"India were defeated by West Indies but not disgraced", to quote my favourite Mr. Sidhu. We didn't lose the match when we scored only 223. We didn't lose the match when Raina dropped Gayle. We didn't lose the match when R.P.Singh misfielded what should have been a single. We didn't lose the match when Lara hit his solitary boundary. We were in with a chance when it was 6 needed off 6. And it was all on one man - Mr. Agarkar. Why on earth would anyone bowl a ball short and wide on the offside without having a sweeper in place? Stupid. This man bowled as if he had no match experience at all.
Anyways, it would be very stupid on my part to blame this man alone for this defeat. I should in fact blame WI for bringing me to blame my bowler of the last over of the innings, whereas this match should have been over within 40 overs itself! If we take Bhajji out of the equation, then I guess we would have seen that happen. If Dravid had instead persisted with Irfan Pathan to complete his spell, we would have seen the match end within 35 overs itself! Our new (or is he old now?) #3 batsman and #1 bowler failed on both accounts in this match. To me, this was the crucial link that led to the failure of the chain.
With Pathan being persisted at #3 by the coach and captain, the point to be noted is that: we understand you have your reasons behind doing it, but then it is not yielding the desired results. It is not that he has performed exceedingly well and India has continued to lose because of other technical reasons. His average at #3 is 24.93 [Source: Yesterday's extraaa innings programme (number of "a"s correct?)] and for a #3 batsman that's quite embarassing. He has been given 11 chances at that position with maybe two or three fifties. Not really worth the effort. Please get back to using him as a trump card, not as a regular step.
Thinking of it from another perspective, that of Chappell-Dravid combine, I guess they are thinking of the "sacrifice"-trap that is used in chess. "Sacrifice"-trap means to sacrifice a piece of yours to open up the defence of the opposition and then attack with all your force. With due regards to the experience of the duo I think that kind of moves should be restricted to board games and mind games like chess. Please don't sacrifice an excellent bowler and a decent batsmen like this. A rethink is suggested.
There have been fingers raised at Sehwag. But that's the way this idiot plays. And I think he was going good against the Windies when one came back sharply and kept a little low. It's not the kind of delivery you expect the only-Indian-batsman-to-have-a-triple-hundred-to-his-name to get out to, but then he is going through a bad patch and I strongly feel we need to persist with him. 18 months since he scored a hundred is fine. In fact, we don't need him to score a hundred. If he can score a quickfire 40-50, we are off to a flier and the stage is set for the likes of Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina and Pathan to come in and consolidate a 300+ total.
My team against Australia would be this:
- V. Sehwag
- S. Tendulkar
- Yuvraj Singh
- R. Dravid
- D. Mongia
- S. Raina
- M.S. Dhoni
- I. Pathan
- R. Powar
- Harbhajan Singh
- Munaf Patel
(The fifth bowler can be shared among Sehwag, Tendulkar, Yuvraj and Mongia)
I have dropped Agarkar. You could drop Pathan as well and keep Agarkar. But the Aussies would really cream Agarkar. Especially Ponting (who is due for a big score) loves Agarkar's juicy half volleys bowled at a pace that is really not life-threatening. And Pathan can atleast swing a bit. So, that's a gamble. I would have loved to have Anil Kumble against the Windies as well as Australia.
Needless to say that our batting needs to get its act together. Hoping (as ever!) for a Sharjah-repeat by Sachin Tendulkar against the Aussies.
-----------------
Coming to today's match of Pakistan Vs South Africa. The quarterfinal of the other group.
Betting on Pakistan would be stupidity. They are so mercurial in their temperament, that I had rather call mercury as being Pakistanial! Their performance against SL was as professional as unprofessional it was against NZ. If they can keep their batting steady against the SA bowling, then I guess they will score an easy victory. But their batting is what will decide who will win or lose. If you ask me, I don't want the South Africans to win. I just don't like the arrogance of that team despite being a distant second to Australia in everything. If they think that chasing 434 is enough for lifetime arrogance, then they are wrong.
Pakistan should go with their medium-pacers and spinners spearheading the attack. The SA'ns are good at playing fast bowling. Unfortunately they have no spinners worth talking about in their squad. And with a depleted fast bowling attack, they have no other option but to rely on medium pacers like Abdul(r?) Razzaq to do the job. Shoaib Mallik with his off-spin could be useful too.
This will be another match with scores in the range of 200 - 250, but unless you have the steely resolve of Windies to give the spectators' their money's worth, you should see SA coasting along easily.
My bet? Heart says Pakistan. Brain says South Africa. Let's see.
