Forgettable show by India
India may still make the finals of the ongoing tri series and who knows they may even win it but then this is one series that Indian team would like to forget but selectors and millions of Indians should retain this in their memory because the future of Indian cricket is not looking that rosy with the 2011 World Cup not that far way.
Indians began the tournament in the worst possible way collapsing to 88 all out against New Zealand and what compounded matters was the margin of defeat. India lost by 200 runs and that is not expected from a high profile Test playing nation. Indian redeemed themselves by winning the next one against Sri Lanka but whatever happiness Indians derived from the win was spoilt by unsporting Sri Lankan trio of Kumar Sangakkara, Tilakratne Dilshanand Suraj Randiv. More comments from Sangakkarra followed and Indians thanks to their pathetic batting display and aided by poor umpiring were shot out for 103 by a listless Sri Lankan attack. The match which India lost at Dambulla yesterday lasted a mere 48.5 overs as our batsman lasted just 33.4 overs while bowlers ensured that Sri Lankans reached the target in a mere 15.1 overs and had it not been Sehwag's brilliant unbeaten 99 India would have lost all 3 matches in the tournament. Having been shot out for 103 one cannot expect our usually mediocre bowling unit to defend the total but what was pathetic was the fact that the bowlers did not make any effort to contain the batsman and literally allowed the Lankan batsman to cruise through. For a long time Indian team never looked beyond Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Sreeshanth, Ashish Nehra, Iran Pathan and if one of them failed or got injured the other one automatically got selected in his place. The selectors have just rotated the bowlers rather than look at somebody else.
The youngsters failed to make it count when it mattered. With Sehwag and the normally very reliable Dhoni not making much of an impact the situation was just perfect for the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Rohit Shama, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja to prove that they are a capable lot but what followed was yet another failure. One cannot explain the logic behind having the likes of Karthik and Jadeja inpsite of having repeated failures as this guys at the best are talented enough merely to play a supporting like to the likes of Sehwag, Yuvraj or Dhoni and apart form that do not have real talent to win matches on their own.
If India has plenty to worry for what is happening on onfield, there is also a lot to worry about off field happenings. Everyone thought that with Randiv apologizing and Sri Lankan board apologizing to Indian board the matter is over and former Indian players to have forgiven Randiv and said that is part of the game and should not be blown out of proportion. However Sangakkara seems to be going overboard and has launched a fresh attack on Indian cricketers saying that they are not manly enough to face problems but hide behind the media and the board. Sangakkara comments are unpardonable and one could be excused if they think Sangakkara has been unofficially given the liberty by the Lankan board to have a go at the Indians. The Lankans boards apology to Indian board could be more out of possible loss of revenue fearing a Indian team pulling out of the tournament rather than a true feeling of regret.
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