The facts
India have won none of its last eight ODIs abroad Since 2011 World Cup triumph, Team India has played 41 ODIs abroad and won only 19, of them five against minnows Zimbabwe.
The next World Cup will be held in Australia and New Zealand in Feb 2015 and India play its group games in both these countries. India had performed poorly in 1992, the only occasion when the ODI World Cup was held in the two countries.
The problems
Openers have often failed to give the team a decent start; the average first-wicket stand in the last 7 innings is 19.8.
Barring the imperious Virat Kohli, no other top order batsman has looked the part recently
The bowlers, especially the pacemen, have been pummelled in almost every game. In South Africa, the bowlers gave away 939 runs -- 313 per game. In New Zealand, it was 292 per tie
Dhoni's strange captaincy: Promoting Kohli as an opener in the fourth game. Promising paceman Ishwar Pandey went uncapped. Some players get a long rope ( Ishant Sharma), others dumped after a game or two. Stuart Binny was dropped after one game. He didn't get to bat and bowled only one over
Possible solution
Cheteshwar Pujara needs to be immediately drafted into the team.
More opportunities to all players
The team needs a balance of experience and youth -- Gambhir and Yuvraj should be told that they are in World Cup reckoning to motivate them. Even Sehwag, for all his poor form, should also be told that
Efforts to ensure more disciplined bowling
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