Host nation India go into the Champions Trophy next week desperate to improve their one-day form and hopeful of settling on the team's short-game tactics ahead of next year's World Cup.

Timing is everything in cricket and had the event come a few months earlier, the joint winners of the 2002 tournament would have been confident of victory as skipper Rahul Dravid's [Images] side were beating every opponent they faced.

Coach Greg Chappell [Images] won many admirers after he took over last September and infused flexibility to help India crush Sri Lanka [Images] 6-1 and then win 4-1 in Pakistan and 5-1 against England [Images] at home.

However, the Australian batting great is suddenly under fire from the media and former players, who now say endless experimenting had ruined the players' confidence.

The slide began in May with a 4-1 series slump in the Caribbean, and continued at the tri-series in Malaysia last month, where they won just one of four games and failed to reach the final of an event including West Indies [Images] and Australia.

TOP-ORDER TINKERING

Critics blame the team's plight on the tinkering of a proven top order after Dravid, a mainstay of the middle-order, opened the innings in the last two series.

Former skipper Ravi Shastri has criticised Dravid, saying he should take charge and not let Chappell dictate terms.

"It's time Dravid exerted himself and told Chappell that in future he will call the shots," he said in a recent newspaper interview.

"A coach must only help the captain but the final decision must rest with Dravid," he said.

"He should decide who should bat at number three and not the coach.

Dravid hit a match-winning 105 in the first game in West Indies, but has made only 92 runs in his next eight innings.

Explosive opener Virender Sehwag [Images], pushed down the order in Kuala Lumpur after Sachin Tendulkar [Images] returned after shoulder surgery, also struggled and scored just 28 runs in the tournament.

The 21-year-old Irfan Pathan [Images] is another case in point.

Pathan was hailed as an emerging all-rounder after his success as a pinch-hitting number three batsman, but he has lost the edge in his pace bowling in the last two months.

He was dropped during India's test series victory in West Indies and critics said the pressure was telling on the player seen as key to India's World Cup hopes.

However, the talismanic Tendulkar remains an inspiration.

The 33-year-old batsman smashed 141 not out against West Indies in Malaysia on his return from the latest of a series of wear and tear injuries suffered in the last six years.

Tendulkar, who holds the records for most one-day runs and hundreds, would also become the most-capped player in the opening pool match against England on Oct. 15.

He shares the mark of 367 appearances with Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq [Images], who will miss the event due to a four-match ban.