Sehwag is in a great deal of confusion right now

In the first match they were the highest scorers among the competitors for the Cup who played in first round of practice or warm-up matches, and in the second they dismissed the hosts for a rather paltry total.

These victories are good, because while they might not have had showed up in strategy and otherwise Team India’s objectives, an early loss in a tournament like this could start a slide that is often difficult to control in the latter stages. However, do not get swayed by the easy win over the hosts, because they can always hit back.

We are acclimatizing fast, with the only hitch being Virender Sehwag’s not being able to get over his bad patch. His not getting runs seems to stem from some sort of confusion in him. I don’t think he should change his approach to the job or his attitude for that matter. And, please, too much advice from all corners can confuse anybody, why blame Sehwag.

The fact is that we must have somebody up the in the opening slot, with Sourav Ganguly, who can put up as many runs on the board in the first 15-20 overs.

While we accept that Indian middle order does have a rather strong line-up with Dravid and Tendulkar, it will be best if too much pressure is not brought on the middle rankers, so more can be hot out of the quota of overs.

The Indian fielding seems to have improved a bit but we must also keep in mind that the West Indians, in their warm-up match versus India, tried shots that were just not there. Do not treat this as a sort of standard.

It is good to have taken lessons form the warm-ups, and lessons from the shock of New Zealand losing to Bangladesh. Mind you, the Black Caps were the uncrowned kings till that game, having beaten the invincible Aussies.

India will have to sort out the shortcomings. There was advantage in knowledge gleaned from the recent West Indies visit, but other teams are acclimatizing too, pretty fast, and that has to be kept in mind. It appears that Irfan Pathan is trying hard to keep his arm straighter while bowling, which he seems to have forgotten.

If he doesn’t find that rhythm in first few group matches, the think tank will have to play him as a pure batsman only. One shudders to think if Sehwag doesn’t pick his form quickly and may be, one in the middle order fails to click: Team India will have a very long tail to wag.

It is now certain that the wickets are going to go slower and lower as we will go into the Super Eight. Maybe for the final, no effort will be spared to ensure that the wicket is in perfect condition.

But to reach that stage, India will have to go thorough all these spinning tracks. Gone are those days when you found a Sunil Gavaskar knocking the West Indies pace battery all over the ground on real spicy fast wickets and that too without a helmet, thigh, arm and chest pads.

India have the best of the recognized spinners in Kumble and Harbhajan. They will have to be played in most of matches. Part-timers like Sehwag, Tendulkar and now Yuvraj could fill in the gaps. Then we need the runs.

This is where India may falter in their quest for the Cup. It may lack a requirement of a genuine pure batsman of a calibre of Mohamad Kaif whose is also brilliant on the field. It’s amazing how he managed to have the captain and the coach lose faith in him so quickly.

I am therefore, not yet convinced as to why India needed to carry two wicketkeepers, however great form they may have been in.