Dhoni's India on thin ice even at home

New Delhi: It's hard to recall when India last started a home series with their backs to the wall even before it started. The final frontier, a term coined by Steve Waugh-led Australians in 2001, is barely the same at the turn of the decade. But the irony of it all remains that India are the ODI Champions.
Not even Nostradamus could have predicted the descent to befall Indian cricket in the last six months. From World Champions on April 2 to striving for a win in October, the team has been brought down to earth. The weaknesses that hid behind victories have been thrown into open by a string of defeats.

Zaheer Khan's untimely injury has exposed the dearth of quality fast bowlers in India, while extension of Harbhajan Singh's bad form has forced selectors to look for spin options, which are equally difficult to spot. All in all, the bowling that wasn't a bother until lately has turned into a migraine, with no remedy in sight.
The batting, looking fragile like never before, has been hit badly by injuries. Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma are all nursing the wounds suffered on a treacherous England tour.
Result: first the No. 1 rank in Tests was snatched and then came a gulp that sank them in ODI rankings – England the beneficiary and adversary on both occasions.
The visitors won both their warm-up games, first by defending 219 and second by setting up a daunting 367, while Indian hopefuls and discards fought in a dreary Challenger Series. So with England completing their soil tests in style, the Indian team – minus the stalwarts – has some serious business ahead.
Indian batting is expected to pick itself up on the batting tracks at home, but it's the bowling that may force MS Dhoni to scratch his head while on the field.
The pace attack – spearheaded by Praveen Kumar – has the untested Varun Aaron, Sreenath Aravind, Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar in the ranks. And though Aaron and Yadav are exciting prospects, playing on flat wickets against a formidable team could be their undoing.
The spin department in comparison looks relatively steely with off-spinner R Ashwin and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja; however, it remains to be seen if the surprise inclusion of uncapped leggie Rahul Sharma can surprise England or not.
So at the onset of an important series, things look iffy if you are an Indian fan. A team that used to shimmer with performing stars is looking for a light source to show them the way. Who will it be? Dhoni?