Time for some bold moves

Batting line-up does not look secure any more, and some changes may be necessary

MANCHESTER: India's performance at Old Trafford must rate as bad as the defeat against Bangladesh in the World Cup. Admittedly, England's young stars Stuart Broad and Ravi Bopara showed tremendous application and spunk, but that in fact compounds the embarrassment for a star-studded side which seemed to get cold turkey in the face of victory.

Indeed, the team has slipped up so much in the last week that Rahul Dravid would discover that he is back to square one, as it were, the superb victory in the Test series a distant memory now, the morrow full of dread. Surreal as it may seem, suddenly India can't bat, bowl or field to win a match. So where does the captain go from here?

With three matches remaining, technically India can still win this one-day series. But if the run of play is any indication, it could be 5-2 or even 6-1 in England's favour. Dravid's running out of time, and must take bold measures to stem the disaster.

After the Old Trafford game, the captain lamented that his batting had not delivered 30 runs more. "That would have made the task difficult for England," he said. By mere logic, perhaps yes, but considering the form and motivation of his struggling players, maybe not.

The batting line-up, so strong on paper, does not look secure any more, and some changes - in the personnel and the order - may be necessary. Karthik's form as a batsman is waning, Dhoni's has been dismal - as batsman and keeper. Perhaps the captain has to make a choice between the two to accommodate somebody from the reserves bench.

A total of 212 looked hopelessly short by 30-40 runs, but England's batsmen showed the same excitability, playing some airy-fairy shots, throwing away their wickets to be reduced to 114 for 7 in less than 25 overs. From there only one side looked likely to win, and it will haunt Dravid for many years, that it wasn't the one he was leading.

The bowlers, who had done splendidly in the first half, suddenly seemed to lose sting as Broad and Bopara got over their nervousness, and took control of the situation in the middle. It could be argued that Dravid should have attacked more, but with whom else, and how, if his main wicket-takers suddenly start flagging?

The fielding, of course, has become something of a joke, and if Dravid was not captain of the team, he would perhaps watch the replay as a late-night comedy show to keep himself regularly amused on this long tour. Fact is, India have only one brilliant fielder in Yuvraj. Of the remaining, five are what is called 'safe' in old cricketing parlance - which means passengers in modern parlance - while six are bad, bad, bad in the parlance of any era.

So where indeed does Dravid go from here? Considering the remarkable success story scripted by 21-year-old Broad and 22-year-old Bopara, he might ask himself if it was not time to check out some young legs and lungs in his dressing room. Less jaded, more ambitious, they might relish the challenge of winning from this difficult situation. If they can't win here, at least he could be building up for a future.