With four wins out of four, India have qualified for the Quarter Finals of the World Cup. And in all likelihood, they should top the group winning all the 6, with only matches against Zimbabwe and Ireland to follow.
The bowlers have put up their hands and delivered, so has the fielders - a couple of lapses not withstanding.
People are already talking about India retaining the World Cup, but I wouldn't hazard a guess there. This team has serious weaknesses.
Rohit Sharma at the top of the order is still a worry. When he scores - about once in 10 innings - he scores big, but is just not consistent enough. And Raina has disappointed, as he is expected to in the bouncier overseas pitches. Less said about Dhoni's pet Jadeja, the better! As Shane Warne once said famously about a fellow player ' Can't bat, Can't bowl, Can't field '
The real worry is in the lack of bench strength. Ambatti Rayudu doesn't inspire much confidence, nor does Stuart Binny in Australian conditions, nor Axar Patel, who is untested. Bhuvaneswar Kumar is not fully fit.
Lack of replacements makes those in the first 11 complacent.
It would have been a different story if we had Murali Vijay instead of Rayudu, Varun Aaron instead of Axar Patel (3rd spinner warming the bench is a luxury and Aarons extra pace would have made a big difference) and anyone else for Stuart Binny!!
Vijay could have opened with Dhawan, and that would have made Raina and Rohit fight for a middle order berth. With ball doing a bit in the first ten overs, Vijay could have played himself in and seen the new balls off, which would have provided the cover for Kohli and Rahane.
With India likely to top the group and face probably Bangladesh or England, we can hope to reach Semi Final at best. Then the real test begins.
