Dhoni has to ask himself why India is in a spot at all

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was not being facetious when he said he missed three bowlers in the match against Pakistan, as the match against Australia on Monday showed. Once the threat of the new ball on a pitch that had some early juice was seen off by Ponting and Paine, the lack of penetration in the Indian attack was despairingly manifest.

Ashish Nehra (particularly) and Praveen Kumar were impressive in their opening spells, but by the time the first power play was completed, the pressure was entirely on the Indian team as the bowlers struggled to keep the runs down, leave aside take wickets.

Ishant Sharma was profligate once again, swayed by the life in the pitch perhaps. He bowled too short, gave too much width, and was hit for too many runs. Mishra was accurate without looking dangerous. Perhaps most disappointingly, Harbhajan Singh was off colour again.

Dhoni, having looked everywhere on the field for options, finally looked up for divine intervention. The thundershower that arrived to disrupt the match would have only alleviated his disappointment to the extent that his team is still alive in the tournament for another day. But to reach the semis from here would require not only extraordinary effort, but also extraordinary luck.

India have to beat the West Indies by a huge margin, and Australia will have to be skinned by Pakistan. Both these things happening almost simultaneously would test cricketing credulity. Stranger things have happened in this game, but Dhoni will ask himself why his team finds itself in this position at all. It is not just that the bowling has been a letdown. The batting moved in fits and starts against Pakistan and the fielding... well, let's not even go there.

In a topsy-turvy tournament (favourites South Africa, so are Sri Lanka, injury-hit New Zealand have surprised people, and England have surprised even themselves) it would be churlish to criticise only India. If South Africa and Sri Lanka have been highly erratic, India have been lacklustre.

The body language has been uninspiring, and the performances have lacked élan. It could be argued that the absence of three key players in Sehwag, Zaheer and Yuvraj hurt the team's prospects badly, but that's precisely where 'champion' character and mettle comes in.

Sanjay Manjrekar remarked during the course of Monday's match how much he admired the Australian way for their utter refusal to make excuses. "Even if they are missing key players, that is never offered as reason," he said. This explains why Ponting's team, despite its recent travails, is still not giving up its fight to retain the number spot in Tests and ODIs.

India who have only recently flirted with that position, must acquire similar zeal to ensure that such status is not lost easily.

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Sometimes Cowdrey, sometimes Jardine, Andrew Strauss’s split personality has provided the tournament with its most engaging talking point.

The two former England captains, for the uninitiated, represent two extreme positions in the game. Colin Cowdrey was a gentleman even though a professional, while Douglas Jardine, a gentleman by the then definition, was a hard-boiled pro who would stop at nothing to win.

Strauss, who overruled the umpire and recalled Angelo Matthews in the best spirit of the game after the Sri Lankan was run out because he had crashed into bowler Graham Onions, cussedly refused to give South African skipper a runner when he suffered from cramps.

"You should be prepared for such things if you play a long innings," he said tersely after the match. Smith overcame his dejection and came back with a counter. "My experience suggests that this game, like the world, comes around completely."

England are touring South Africa shortly. Fireworks are expected.