Middle Order Chaos

MS Dhoni feels that overall,the South African tour which also consisted of three Tests and one T20 ended with honours even. The whole tour was good for both the sides. They won the ODI series,we won the T20,and the Test matches were a draw, Dhoni said after the match on Sunday,before adding,Our batting though didnt really do well in the ODIs,and that was the main reason why we lost the series. But with the World Cup coming up,we are well prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.

Over four previous tours starting 1991,the Indian Test side,like its short-format counterpart,had never left these shores without losing everything at stake. While MS Dhoni and his merry men managed to change that during the Test series with a historic 1-1 draw,the ODI boys werent so lucky,but they did come tantalisingly close at St Georges Park on Friday.

Having reduced SA to 118/5 during the penultimate game in Port Elizabeth,India were in a strong position to go up 3-1. But JP Duminy once again proved to be a thorn in Indian flesh,scoring 71 invaluable runs in that match and 244 at an average of 61 in the series. India ended up blowing their last chance at Centurion on Sunday after Hashim Amla led the hosts with an unbeaten 116,his first century of the series that took him to a series high of 250 runs at 62.50 runs/game.

At the end of the day we had to chase close to six runs an over. We lost wickets consistently and never got back into the match. But the biggest positive to come out of this game,going into the World Cup,is that we know we can chase anything if we have wickets in hand. Our learning outshines the negatives from this game, Dhoni said.

The other learning is also not to leave out a batsman like Yusuf Pathan for the first two one-dayers of a crucial series,considering he was coming off his first century (123 not out) against New Zealand in Bangalore.

Having watched the Durban and Johannesburg ODIs from the sidelines (he was a substitute fielder in the latter),Pathan made a dramatic entry into the side in Cape Town,leading the charge with a match-winning 59. Although he failed in the fourth game,Pathans 105 on Sunday was his third scintillating performance in the last four ODIs.

Yusuf played a few deliveries and then he went after the bowlers. His main strength is to attack and he has been really successful of late. But many of our other batsmen tried to do the same thing and ended up finishing with poor records. Throughout the course of this series,our batting department has not really scored a lot of runs. Its only Virat Kohli up the order and Yusuf in the middle-order, Dhoni added.

The skippers analysis is right. While Kohli leads the Indian run-charts with 193 in five games at an average of 48.25 Pathan is second with166 runs in three. Following them,the numbers drop at an appalling rate. The next best are Suresh Raina (111 at 22.2),Yuvraj Singh (91 at 18.20) and Dhoni (75 at 15),who form the core of the Indian middle-order.

Dhoni states the obvious. The Indian middle order has failed us. Yuvraj can also play a Pathan type innings,but it hasnt worked for him, he says.

Improved bowling

So apart from Pathans No.7 position being set in stone,what has been the biggest positive to come out of these five games for Dhoni and the team management?

Our bowling in the death overs. We dont have express bowlers,but we have bowlers who real good skills. Both teams were struggling throughout the series when it came to the middle-order performing,which means both sides were bowling well. If we bowl like this in the World Cup,Ill be really pleased.

If they had conceded a few lesser,or the middle-order minus Pathan had managed a total of 33 more runs,Dhoni surely wouldve been even more so.