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AlookatTeam India'schancesofretainingtheWorldCup title

0nlytwocaptains in thehistoryof tbegamehave successfully defendedaWorld Cup •CliveLloydand Ricky Ponting.Anduntiltwomonths ago, MSDhoniandIndiawere genuinecontenderstorepeatthe featatthe2015WorldCup. They hadjustbatteredthehopelessly underpreparedSciLankans5-0at home, followingstrongdisplaysin homeandawayserieswinsagainst the\Vest IndiesandEngland respectively. However, twomonths isaJongtimeininternational crid,et. Ir canbethedifference berweensparklingformand debilitatingfatigue,peakfitnessand suddeninjury,andinIndia'scase, supremeconfidenceandstifling uncert,'linry.

Irwastl10ughtrbarIndia'slong tourof Australiashouldhelpthem acclin1atiseto theconditionsin time fortheirfirst match against Pakistan on Sunday 15 February 15.Instead,altl1ough Indiahave nowbeen on theseshores forover two monms, thingshaveonlygone frombadtoworse. Thebatsmen showedglimpsesof forminthe Testmatches, but India's tootl.less bowlingattad<wasnothingshort of embarrassing.Now,thetri series againstEnglandandAustraliahas revealedglaringdeficienciesin India'slimited-oversbatting,and tbebowlershavestuckdiligently to theirplanstosa·ivecowards complete mediocrity.

Toputitlightly,Indiawillneed totweaka few nutsandboltsif theywant to emulate thefeats of thegreat sides ofyesteryear.

Thefastbowling issue

It isbothaburdenandablessing thatIndiahavelittleroom toadjusttheirfastbowling attack;itis likely tl1ar three of BhuvneshwarKumar,Ishant

Shanna, UmeshYadavand

MohammedShami willplay in everymatch,andthey canat leastbegenerallysure of their places in the side. However,even includingStuartBinny, inwhose bowlingMSDbonigenerally appears tohavelittle faith, me attackisone-dimensionaland likelytodisappear toallpartsof tl1eground,particularlyinthe 'death overs'whereithasbeenso vulnerablein therecentpast.

WithoutVarunAaron, thereis noout-and-outexpress bowler, a crucial elementinAustralian conditions thateach of the stronger sides have covered.New Zealru1dhaveAdaml'vfilne, South Africahave1forneMorkeland

Dale Steyn, andAustralia- cake your pick. Add in the fact that tl1ereis no left-bandedseamer, and it is clea_rtl1at batsmenwill adjust quickly ro theattack.

Not allbowlers cru1be tl1e spearhead;aspecificroleneeds tobegiven toeachof them.

Whetherit's usingchangesof pace,cutters,bowlingfuUand fast, orhurlingdown short deliveries, eachbowler needstoknowwhat hiscaptain is expecting from him at a particular timeduring the innings, especiallyduring thedeathovers. This ensuresat least somevarietyintheattack whilecementingeach bowler's responsibilitiesandallowing Dhoni to secarelevantfield.

The spin bowling stocks

Indiagoesintorhe tournament with off-break bowler RavichandranAshwin andslow .left-armorthodoxbowlers RavindraJadejaandAxarPatel. However, uncertaintyhangs overeach of diem.Atthe time of writing, tl1einjured Ravindra Jadejahas not yet playedamatch in Australia,all-rounderAxar Patelhas failed to score asingle run,andRaviAshwinhasbarely beengivenachance.[oneofthis inspires any cor1fidence, and India is heavilyrelianton their spinners in the middleovers.

IfIndiacan'tfindtwo performingspinners,theyshould playfourseamers -at least onthesmallerNewZealand grmmds, wheretl1epropensity for spinners todisappearover theshortbom1dariesisimmense. Otherwise,AshwinandJadeja mustbe favouredoverAxar Patel; each is astronger batsman, andaltliough Patelis asimilar bowler toJadejaoperatingfrom a greater height,Jadeja's fielding far outclassesPatel's.

The Dhawan conundrum

Australia's son-iJ1-lawShil,har Dhawan,who lives inMelbourne with biswifeandson,has bad an extremely tough "tour"sofar. Aftera promisingfirst outing in Adelaide, his form bas nosedived. His fragility outside the off-stump basled Indiato search for another openerin their squad; theonlyproblem is, tliey sent their best openerhome after the TestmarcheswhenMuraliVijay departed Australian shores. And so Indiastickswith Dhawan Jcisasignificantproblem.

DLLI1can Fletcherand RaviShastri can only do somuch in such ashort periodof rime tofix Dhawan's technicaldeficiencies. Although therehavebeen suggestionsby commentators suchasIanChappellthatSmart Binnyshouldopen tl1ebatting withAjinkyaRahane, anda casualconversationwitli Indian journalistsrevealstheir strong desire toplay Ashwinattlietop of tl1eorder,ilieseare bits-andpieces solutions.

Thereisnocapable replacement openerin thesquad If Dhawan's formcontinues, there might come atime in the tournamentwhen outlandish ideas maybe the01.ly wayforwardforIndia'sopening combination -justas SriLanka theseshoresfor;

Victors Team Indio celebrateattheend ofthelostWorldCup didwith SanarhJayasuriyaand RomeshKaluwitl1arana in 1996. Don'tbesmprised ifyousee Binny orAshwinfacingupfirst againstone of the weaker a[tacks.

Unlikely does notmean in1possible,andstrangerthings havehappenedinWocldCup history. Bur,if tl1eyfailtoarrest theircurrent slide, India's2015 WorldCupcampaign mayjust derail before itgets off tl1e ground.

India'sWorld Cup 2015squad

l\,fSDhoni(Captain/ \Xlicketl<eeper),Virat Kohli, RavichandranAshwin, Stuart Binny,ShikharDhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, MohammedShami,AxarPatel, AjinkyaRahane,Suresh Raina, AmbariRayudu,lshantSharma, RohitSharma, Umesh Yadav.

Tic .

ketsall soldout for the India-Pak game? Yes,some20,000 people are estimated totravelcoAdelaide fromacrossAustraliaandoverseas forthe Sunday 15 Fehrury match. AdelaideAirportis allgearedup towelcomeIndianandPakistani visirorswith "Namasti'and"Sa!a,11 walek1111!' greetings Bueitwasnoproblemifyou badnorickets forone recentIndiaPakclash:anyoneandeveryone waswelcomecothisgame at Adelaide betweenthetwogreat rivals.

Cricketers fromSouth Australia's lndian andPakistani communitiesplayedaFriendship Cupat KilburnOvalinthename of harmonyrecently.

This newly-createdFriendship Cupbroughttogetherthe two migrant commtmiciesin apreview of thecountries'meetingat AdelaideOvalin theCricketWorld Cup clash. Heldinmid-January,theevent wasthe fusetin1ethecommunities hadcometogetherlocallyfora jointevent.

TheFriendshipCupisanidea tlmtwasdevelopedbyMulticultural Sports&CommunityClub (MSCC) andSouthAusrralian CricketAssociation (SACA) to achievecommlltlaloutcomes.

Theeventwasco-organised with tl1elndianAustralian Associationof SouthAustralia (IAASA) andthePakistani Associationof SouthAustralia (PASA)

Theideawasroprovidea platformwherepeoplefrom different backgrounds cancome togetherandenjoysomethingin agloballanguagesuch asspore. Cricketisjust dieSt'lrt,because that'ssomethingthatcomes to usnaturally,beingfrornthe subcontinent. Giventhesuccess ofthisevent,SAC\andorl1er organisingcommunitieshave agreedcomakeitanannualevent with tl1e potential toincorporate ochersubcontinent communitiesas well(SriLankau,Bangladeshiand Afghani).

Perhaps they will getJ\.micabh Bachchan roprovide the live commentary!

This event helpedpromote greatercollaborationbetween tl1ecultural groups and improved relationsbetween thetwo conmmnicies.Anotl1erobjective of tl1eeventdescribedbyFaisal ChaudhryofMSCC wasto enablerecently arrived migrants toconnectwid1 thewider communtywhileutilisingsport as aglobal language. Heobserved, "Eventssuch astheseenable new arrivalstoconnectwith awide rangeof peopleandgives them aplatform to network and start a newlifewitl1 some very positive resultsrather d1an sufferingsocial isolation."

A Kids' Cricket Clinic was also organisedonthe sameday providingaplatformforthe children fromtl1ecom1mmicies (aged4to 15) cogetinvolvedwith the sportof cricket anddevelop skills, underproperguidancefrom SACA.

This eventalsoprovideda platform foraday's entertainment for mewholefamilyastherewere Bollywoodpetlormauces,food stallswith scrumptiousIndian andPakistani food,hennatattoos, ponyridesand face painringand jumpingcastlefor child1·en. Bollywood dancesbyMudra DanceAcademyandFusion bearskept thecrowdsentertained. SeemaSreeklltl1ar,DevangDave andFahadsangsomefantastic Bollywoodsongs andthrilled d1e audience.

Thepresenceof theLordMayor of theCity of PortAdelaide andEnfield GaryJohnsonand SJ\.JvIEAC (SoumAustralian Mulciculmral andEtlmicAffairs Commission)ChairmanGrace Portolesi encouraged bothme communities.

Bothassociation presidents, brothers-in-armsonthisoccasion, spokewarmlyonbelialfof theircommunities.Dr Rakesh Mohindra,Presidentof IAJ\.SA, acknowledged the contribution of volunteersfrombotl1 the communities. ShahyanShabbir, Presidentof PASAsaidthat rl1eeventhasbroughtboththe communitiescloser.

Team Indiawontl1efirstever FriendshipCup trophywitl1 hopes in every Indian'sheart thatthe officialTeam Indiawillalsotake ICC WorldCup2015trophyhome.