The Indians' bowling plan was so hideously wrong throughout the series, this should be the last time it happens. You can't depend on bowlers going at forty a wicket and lasting no longer than three overs to win you matches. Especially on flat decks against a batting lineup that's actually doing well. They got away with it for four matches, but now they've been shown up.
Part-time bowlers are bowlers who only bowl for a brief period- part time, of course. The Indians, however, have overused their part-timers, playing them as a full-time operator, and it shows. No other team does anything so ridiculous, so often. This gives batting sides a lifeline or a bonus, depending on their form, and makes life a lot harder for the regular bowlers- who have to do a lot better than they usually do, to cover for the direness of these pie pelters. They've been lucky for all of the series here, on occasionally helpful decks, against the worst batting lineup among top teams. They won't last three overs between them in New Zealand. The team will need proper bowlers in operation. Let the top six play solely as batsmen- they need to concentrate on their batting, especially when it gets tough.
It's a good series for all of the top six, with averages over 40 (some got it over 50), and a lot of them struck over 90. They have a stable top six, and should exploit it fully. The lower order was a disappointment, a little, but they were never much of a factor anyway, with the top six lasting the whole innings so often. The bowlers, except Zaheer (with an average of 47, not to take too seriously given the intangibles), have had a very good series, with averages under 30, but the part-time bowlers got too much, and at times, got away with rubbish bowling. Their combined average is over 42. If a regular bowler had such figures, he'd be dropped from the squad. Let's hope to see five proper bowlers in New Zealand, even if it means having Bhajji, Zakk and Grappler at seven, eight and nine. They can't just afford it, they need it.
Now, what would you do with Yusuf Pathan? He came into this team as a batting all-rounder, capable of rolling stocks of overs for not too many, and possibly even being this team's Hogg, Gayle, Sanath or Jeets or even Samit Patel. Now we find that Dhoni thinks he's sub-Yuvraj. He's been fantastic as a lower-order batsman, but got few chances, and he could have bowled all those overs that were wasted on Sehwag, Yuvraj, Raina, Rohit Sharma and Tendulkar. Dhoni decided otherwise. If the selectors wish to push him as an all-rounder, they can consider keeping him out of the main team and playing him as an A-team strike spinner, so that he can really get a chance to show his worth with the ball.
