Ayanjit Sen and Rajarshi Gupta of espnstar.com take a critical perspective after India's series win against the West Indies.

Did the series win in the West Indies redeem Indian hopes after the ICC World Twenty20 debacle?

Ayanjit Sen: A 2-1 rain-marred series win may be a good way to attract supporters when the Indian team lands in the country after a long tour of England and the Carribean. But it is not easy to get over the bad memory of their failure in the ICC World Twenty20. You enter as a defending champion. You get out in a miserable fashion. The young team still has a long way to go. Agreed, winning a series in the Carribean conditions is not easy but let us remember that barring a rain-marred match and another win, there was nothing more to talk about. The absence of the top-rung players did affect the performance, at least in the T20 World Cup.

Rajarshi Gupta: You bet it was. While a 2-1 series win against an average West Indies team might not be the best achievement in India’s cricketing history, the team showed spirit and the captain gumptions. Five successive ODI series conquests and a hat-trick of ODI series wins abroad and India are back on track. They are the new ODI kings and boy, the team are in a tearing hurry or what! Forget, the ICC World Twenty20 disaster, MS Dhoni’s gang are still the men to beat.

It looks like Dhoni’s misdemeanours with the media and his oft questionable tactics in England will now be forgotten. 

Did India miss Virender Sehwag?

AS: The shoulder-injury of Virender Sehwag was India's loss, especially when we found the opening slot getting their mathematics wrong somewhere in the way. Dinesh Karthick was tested out. Rohit Sharma was tested. Gambhir was not in the best of his form. Despite one good outing, the opening slot did miss Virender Sehwag and his blistering strokes. Yes, India won despite him, but his absence was felt in the body language of those who went out to open the innings for India.

RG: Now, did they? No one can doubt Virender Sehwag’s impact at the top of the order but the fact is India won. Yuvraj Singh decided to run riot in the first ODI and Dhoni found form right through the series, sending shivers down the Windies bowling attack. Sehwag may well have crippled the Caribbean Calypsos further but come on, Dinesh Karthik did not do too badly either, did he?

Gautam Gambhir, it seems, was the only one who struggled to cope with his Delhi mate’s absence, failing to mark his presence felt apart from that one innings in St Lucia, where India had no choice but to go hell for leather.  

Bowling still a major concern for India?

AS: Bowling is not a worry for India. Ashish Nehra did a wonderful job, reminding us of his famous expolits in the past. Yes, Zaheer Khan was missed. People may question Ishant Sharma's outing when he had a pasting from West Indies skipper Chris Gayle in the third one-day international but he bounced back to claim his wicket in the rain-washed final game. R P Singh's form is not a worry except a few occasions when he failed to bowl at the right spot. Harbhajan Singh was not in the best of form but he did a reasonable job. More than the bowling, it was their batting which led the Indian team down. It was a good performance of pace battery and a specialist spinner who have done their job pretty successfully in this series.

RG: India were all at sea without Zaheer Khan. Ishant Sharma did not look like he could get the ball to land the ball anywhere around the stumps before the last game at St Lucia, which was washed out. Ashish Nehra let lose some steam with the leather but he bled runs too.

It was scary to see the hosts reach within 20 runs of India’s massive total in the first game and that, after the visitors had managed to sneak out seven wickets and almost sealed a win. Appalling! And where was Harbhajan Singh’s guile? Fatigue, many would say but that is the point. India are playing a hell lot of cricket and if the entire bowling attack looks so weak without one strike seamer, then that is cause for concern, definite cause for concern.

Is Dhoni India's new lynchpin?

AS: Well, he was in awful form during the World T20 and in a way, used this series to get it back. He chose the number three spot to come back to form. Yes, the only way possible was to spend more and more time at the wicket. Yes, he turned saviour and also batted well but the 'Dhonish' batting style was not reflecting. A watchful, careful Dhoni - giving a good amount of respect to bowlers - adjectives which do not always conform to Dhoni standards.

RG: The skipper, it appears was justified in taking his sheet anchor’s role seriously. Dhoni was accused of going too slow with the strike rate during the ICC World Twenty20. Had he forgotten how he could smoke the cherry deep into the stands and pierce the inner ring with deadly precision? No, he has now merely added some more ammunition to his repertoire.

Dhoni can now graft and can switch gears and attack. That makes him more lethal than he was two years back, doesn’t it? He can take bowlers on a horror trip round the park and he is difficult to remove. A potent blend. Dhoni is the new lynchpin of the Indian middle order.

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