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What's wrong with the Indian cricket team? Speak up!
Can't bat, can't bowl, can't field! The tagline fits Team India perfectly at the moment.
Whitewashed 4-0 in England last year, it seems the team hasn't learnt anything from that experience, and looks set for a similar verdict in Australia.
- What's wrong with the Indian cricket team?
It's only the end of the second Test, but already whispers of a whitewash are out in the open.
Going down fighting is one thing, but losing two Tests in a row, inside four days, is not acceptable.
Team India unable to learn from past mistakes
Dhoni and his men are unable to learn from past mistakes. The batsmen were all over the place in the first innings at Sydney and the lowly first innings score of 191, as they lasted just 59.3 overs on the opening day, eventually cost them the match.
- What's wrong with the Indian cricket team?
India's much-vaunted batting line-up has little to boast about, failing to register a single century in two full innings on a surface where Michael Clarke hammered 329 not out and Ricky Ponting (134) and Mike Hussey (150 not out) also had success.
India's bowling as flat as ever
The less said about the bowling, the better.
- What's wrong with the Indian cricket team?
Except for Zaheer Khan's initial burst, when he took three quick wickets, it was flat as ever.
Australia put up 659 runs for the loss of four wickets in 163 overs, scoring at more than four runs per over in the course of their innings, giving their bowlers enough time to bowl out the tourists.
Below par performances
There were a few below par performances from the visitors.
- What's wrong with the Indian cricket team?
Virat Kohli scored 23 and five in the two innings, Virender Sehwag (30 and 4) threw his wicket away on both occasions, R Ashwin bowled 44 listless overs for 157 without taking a wicket, Umesh Yadav failed to find his bearings right, giving away 123 runs in 24 overs, and Ishant Sharma provided only glimpses of his bowling prowess while taking one for 144 in 33 overs.
Dhoni's captaincy under cloud too
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy also had its share in the bowlers' poor showing. They were not helped by the defensive field settings that allowed the Aussie batsmen to score easy singles and get settled.
- What's wrong with the Indian cricket team?
There are several reasons for India's tame surrender in the Sydney Test, but Dhoni refrained from laying the blame on individuals.
"What we need to do is not just blame one individual. As a team we need to perform," Dhoni said after the defeat.
Problems galore so far
It takes us back to the 1990s when defeats in overseas Tests were seen as something normal. Even a draw in the next Test at Perth will be a moral victory for India now.
- What's wrong with the Indian cricket team?
Just a few months back India was ranked the No. 1 Test team; now they are getting trashed in every Test played away from home.
What's wrong with the Indian team at the moment? Is it inexperience in bowling? It is the aged batting line-up unable to deliver, or is it Dhoni's captaincy?
- Have your say