India's bench strength: A step in the right direction

It looks clearly visible that it will be a smooth ride at the top for Indian cricket atleast for the next couple of years. With Dhoni, Sehwag, Sachin, Zaheer missing in the current ODI against W.Indies due to injuries/break from cricket, these factors does not seem to trouble the second string Indian outfit  to continue their winning pattern - what it  has done is that they are proving themselves and focusing on  executing their respective game plan by backing each other.

Much of these attributions and credentials should go to Kirsten and Dhoni, in particular.

The way with which Dhoni lead India to a title win in the World Cup, was amply visible the same way he approached in the IPL as well - He is thoroughly focused, provides immense faith and trust in his players, does not reshuffle his team, always thinks and executes more from his team's strength and allows his players to execute his plans meticulously. Unfortunately, the captains of the opposition fail to read Dhoni, proactively able to read and negate Dhoni's plan...Also, Kirsten and Dhoni were perfect match and they have understood their game plan exceedingly well.

This is Team India for you - The ODI wing of the W.Indies tour has continued to see this second string Indians look like a professional unit on the field with all players backing each other. These situations will only arise if the entire team is a confident lot. Being consistently consist are the players who have prepared themselves to be part of the Big players league  -  the Rohit Sharma, the Parthiv Patel, the Kohli, the Raina, the Bhajji, the Munaf Patel, the Praveen Kumar and last but not the least, Amit Mishra - 8 of the 11 players have performed exceedingly well. Those who have missed out are Badri, Yusuf and Dhawan.

The Bench strength of Team India has to be lauded. Even if Dravids the Laxmans and the Sachins were to sit out, Kohli, Raina,, Yuvaraj and Rohit - can take this Indian team to the next level, if not keep themselves at the same level.

It is not the winning alone that counts but the manner with which that this second string team has applied themselves to this tour is very much to crow about - a step in the right direction.