Cricket India

Four years of hard work, emotional strain, single-minded dedication everything almost went up in smoke for India with its shock defeat at the hands of Bangladesh. Bangladesh by any stretch of imagination is not a match for India’s might. But a combination of factors, some of them unavoidable and some unpardonable, combined to carve a convincing win leaving India wounded and dejected perhaps beyond immediate rejuvenation.

Every one knows the level of preparation India had and the expectations this preparedness created. A billion hearts beat to the rhythm of Dravid and men’s exploits on the field. And now when the moment of reckoning came, the tigers failed to roar. Instead they meekly walked on the hallowed cricket grounds, not even gnarling, allowing the minnows to run away with the spoils. Does my Pepsi any more represent my blood-soaked dreams about the Men in Blue?

Now what happened that day? The recipe of an upset should have the required ingredients. According to me, they were 1) the wrong interpretation of the track,2) inability to switch to plan B effectively when the treachery of the pitch became clear,3) the left arm over the wicket bowlers of Bangladesh could take the bal away from India’s right-handers,4) the audacity- spontaneous or planned- shown by a couple of teenagers of Bangladesh. This is a sure enough mix for disaster for a loser.

Dravid himself admitted that the pitch behaved more nastily than expected and ill behaved for a longer period also No sense in talking more about it. But plan B was not implemented properly. Look at the number of batsmen who got out playing shots not exactly suited to the occasion!  Sehwag and Uthappa got out to strokes unhinged from technique. And Tendulkar played an unnecessarily forceful defensive shot, perhaps initially playing down the wrong line. It is better not to talk about the five for two

collapse. I am not blaming Yuvraj for his dismissal because he was beaten by the drift and bounce of the ball he chose to sweep. The bowler should get the credit due to him! But Ganguly with all his experience should not have played such an all out aggressive shot immediately after Yuvraj’s dismissal. The collapse becomes all the more unpardonable as the surface has become almost normal by that time as proved by Zaheer and the bunny Munaf.

When it came to bowling India had Harbhajan and Sehwag who brought the ball into the batsmen while on a more difficult pitch the Bangladeshi left arm spinners could take it away from the right-handers. They chose to hit the deck and let the pitch do the rest. Some straightened, some hurried past and some bounced more than expected.

And another factor which many have not noticed was the methodology adopted by the Bangladesh batsmen. On instructions of course, a 17-year old Tamim threw caution to the wind and whacked the reasonably strong India pace attack to all parts of the park. Of course luck favored him but that is all part of the game. Tamim was followed by Sadiq while solidity was provided by another teenager Rahim who held the innings together.

Now where does India stand? Do we have a chance to get even into the Super Eight? Technically yes, but an arduous journey it is going to be in reality. India is playing Bermuda tonight and is expected to win easily. But that may not be enough. India has to register a big win tonight. And then go on to beat Sri Lanka whom many tip for a place in the final! But that alone would allow India to sneak into the Super Eight. Such a scenario would mean Sri Lanka (wins against Bangladesh and Bermuda). India (wins over Sri Lanka and Bermuda) and Bangladesh (with wins over India and Bermuda)

will have four points each. So the two teams with better net run rate will go into the next round,

So let India shake off the depression caused by the shock and get ready for a  huge win tonight! They wont be fighting the battle alone. There will be a billion souls behind them praying and egging them on!

Tags: India's defeat

# posted by Upendra Varma @ 1:13 PM