India on a roll

Ardent fans of Indian cricket would have given a lot in exchange for the team’s current position in the World Cup. With commanding victories over Pakistan and South Africa — on paper, India’s toughest opponents in the league stage — M.S. Dhoni’s men seem likely to top Pool B and secure a quarterfinal against one of the lesser lights of Pool A. Of course, nothing in sport is so straightforward; plenty can happen over the next month to change things significantly. But the wonder of it all is that such a state currently exists. For, having spent two-and-a-half months in Australia without a win, India’s credentials were buried under the debris of defeat and despair. Not too many knew that India had an ODI win-loss record second only to Australia since the 2013 Champions Trophy; and only a few assigned any significance to the fact that having won that very competition in England and Wales and the World Cup in 2011, India was the only side in the last four years that knew what it took to triumph in a big tournament in this format of the game. There were entirely justified questions about whether India could summon its best in Australia and New Zealand, where conditions demand considerable adaptation. But after two sensational Sundays, the team is no longer a dark horse; it has now been installed as one of the favourites.

Typical of Dhoni-led sides, India has done it in a manner that defies easy explanation. Both in the previous World Cup and the Champions Trophy, the team didn’t so much repair flaws as transcend them: the lift in the fielding standards of a largely unathletic side during the 2011 final was inexplicable, as was the dramatic refinement in batting against the moving ball in 2013. Against both Pakistan and South Africa over the last nine days, India was nothing like the side that had struggled in Australia in the preceding months. The batting was patient and calculated, with bursts of explosive hitting; although some momentum was lost towards the end, the totals put on the board were excellent big-match scores. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli shook off their poor tri-series form. Suresh Raina proved again that pressure brings out his best, while Ajinkya Rahane confirmed the impression that he is unobtrusively becoming exceptional. Most striking of all was the turnaround in bowling, written off as a liability before the World Cup. Seamers Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma and off-spinner R. Ashwin found ways of defending and attacking without giving as much away as they had in the recent past. The intensity in the field rose, enhancing the bowlers’ efforts. India still isn’t the best team in the event, but its rivals know that on big days few sides handle the occasion better.