WT20: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina not in 'top' gear

The setting sun above the Wankhede Stadium last evening against the backdrop of Indian batsmen Rohit Sharma Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina toiling away in the nets was akin to the fading form of Indias top order in the ongoing ICC World T20India opener Rohit Sharma bats in the nets at Wankhede Stadium yesterday PicSuresh Karkera and Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh RainaThe Indian team have always relied heavily on its batting and going into this tournament too the willowwielders were considered to be the strength of a team that was consistently inconsistent in the bowling departmentHowever except for the heavyperforming Virat Kohli the rest of the top order batting has failed throughout this competition Rohit Sharma Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina have together contributed a paltry 129 runs in the tournament so farIn fact the opening pair of Sharma and Dhawan can hardly be referred to a partnership in the four matches Against New Zealand they put on just six runs before Dhawan was trapped leg before by Nathan McCullum for one Suresh Raina who came in at Rohits departure for just five runs also added just oneAgainst Pakistan Rohit and Dhawan put on only 14 before the Mumbaikar was dismissed by Mohammad Amir for 10 Raina was later dismissed for a duck after Dhawan six did not even manage to get into double figures The openers then just about got going against Bangladesh next putting on 42 in the first six overs before Sharma again seemed to be in a hurry to depart falling to Mustafizur Rahman for 18Raina added a decent 30 this time while Dhawan made 23 Against the Australians in the virtual quarterfinal Dhawan decided to leave before his partner this time after scoring just 13 Rohit was next to go for 12 followed by Rainas 10 Meanwhile Yuvraj Singh also had some unimpressive numbers four 24 three amp 21 but his twisted ankle in the Mohali game against Australia and subsequent replacement in the squad by Manish Pandey for the remainder of the tournament makes his contribution irrelevant in this contextRaise your gameThough the numbers arent anything to be proud of for a team that prides itself in its batting the good thing is that Team India realise this and is not shy in admitting that the other batsmen must pull up their socks in the last two fixtures beginning with todays semifinal against the West IndiesAt the end of the day youve got to be consistent and thats what we try to do in every match We need it contributions from batsmen besides Virat in a big way because this is a semifinal said Team Director Ravi Shastri at the Wankhede Stadium I believe we have played to only 70 per cent of our ability so far in this tournament so here batting is where we can improve and lets hope it happensIn a semifinal you have to bring your A game to the fore You cannot depend on one or two players You need six or seven players to step up and that has not happened in this tournament So lets hope tomorrow is the start added Shastri well aware of the dangers posed by Darren Sammy amp Cos T20 specialistsridden outfit I have said this earlier and I repeat that this West Indies side is one of the most dangerous sides in the shortest format of the game They have some very explosive players They have quite a few matchwinners So how does one plan for an unpredictable side like the West IndiesAccording to Shastri you dont In this format you are bound to get a hiccup Its a tight format and things happen very quickly but deep down you have to focus on your strengths and keep hammering away All you can do is focus on what you do best So we will play to our strengths tomorrow he said in the hope that the hiccup doesnt come about todayCaptains wishlistMS Dhoni Indiagt Chris Gayle gets out earlygt Southpaw Suresh Raina gets back to formgt Pacer Ashish Nehra continues to provide early breakthroughsDarren Sammy West Indiesgt He gets some runs and wickets under his beltgt Dwayne Bravo Andre Russell provide an allround showgt Dhoni has an offday behind the stumps