slip in five or six overs somewhere and even the Chennai Super Kings had a couple of bowlers who were in no danger of playing for India. There is, therefore, always a bowler or two who can be targetted. At the World T20 the runs had to come off quality bowlers except maybe, in the game against the West Indies. Maybe batting is easier in the IPL.

... contd.