India, the cricket loving nation, where cricket is known as the sports religion, is getting worst and worst results in the Tests and currently ranked in 7th spot in the ICC Test Rankings. Whereas, in the ODIs India is in 2nd position and doing very well by winning the Champions Trophy in England recently in the year of 2013. Since winning the ICC World Cup in the year of 2011, India lost 15 Tests and won 2 tests, whereas India won 21 games out of 44 ODIs and 2 of them were tied. It clearly shows that the different formats of cricket provide Team India the X Factor of winning the matches. In the recent times, India is able to win the close matches, whereas at the same time they lost too many close tests.

Team India woeful at Whites, Incredible in Blue

By wearing the white, Team India lacks the confidence at the time of going to play in tests abroad. In last few series, India shows the intent but at the end they lost the series after losing important momentum. They tried hard and when they were able to draw a match, they used to think that they have already won the match. And if somehow they were able to win a rare match, they used to think they have won the tournament. India’s this mentality is harming a lot in their test playing attitude. India’s batsmen have shown a great resistance currently, but the bowling is lacking the intense. All cricket lovers currently have the query of whether this Indian team is really capable of taking 20 wickets? Does the bowler have the potential to adopt the foreign conditions?

Now the question arises how the same set of bowlers can win games in ODIs. The simple thing is India’s ODI bowlers know how to contain runs in the middle overs. Bowling all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin use to contain runs in the middle overs and for that when the opponent wants to increase their scoring rate, they use to give wickets. However, in ODIs also Indian bowlers are well known for leaking runs in the end overs. This has been a great concern for the Indian captains for a long time. To get the taste of success in all form of the game, India has to find out good bowling options. If not, they have to at least take care of the fitness of the leading bowlers by rotating them like the other leading countries are doing at the moment.

Though India’s bowling is a concern, India’s batting like always is rock solid. India already has leading batsmen in the form of Kohli, Dhoni in the ODIs. The new-comers also have shown their potential to succeed in the highest level. But again, barring a few batsmen like Kohli, Rahane the majority of batsmen is lacking in their consistency. They are showing a great application in India’s flat conditions, However their success in abroad will be the key for India in the long run. This will be the real test of India’s generation”Y’ to prove themselves in the upcoming world cup. The biggest query remains thus, “Can India’s new generation provide another World Cup to this country and India is able to retain the cricket’s biggest cup’”?

Tags: Cricket, ICC Test Rankings, ICC World Cup, ICC World Cup 2015, India, ODIs, Sports, Team India, Tests