There have been no obituaries in the media or an outpouring of emotions on the street. No morchas or dharnas (protests), as they usually happen. Still licking their wounds from the World Twenty20 flop, few in India would have actually watched the loss to Zimbabwe. And not many would be particularly upset about their reserve team losing to the minnows who are hosting the tri-series. But wait, should not that be a reason for them to be concerned?
There can be no shame in losing to the world's best teams in an international competition. But when your next-in-line are not good enough to beat a modest side, lacking any experience of note on the global stage, there is a need for introspection and a bit of soul searching. The result could just be a blip and India could bounce back to beat another reserve team in the fray, Sri Lanka, today. But Friday's match never looked like a freak result, an upset. Zimbabwe were the better side, not for a few overs but the majority of the game.
It could have been just first-match blues, but the biggest concern from that loss should be the bluntness of India's so-called pace attack. R Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Ashok Dinda failed to rein in the Zimbabwe batsmen as they chased 286 and completed the task with 10 balls to spare for their first win over India in eight years. Together, the pace trio conceded 148 runs in 23.2 overs at an economy-rate more commonplace in 20-over cricket.
After the World T20 disappointment earlier this month, Anil Kumble had spoken about the falling standards of pace bowling in India. And he will probably have a lot more to say after this latest show. With Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra closer to the end of their careers, the nation of more than a billion is struggling to find replacements. Ishant Sharma is low on confidence and on the downslide, RP Singh inspires little confidence and as for Munaf Patel, what happened to him? Irfan Pathan keeps losing pace and S Sreesanth is having an identity crisis.
Yes, there is Praveen Kumar but not a lot more. The cupboard looks bare, with youngsters more inclined to give the ball a mighty thwack instead of toiling on dead pitches with few rewards. India are No 1 in Test rankings and second in 50-over cricket, but if they want to stay there, they need to make a concerted effort and arrest this slide. The "pace academies" could help out too by actually finding some new talents, instead of taking credit for "finished products", international cricketers who show up for training.
Blips in the sky and television commentators plugging their worth every five minutes will not help anyone. For the moment, Suresh Raina will be hoping the speedsters available can raise their levels against Sri Lanka today and stop India's run of four consecutive losses on the international stage. "A couple of players are playing for the first time, but hopefully they will learn from this mistake," said the India captain. "We need to work on our bowling and fielding department to come back against Sri Lanka."
Sri Lanka have rested Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga for this tri-series, and Tillakaratne Dilshan has been given charge of the side. Still, on paper they look the best team of the three and there could be more disappointment headed India's way if they fail to lift their game substantially. arizvi@thenational.ae