India vs Ireland today in ICC World Cup 2011

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team are will hardly be enthused that Billy Bowden will officiate in Sunday’s game against Ireland too. The Kiwi umpire with the crooked finger, otherwise a source of amusement for spectators the world over, did not endear himself to the Indian team by overruling Hawkeye’s recommendation that Ian Bell was leg before wicket to Yuvraj in the match against England.

Bowden’s decision to apply the 2.5 m rule – though clearly within his jurisdiction – was a contentious one, and angered the Indian cricket establishment. Dhoni mocked at the Decision Review System (DRS) after the match which evoked criticism from David Richardson of the International Cricket Council. This, in turn, provoked the BCCI to complain officially to the game’s governing body about Richardson criticising Dhoni.

If all this sounds a trifle convoluted, I might explain that the ICC and BCCI have been at loggerheads over the DRS for some time now. The mistrust of the Indian players in the system is not new (which is why in bilateral series the BCCI has always opposed its deployment), but where the World Cup concerned, the BCCI was left without choice in the matter.

I suspect though we haven’t heard the last of the controversy over Bowden’s decision in Sunday’s game. The BCCI’s miff against this technology — as also its powerplay against the ICC — has got a second wind, and this time with support from several players from other countries who were equally flummoxed by Bowden’s ruling.

That said, the threat to India on Sunday is neither from Hawkeye nor Bowden but a rampaging Ireland team which laid England low in stupendous style. Less than a week back, this match was being seen as a cakewalk for Dhoni’s team; now it is perhaps India’s most crucial game in the league phase. The central figure in this revised scenario is middle-order batsman Kevin O’Brien, whose slam-bang century against England seems to have sent not just cricket followers but also Ireland’s opponents into a tizzy. Suddenly, Ireland are being touted as dark horses – or at least a side capable of spoiling the party for one of the major teams in Group B.

Shock and awe seem to be the predominant reactions to O’Brien’s pyrotechnics against England —which saw him score a century off just 50 deliveries — and I reckon that the Indian team would have gone into a midnight huddle on Wednesday to work out a stratagem to stop the this burly young man from going berserk again. I can’t remember seeing a more blistering knock in any World Cup tournament; not even by some of the great batsmen who’ve played over the past 35 years.

O’Brien not only showed a terrific eye and a wide range of power-packed strokes, but also loads of guts. The big question now, of course, is whether O’Brien (and by extension Ireland) do an encore to queer India’s agenda.

The threat is real and ignored at peril, but I am not one with the alarmists. True, India have struggled a bit with the bowling and a lot more with the fielding. But overall, possess the better talent, the greater depth of experience and better balance. One can argue that England enjoyed similar advantages and still came a cropper, but the onus will be on Ireland to show that this was not a one-off display of brilliance.

The biggest issue with weaker teams has been lack of consistency. One great day is followed by several poor ones — made evident again with the dismal showing of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh on Friday. Ireland have looked the best of the weaker teams, but will still have to do something extraordinary to beat India.

The flip side to this is that India cannot afford to be ordinary — either through complacency or nervousness. So far, the batting’s looked brilliant, but has not been backed up in the field. On sub-continent pitches where 300-plus scores have become par for the course, the margin of error for bowlers is wafer-thin.

Given Graeme Swann’s success despite the mayhem created by O’Brien the other day, two mainline spin bowlers in India’s eleven is a cinch even if Ashish Nehra reports fit. I would reiterate that fielding is India’s Achilles heel; whether four frontline bowlers are chosen or five would be academic if fielding lapses continue.