Dear Captain Dhoni,
Since 15 months we heard, India is preparing for World Cup. As a result despite huge record losses, team and captain was not changed even in Test matches. Still as India lost the semifinal, the Indians showed maturity and in fact ran a campaign against Times Now to support the team that lost without any fight. But, you surprised us. Your concerns are not for batsmen who did not show any fight on a flat track, but your concerns are for the bowlers, who were the best in World Cup. Why Mr. Captain!!
World Cup 2015: Schedules and Results
World Cup 2015 Team Statistics: India Batting and Bowling
7 matches 70 Wickets is a World Cup Record. Indian bowlers were the best and most successful of the 14 teams. But you have concerns only about the bowlers!! You point out that the state teams are not handling the national bowlers properly. Interestingly, you FORGOT TO NAME IPL where statistics show Indian national bowlers bowl more than what they bowl for their state level teams.
The Indians are mature and they accepted semifinal defeat very well. After all, the nation that has seen record defeats and humiliations in past 15 months must be thankful that at least this team reached the semifinal. The Indian team could not even reach the final of Asia Cup in Bangladesh; forget about the Tri-series of Australia where we did not even win a match even against England.
Still, World Cup was a fresh start and we appreciate your mode of giving rest to all. It worked. Players came fresh and relaxed. India created a world record of winning 7 matches bowling out opponents. Who did that? How many times batsmen stood as a unit? In two matches as the top order failed, you as batsman ensured that Indians somehow win while chasing a small total.
So, if you count on fingers can you tell in 8 matches of World Cup 2015 how many times batsmen stood as a unit? Why do you have no suggestions or concerns for them!! Are you back to the old model of blaming only bowlers?
Your concern for bowlers though is justified as mostly they have failed in the past 15 months. But at the same time, you name only the state teams as the responsible factor. Did you forget that the same bowlers play for IPL and Champions League T20 also?
Data shows that the national level Indian bowlers bowl more in IPL and Champions league than they bowl for state level teams.
If you want to compare what the bowlers of other nations do then you are in for a shock. Data shows that all the international bowlers of all countries contribute a lot towards their state teams also in local leagues as well as T20 events. Ask the bowlers from Australia, South Africa, England and New Zealand.
So, your concern towards bowlers has raised many other questions too. Remember pointing one finger at others, leaves 4 fingers pointing towards the individual.
1. Why have you again picked only bowlers for your concern? Do you think batsmen of the team have no performance challenges?
2. Why have you picked only state associations and intentionally left out IPL and CLT20 events? Don’t bowlers play there?
3. Are you back to your old model of blaming bowlers only for every failure?
We thought that in World Cup 2015 you are a much transformed captain. For 7 matches you showed that as the bowlers had a dream run, and as a result India had a dream run too. But, just one loss that too on a flat track that too against one of the best batting line up, and you have started concentrating on bowling?
As an Indian fan, we would expect the captain to speak few words about that too. You are one of the best captains to lead India. But time and again the way you forgive batsmen and pick only bowlers has baffled all. It might have been justified before. But at least after a very successful world cup, it appears very strange how you can question the bowlers!!
In an effort to shield batsmen, you may have forgotten but we do remember that even after semifinal loss and 8 matches our bowlers had taken more wickets than the bowlers from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
A defeat hurts everyone. It will surely hurt you specially after your valiant effort. But, just pointing about improvement areas of bowlers hurts the Indians as we saw how exceptional our bowlers were, and how ineffective our batsmen were as a unit. Irony, we proudly call ourselves a nation with the best talents in batting. These batsmen chickened out when they played the best. But the concern is reserved only for bowlers.
Thanks,
An Indian Cricket Fan
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