India lift the Asia cup and to the surprise of many, it were the bowlers who won the game for India for a change.Indian fast bowlers have a habit of slumbering for long periods before coming back to life for a game or two! The way Praveen ,Zaheer and Nehra performed in this match was certainly admirable.Though all his deliveries were not precise, Nehra did bowl good lines most of the times and returned with terrific figures.But it was Zaheer Khan who was in full flow and impressed with his bowling the most.The "old" Zaheer Khan was on view in Dambulla.He is a great exponent of swing bowling and should bowl consistently.It was doleful to see him bowl rubbish for sometime now in the shorter versions of the game and let's hope he continues his good work. Being the spearhead of the attack is a big responsibility and he should lead from the front more often than not.A bit more application was expected and required off Sri Lankan batsmen.Perhaps, they scummbed under the pressure of maintaining
their recent dominance against India.
Dhoni won the toss and rightly decided to bat first.The batting performance was dismal, to say the least.Gautam Gambhir seems to be under the impression that he shall have to bat only with Sehwag, his India opening partner, friend and Delhi team-mate.Sehwag is not the fastest of runners between the wickets and hence, Gambhir seems to have adjusted to his pace!On a serious note, his running between the wickets has certainly degraded in the recent past.He jogs his runs and that is what proved to be fatal for him in this match.He was also lucky to survive twice and failed to capitalise.He should try to get back on the right path, else, India might have another Yuvraj Singh.Dinesh Karthik looked completely out of sorts. He has a habit of flirting with danger through out his innings.He amazed all with a funny and stupid shot, never seen before in the game of cricket. He reverse swept Murali with the back of his bat! The design of a cricket bat is such that the ball can lob anywhere when played by the backside and it was ridiculous to see that shot.It wasn't the best of his fifties as he was beaten on numerous occasions, edging a couple of deliveries for four.Ultimately, he gifted his wicket to Kandamby, playing a poor ball straight in the hands of a fielder.Virat Kohli ended his tour on a miserable note, once again falling prey to a ball outside his off stump.Initially,a score of 2 off 15 balls suggests that finding singles does not come easy to him which is not a good sign.
Once again, Dhoni promoted himself at No.4, ahead of an in-form Rohit Sharma, seemingly oblivious to the pit his team shall fall into in case of his early exit.Dhoni has a calming effect and the other batsmen tend to rally around him.But today, he looked strangely off-color. He tried to play positively, at times taking too much risk against the likes of Muralidaran who repeatedly deceived him.He also failed to put away the trash Kandamby offered him and got out at a crucial time, leaving his team stranded for a second time in a row.Raina batted at the position that suits him the best. He is not the master of a sound technique but has the capability to take on the bowlers and hence, is best suited to bat at No.6.He thrashed the soft stuff offered by Dilshan and Kandamby but once again, fell victim to his weakness against short bowling,exposed beautifully by Malinga.Malinga bowled excellently, testing the Indian batsmen with short stuff on a batting friendly wicket, causing a lot of problems to Raina. He set him up with consecutive short deliveries before unleashing peach of a yorker to find Raina on the backfoot and plumb in front.Jadeja was once again sent in at No.7, a brainless move by team management which has failed to understand his capabilities! He was lucky to survive a LBW scare off Murali on his third ball,was beaten on his seventh,was gifted a boundary by a poor ball from Malinga,got two runs off an edge, survived a run out chance on his 21st ball, took a single of the 22nd and defended the next two deliveries!Jadeja is a bowler's joy.He is the delight of opposition captain and his performances are almost equivalent to self goals in football!Harbhajan appeared to be breathless after running a couple just five minutes into his innings and hence, needs to improve on his fitness and running between the wickets.
Sri Lanka were unusually below par in the field, Murali,Kandamby and Maharoof being the prime culprits.There were loads of fielding lapses, among them gifting Gambhir a couple of lives,missed run out chances and numerous fumbles.Maharoof was dealt with as his kind of bowler should be.His hat-trick in the previous game was a fluke, hiding his bowlig prowess temporarily, which was brought to the forefront in the final.Sangakkara was back to his rubbish ways as far as captaining the side is concerned.He removed Malinga, introducing Maharoof in the sixth over which allowed the Indian batsmen to settle.Again, he brought back Maharoof for the 13th over in the second powerplay.He handed Kandamby the responsibility to bowl ahead of Dishan and did not attack once Dhoni departed which was nonsensical.He continued with Dilshan even in the 40th over, paying a heavy price of 12 runs as Raina thrashed Dilshan.He brought back his "premium" strike bowler, Maharoof back in the 43rd over instead of Kulusekera or Malinga.The Sri Lankan bowlers were exceptional at the end of the innings, giving nothing away and bowling yorker lengths, mixed with accurate short bowls, consistently.To regard Muralidaran as a legend is to regard a beggar as a millionaire! I may sound strange, but its a fact that Muralidaran hardly plays a team game.When is the last time Muralidaran bowled in the first 15 overs for Sri Lanka?? Being the premium strike bowler, he should be courageous enough to take on and intice the batsmen inside the field restrictions.The fact is that he is too timid and cannot stand batsmen taking him on.He needs a well spread out field.Also, he seems oblivious to the rules guarding the LBW decisions, appealing like a clown and then imploring in an idiotic way at every instance of a ball touching the pads of a batsman.He is a cricketer who seems terrified by the cricket ball,his fielding a proof of this fact. He runs backward while receiving a throw and fields in a manner unknown.His batting gives an insight of his team spirit. Being afraid of the ball, he swings like a pendulum at the crease, backing away or moving across his stumps, irrespective of the situation,the demands of his team or weather a batsman is still at crease at the other end.
It was the Indian fast bowling that was the highlight of this match.To the dismay of Sri Lanka, Indian bowlers decided to wake up in the final!They bowled with venom, unseen in recent times.
They were helped on their way by some injudicious shot selection of Sri Lankan batsmen who were caught off-guard by Indians and seemed to be under pressure to continue their consistent performance, not playing freely, unlike Indians, who had nothing to loose and played their natural game.The way Dilshan,Mathews and Sangakkara threw away their wickets is a testimony of the pressure they felt.Indian bowlers should have finished off the game much earlier, winning by a bigger margin but, as usual, they failed to deliver the final punch.
Eventually, India won by 81 runs.
No comments:
Post a Comment