Nagpur, Oct. 27: Consistency is the hallmark of a champion side. The greatness of a team is often gauged by their results over a period of time. For any Indian team to achieve this tag has been a distant dream, though there are many individuals who have touched legendary status.

Ever since Mahendra Singh Dhoni assumed the role of captain, India have done reasonably well. At one point, Dhoni’s men won six series in a row starting with an away ODI series in Sri Lanka in 2008. However, at the moment, the Indians are struggling to perform.

The absence of power-hitters Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh in recent times have contributed to that in a big way. India have to be consistent if they want to be feared like the great Australian sides.

On the eve of the second ODI against Nagpur, Dhoni conceded his team was far from being consistent and their winning ratio had come down recently.

"We were winning close to 70 per cent of our games last year and early this year but that has come down to 50 now," Dhoni said.

But the 29-year-old quickly went on the defensive when he said the team were going through a transition. "We are going through a changing period. We are missing quite a few individuals because of injuries. At the same time, we have youngsters who are coming in and learning things in international cricket, so we are going through a tough period," he observed.

Dhoni, however, felt that things could improve if the youngsters in the team got more chances to play international cricket. "Of course, we have the bench strength but we want them to play more games so that they get the experience at the end of the day. When this year is through we will have individuals who have played maybe 25-30 one-day internationals, then you can rely more on them. They would have learned a lot by them,"

On Yuvraj’s return for Wednesday’s day-nighter, Dhoni said that big-hitting southpaw would give the side an immense boost. "Yuvi has been the backbone of our batting line-up. When he comes in to bat at number four it is an important slot, especially with the batting Power Play. He can capitalise on that.

"Not only his batting but he is a great option with his left-arm spin too, that allows us to use one more part-timer in the middle-overs," Dhoni added.