Alex Wharf, who used the conditions well, celebrates the fall of Sourav Ganguly with Andrew Flintoff on Wednesday

The progress that Indian cricket has made over the last four years seems to have taken a backseat after the NatWest Challenge defeat to England. With a skewed approach, it is headed for a disaster. The Indians have now lost nine of their last 17 matches, and the one-sided nature of the defeats is the common factor in almost every outing.

The team is saddled with numerous problems. Firstly, injuries to players have become a bane. Except for Sachin Tendulkar, who is genuinely injured, the rest of the players seem to be using their injuries to beneficial effect.

In my opinion, what needs to be checked of a consistently injured cricketer is his attitude rather than his ailments. No player deserves to be in the side if he is injured. The word ‘match fit’ now has to be rephrased as ‘series fit’.

The team management should pick, instead of the hardly fit but talented ones, those who maybe less talented but do not suffer from fitness problems.

The other area which the Indians have been neglecting is planning, an integral part of the modern-day cricket. The whole idea behind using computer-related technology is to maintain an archive of every international player. The style and technique of each player evolves over a period of time and most of them get better.

It’s all the more important to have the latest videos on each international team and then start analysing the players on the drawing board.

The Indian team has a habit of carrying mostly the video pictures of their own heroics. It is the responsibility of the coach to chalk out plans. To understand the strength and weaknesses of the opponents, you need to watch the videos on them again and again.

Missing out on playing 50 overs was a blunder and there can be no excuses for that. The Indian batsmen definitely owe an apology to their fans. The pitch begged for patience and occupation from the batsmen. On such a juicy track, the shots had to be curtailed and the skilled players were required to play a wait-and-watch game.

The tentative start with Virender Sehwag getting out early was not the right recipe for the day. It was disappointing to see both Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman getting out in quick succession.

The unknown factor in Alex Wharf hit the Indians hard and they did not know what to do with this newcomer. Wharf used the conditions very well and made the most of the mistakes committed by the Indian batsmen. Mohammed Kaif should have played till the end. His dismissal literally ended our innings.

A hattrick in any form of cricket is a major landmark. My very short stint with Durham County last year gave me an opportunity to bowl with Steve Harmison and have a closer look at his bowling. He only had to pitch the ball a yard in front. He did it successfully and has reaped rich rewards.

Indian bowling didn’t look penetrative at all. Ashish Nehra didn’t inspire any confidence and that brought Lakshmipathy Balaji, currently the best bowler, into attack.

Ganguly should not make the mistake of bowling with Nehra when Balaji is around. Balaji, whose strength is being disciplined, always gets the basics right. He raised some hopes by getting two wickets. But the total put up by the Indians was too paltry for the bowlers to defend.

Indians must have a concrete plan to have an edge over their opponents. The first and foremost should be to bring back a fully-fit Sachin as soon as possible.