Letters: No steam in the team

The Weekend Ruminations “A 2-man advantage” (March 19) by T N Ninan highlighted the weaknesses prevailing in the Indian cricket team. How bad or good a team is, largely depends on its output on a given day. It, therefore, depends on team India’s capacity to withstand pressure and transfer it to the opponent’s den. Cricket is a game in which a team should possess an X factor to outplay opponents, not only by performance but also by forcing them to commit errors.

There is too much pressure on the opening pair of Sehwag and Tendulkar, and often their good work is not supported by other batsmen. Though India’s batting line-up is exemplary, consistency remains a big problem. Even running between the wickets is far from satisfactory. Many of our batsmen are easily satisfied with a single run, even when there is scope for another. A further cause of worry is our fielding. For instance, it is often noticed that a team India fielder standing in the deep never runs towards the ball but waits for it to come to him, giving extra runs to opposing batsmen. Much of the success of a bowler is directly related to the assistance given by fielders. He cannot be blamed if simple catches are dropped or if the ball is not stopped at the right time.

Given this, it is not surprising that even matches against minnows like Ireland and Netherlands were no cakewalks for team India.

Prem K Menon, Mumbai