Monday, May 2, 2002 In a best-case scenario, India have 28 matches (that's counting the finals of the NatWest Trophy in England in June and the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka in September) to get their act together for the World Cup. That's quite a number of matches for practice, but not quite as many as they need considering that some fundamental questions are still unanswered.

Barring two or three names, everyone knows which Indian cricketers will be on the plane to South Africa, but the Indian one-day team is far from settled. The 2-1 victory over West Indies was well earned, but let it not be forgotten that it was only a battle of the weaklings: India missed three catches and a stumping in the finals and several of their batsmen could have been run out by a sharper fielding side. Better teams would have made them pay. It will be futile, of course, to expect dramatic improvements in areas like out-cricket and fitness, but the Indian management will have to settle a few big issues if India are to have a chance.

Sachin's place in the puzzle
Sachin Tendulkar is not merely the most successful batsman in the history of one-day cricket, but the very soul of Indian cricket. He has been virtually unstoppable since he took to opening the innings, mounting a mind-numbing pile of runs at an astonishing strike-rate. In most circumstances, disturbing his batting position would be sacrilegious.

But the situation for India is not normal. They have had two opening batsmen with 18,826 runs, 49 hundreds and 102 fifties between them and a lower-middle order that can't be trusted to score 50 runs in the last 10 overs while chasing. They have undoubted talent down there but the Yuvrajs, Kaifs and Mongias need a chaperon, a commander who can both lead from the front and nudge from behind.

Tendulkar, the elder statesman and batting virtuoso, has both the skill and the mind to do this expertly. He has mastered the art of the deft touch and the precise placement. His sharp running makes every ball count in the middle overs and he commands every big shot in the book for the big overs at the end. All he needs to do is reverse the pattern of his batting: start by accumulating and end with a bang and let Virender Sehwag do the hustling at the beginning. Sachin has got his hundreds, it's time for him to start finishing the job. Michael Bevan has only six one-day hundreds but Tendulkar wouldn't want to go down as a lesser matchwinner than him. Now that he has been persuaded to go in at No. 4, that's where he should stay.

Don't trust Dravid's gloves
It took eight disastrous Test performances by Deep Dasgupta for the Indian team management to realise the folly of playing a wicketkeeper for his batting. What price must India pay again to finally understand that wicketkeeping, even in one-day cricket, is a specialist's job? Rahul Dravid is a thorough professional and an exemplary team man, who can keep wicket in an emergency. He might be tempted to take on the job for a longer term to secure a place in the one-day side, but it might cost India a few matches. His legside collection is gauche; he is often ill-positioned to gather throws and he lacks the natural reflexes of a wicketkeeper. He muffed up a number of collections yesterday and missed stumping Brian Lara. But it's not his fault. Wicketkeeping is not his job. It is a fact that India don't have a Gilchrist, a Boucher or a Sangakarra. They must learn to live with it.

So long, Srinath
Javagal Srinath has a made a strange decision to retire from Test cricket and carry on playing one-dayers till the World Cup when wisdom dictated otherwise. India would have needed him more for their Test campaign in England than for the NatWest trophy. Still, it will be difficult to ignore his claims completely. Ever since he learnt the virtue of bowling a good length, he has been a much better bowler in both versions of the game. He bowled with guile and discipline in the one-day series in South Africa and his experience might be valuable in the World Cup. But selectors must resist the temptation to pick him. He is a poor fielder, has completely lost his utility with the bat, but more crucially he has no apparent zest for the game. He has been a worthy soldier for India, but sentiments have no place in the battlefield.

Get them a shrink
In the latest issue of Wisden Asia Cricket, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly talks about benefiting from the help of a professional psychologist during the early years of his career. Cricket is as much a game of the mind as it is of the body. India now have two professionals to put their cricketers' bodies in shape, they can afford one more to add some steel to their mind.

Sambit Bal is editor of Wisden.com India and Wisden Asia Cricket magazine.

More Indian View
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Ganguly can't stay at 3

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