Indian cricket has taken a nosedive since Saurav Ganguly's departure from the top post. Its very hard to believe that this team was last world cup's finalist. Those were the times when we use to proudly say that India is the only team who can beat the Australians. With world class batting line up including Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Sehwag & Laxman, India use to be a threat for any team. What's the reason for dismal performances if we still have same set of players who have won many battles for India, who have made their presence felt in the international arena with their record breaking performances.
It has been often claimed by many that the excessive experimentation is responsible for the team's dismal performances, experimentation has been done with certain key positions like no.3 , where Dravid has proved himself many times. Sehwag has been retained in the squad despite his piteous performances in the last 4-5 series. The inform youngsters like Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthapa, Wasim Jaffer have been ignored to keep an unreliable Sehwag. The dispensable experimenting in 2nd innings of the 3rd test match caused India the test match and the series, it was a gift on a platter given to the Porteas.
Indian team has been very consistent during the last 2-3 seasons in constantly slipping down the various ranking charts. The problem with Indian team is lack of consistency and an attitude of players of taking their positions for granted. The Indian team management rightly sent back Pathan to play Ranji to regain his form rather than just warming the bench in SA, but then same should have been the fate of Sehwag who had a very pity SA tour. Selectors should make it difficult for any player to remain in the team without performing. Domestic cricket should be made more competitive by allowing foreign players in domestic cricket, as Indians go to play county cricket in England. Every player has bad phase in his career, it should be seen as an opportunity to build bench strength and make way for other youngsters, its serving dual purpose. There is no dearth of talent in a country with population of over a billion.
This is a long term plan but the question is can the present Indian team be a threat to the mighty Australians and stop them to win there third consecutive world cup the way Kapil Dev's team did to the then mighty West Indians. Its very difficult to say because cricket is known to be a game of uncertainties. India have quality players with the likes of Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Karthik and the bowling department led by Zaheer Khan, Sreesant, Munaf, Harbhajan, Irfan(hoping he makes a good come back). If they all click together as a team India can beat any team and claim the world cup, am I being too optimistic, who knows, lets wait and watch.