India mistake England to be West Indies

With a depleted team, India managed to whitewash the West Indies 2-0 on the previous tour to the Caribbean. But, if the same mentality is applied towards touring England as well, one needs to judge the stupidity of the Indian team who have lost yet another match against England yesterday at Manchester by 6 wickets. Needless to be said, India saw contributions only from Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid and Suresh Raina who did the scoring while the rest of them that includes Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli failed miserably. However, a target of 166 was still a tough one to reach.

I really give hats-off to Dravid for hitting three sixes and en route becoming one of the two batsmen who could manage to clear the ropes. Despite his style not suiting to T20 cricket, Dravid managed to keep up the momentum which speaks of his hard work in the nets. Dravid's style of play is more suited to test cricket and comes in handy regarding one day cricket. Not only did Dravid score 31 runs but was instrumental in putting up a partnership of 65 runs for the third wicket along with Rahane. Coming to the game, one need not cite the absence of Yuvraj and Sehwag.

With the likes of Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Kohli etc, much more could have been made possible which actually didn't happen. Giving undue credit to some Jade Dernbach would be a waste of time when Dhoni and co felt that everything was over once they lifted the world cup in April this year.England were comfortable with contributions coming in from every batsman who took it to the crease. If not for Hales who scored a naught, there were contributions from Kieswetter, Pietersen, Morgan, Bopara and Samit Patel who came in handy with the bat. More than big scores, there was continuous flow of runs for England.

With so much depth and form in the batting England, nothing much could have been done by the Indian bowlers who got belted one after the other starting from Praveen Kumar. All the option that Dhoni had in hand was to give the ball to Rohit Sharma thinking that a change in bowling might stop runs from being scored at ease. With Rohit Sharma going in for 16 runs off his over, Dhoni didn't couldn't take the risk of trying Raina and Kohli. Dhoni has to be satisfied for crossing 150 and then bringing it till the 20^th over and not finishing somewhere in between.

Depleted India show West Indies the gates

Well, some two years down the lane, the West Indies had been whitewashed by the Bangladesh with most of the big names missing from the West Indies squad. Now, a team deceived from its key players is found to thrash the same country on its home ground. Recently, the case was the same when they had Pakistan in the delivering end in the only T20 game they played. India were without the services of Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh etc who have pulled out of the tournament citing one or the other reasons. The team was captained by Suresh Raina.

The necessary action that a T20 game is expected to give happened to come towards the fag end of the innings with Yousuf Pathan blasting two sixes and Harbhajan Singh hitting one. Of course, even Rohith Sharma had two hits out of the ground but that was preceded by a series of ducking the ball.Rohith Sharma took 23 balls to score his 26 at a rate of 113.04 runs for every 100 balls he faced. However, neither of the teams were found to show any sort of experimenting with their bowling with India sticking to 5 bowler theory and West indies using 4 bowlers to bowl their full quota.

Being the home team, the West Indies showed all sorts of confidence when they started their run chase with a 66 run third wicket partnership between Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo. This though couldn't fetch them a victory could however save some face for the hosts. The match was of little or of no consequence with hardly any takers irrespective of who wins or who loses. The target should have been chased down by the West Indies with players like Christopher Barnwell's late show with the bat that saw 3 sixes which was more than anybody else's in the game.

I was just wondering when Samuels was mentioned in the team. Samuels' last game for the West Indies was against Sri Lanka in 2008. After that, we hear Samuels was suspended by the ICC for having a suspect bowling action. If one can go through the scorecard, you can see Darren Sammy with four wickets at a rate of 4.00 runs an over. That was a match figure one of its kind with a bowler bowling 4 overs, taking 4 wickets and giving away runs at a rate of 4.00 runs an over. But, destiny was too harsh upon him when he missed the man of the match award for being in the side that lost the match.

A game just for the sake of it

Well I just cannot understand the reason behind conducting one off games, be it the test match or the one dayer or a T20 international. This is referring to the one off T20 game played between India and West Indies at Port of Spain yesterday. There should have been a minimum of at least three games for a tournament to have a moment. Or else, who would be interested in watching the game no matter what it offers? This has happened many times with there being a similar one off game between Pakistan and West Indies last month which Pakistan won.

Moving ahead, there would be a one off T20 match between Sri Lanka and England to be played later in this month. With T20 cricket being the shortest version of the game, there can be a schedule of at least 3 such games where deciding a winner would be more appropriate. Moreover, a T20 game can be held back to back without any breaks in between. Fans today do not bother who wins or loses the match as long as it can provide the necessary entertainment that is promises. Every match is cheered in the same excitement irrespective of whether their favorite team wins or loses the same.

In their current tour to the Caribbean, India are scheduled to play 1 T20 game followed by 5 one day internationals and 3 test matches. With so many days reserved for the remaining versions of the game, one has to wonder why is there so little consideration given to the shortest format of the game. This is not anything new in cricket. This has been the case since its start somewhere in 2005. Recently, even Pakistan, like India played 1 T20 + 5 ODIs and 2 test matches. Instead of conducting one off games like this, it would be better not to include the T20 game at all.

The ICC has not left even that stone unturned. There have been tournaments that included only a test and an ODI with the T20 missing. Of course, there are few other tournaments as well having only T20 games with the remaining two formats missing. However, the idea behind conducting such games is still a mystery. There are few players who are found playing just the T20 game with their style or skills still not acceptable to the remaining two formats. This would ean that player touring just to play that one off game. In case that player is dropped, he loses a chance to show his skills at an international level.

A totally flawless final

Well I just cannot recall a finals between two teams captained by played who also keep wickets for their side. This time I saw it when Kumara Sangakkara for Sri Lanka and Mahendra Singh Dhoni did it for India in the finals. On one side, being an Indian I was rejoicing the Indian victory which came home after 28 years surpassing a silver jubilee in between and on the other hand, I had complete pity for Mahela Jayawardane to have ended on the losing side despite scoring a century. No one scored a century for India despite them being victorious.

This was a rare finals not only because it was India who won the trophy but for the fact that both teams fought it out hard to win the trophy which was eventually awarded to one team that played a slight better cricket. Sri Lanka did well to pileup 274 runs on the board which should have been a winning total for sure. But, needless to be said, Dhoni and team had different plans. I just cannot forget the presence of Sachin Tendulkar in the team for the sixth world cup. Someone like Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Inzamam Ul Haq never enjoyed this.

Despite being extraordinary players of their era, they never got to lift the world cup. One can look into the last three world cup finals which were all won by Australia and were one sided games. It would not have been a prized prediction for anyone who would have bet on Australia after Pakistan were bowled out for 132 in 1999. And then in 2003, a total of 359 would have never be chased even with ten Sachin Tendulkars in the side against a team with McGrath and co bowling. If McGrath stuck to his line and length, Lee did the damage.

Exactly four years later in the Caribbean, India was replaced by Sri Lanka and Ricky Ponting was replaced by Adam Gilchrist. Every world cup final set up a new record for Australia. In 1999, Pakistan were bowled out for the lowest total in a world cup final. Then in 2003, Indian bowlers were belted for the highest total, the largest margin of victory and the fastest hundred in a world cup final. Four years later, Adam Gilchrist blasted the fastest hundred in a world cup finals bettering Ponting's record by 2 balls and the highest individual score in a world cup final.

Top two teams qualify to the finals

Before predicting the winners of the world cup with less than 24 hours to go for the big game to start, one has to decide whether the teams which have qualified to the finals of the mega event are worth their place. I can just tell you the way how Pakistan was eventually declared winners of the tournament in 1992 when they shouldn't have even reached the semi-finals. Pakistan had losses to India, West Indies and South Africa and wins against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia before playing England. The England tie became important for Pakistan and Australia as the winner would make it to the semis.

As a matter of fact, Australia had lost to New Zealand, England ,Pakistan and South Africa with wins against India, West Indies and Sri Lanka. Pakistan's task was just no to lose the match meaning even a tie or an abandonment would see them through to the semis. Pakistan got all out for 74 regarding which nothing needs to be said in particular. Finally, rain interrupted the game forcing the match officials to abandon the game and award equal points to both teams. So, Pakistan at the cost of Australia reaches the semis and also wins the trophy a week later.

One can also go through the 1999 world cup when Steve Waugh just cashed in on the drop catch by Herschelle Gibbs in the super sixes of the tournament and a wrong decision of Hansie Cronje in the semis which ended in a tie seeing Aussies through to the finals. India cashed in on the drop catch if Sachin Tendulkar by Abdul Razzaq and the presence of Kenya in the super sixes and a toss win against England in the day-night encounter. But, India deserved to be there in the finals. Sri Lanka along with Australia deserved to be in the finals of the 2007 world cup.

This time, Sri Lanka if not for their loss against Pakistan and the abandoned game against Australia had no black spots. India on the other hand lost to the Proteas and had a tie against England but that was compromised with a win against Australia and Pakistan. India also cashed in on the 5 drop chances in the semi-finals against Pakistan which would have otherwise been a Pakistan-Sri Lanka finals. But, despite the loss in the league stages, their body language and attitude showed no signs of compromise which justifies their place in the finals. Youvraj Singh, Dhoni, Tendulkar, Harbhajan, Zaheer all have proved their place.

Drop catches and the tournament will drop your team

Well one can imagine the drop catch of the Kiwi big-hitting batsman Ross Taylor in the league stages of the tournament in the match between Pakistan and New Zealand at an unimportant venue. Ross Taylor was solely responsible in bringing up a total in excess of 300 when he blasted 92 runs of the last 4 overs at a rate of over 20 runs an over. That was the first defeat that Pakistan had in this tournament but was hard to come to terms with whatsoever. That was Pakistan's first defeat to New Zealand since 1979 world cup in world cups.

And then I can cite the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka where top batsmen were repeatedly dropped by poor Pakistani fielders which though didn't stop Pakistan from emerging victorious but reduced the margin to victory restricting the same to just ten runs. Many claim that to be a close encounter for Sri Lanka that could have gone anybody's way. But, anybody who would have watched the match ball-by-ball would conclude that it was Pakistan's drop chances that reduced the margin of victory to ten instead of 50. Thse two games never bothered Pakistan for those were league stage games.

There was always a chance for Pakistan to come back into the tournament when all was not lost. They had won the match against Sri Lanka and later on in the world cup tournament beat Australia which saw them top the charts in group A ahead of Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia. Then in the quarter-finals, beating West Indies was not a tough task for anyone. But, the real test for Pakistan would be in the match against India where they have been ousted for the third time by their arch-rivals India. I'm not citing their 5-0 loss to India in world cups.

India knocked out Pakistan in the 1996 world cup when they registered a 39 run win despite a 113 run 1^st wicket partnership between Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar in 13 overs. Then came the match in 2003 which was famous for a drop catch of Sachin Tendulkar off a Wasim Akram delivery by Abdul Razzaq which spoiled their hopes of entering the super-sixes. Yesterday, another series of drop catches was observed when Sachin Tendulkar himself was dropped four times with Sehwag being given a chance. With all these, chasing 261 should not have been difficult for Pakistan. May be Pakistan wanted to go home early.

Best of the quarter-finals

Well with all the four quarter-finals of the world cup being over, I guess it is time to bid the best of the quarter-finals which included 8 teams playing four games (obviously). The first of the quarter-finals between West Indies and Pakistan was just a walk over game for Pakistan who thrashed the West Indies like never before. First by bowling out them for just above 100 and then chasing the same with close to 30 overs left. But, that feat can be enjoyed by no one other than the Pakistanis. So, that match stands canceled in picking the best.

Next on the list comes the match involving India and Australia which India unexpectedly won with 5 wickets still in hand. This goes down as the best of all knock-out games in this tournament so far with hardly anyone having their bet on the co-hosts though they are the favorites to win the crown this time. Though Australia have lost the services of Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Glenn McGrath and others, there are some like Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee etc who are still fresh from their days of glory since the last decade.

Australia might have lost to Pakistan in their league stage encounter with the sub-continent nation but the quarter-finals of the world cup is totally a different game whatsoever. Coming to the next game between New Zealand and South Africa, that was just an elimination match where both teams don't deserve to be in the semi-finals and one of them has to make it there irrespective of whether anyone likes it or not. Both South Africa and New Zealand had just one win in their league stage and that too by a one man show and a crash by the opposition.

It was India who lost their equations against South Africa and if not for Ross Taylor, no other batsman from the Kiwi side put Pakistanis under pressure. Last but not the least we have the game between England and Sri Lanka which was (we guess) anticipated by England to be their last show in this world cup. Gone were the good work when they had a tie against India chasing 339 before losing to Bangladesh and Ireland. They were just a step better than the West Indies and nothing else. Teams gotto be lucky to have faced West Indies and England and likewise they did it in style when they didn't lose a wicket en-route to their successful chase.

Luck strikes India at the right time

Well there have been two games in this tournament where India should have won and eventually lost. Those are the game against England and South Africa where India lost the plot mid-way defending a decent total. Despite those two huge losses, the Indian players in every department were no short of their body language and guts. They did everything well till yesterday's game against the Aussies which was their win against the team after 24 years. Had the even took place a year later, may be India would have celebrated a silver-jubilee of their win over the four-time world champions.

India had last won a game against Australia in world cups in the 1987 edition where the Mahammed Azharuddin-led team India beat the to-be world champions by 59 runs though they lost their other encounter against the Aussies by 1 run in the same tournament. Since then, India has been at the receiving end of the Aussies as many as 5 times. Coming to the tournament, in that match against England, India did very well to get to 338 powered with a hundred by Sachin Tendulkar but eventually not only lost all their ten wickets but an opportunity to win as well.

Though India lost 9 wickets for less than 30 runs and failed to play their complete quota of 50 overs, a score of 297 was not a bad one at all. The score was more than enough for the Proteas to shed their sweat. Had the Proteas been that tough to face, they should not have lost 7 wickets and played until the last over en-route to their successful run chase. That was the second bad luck that struck team India. One need not consider their win against West Indies to be a luck favoring India for West Indies are a team that only Holland can fear.

You can see from the scorecard about the panic that the Aussies had with not even a single bowler happening to bowl his complete quota of ten overs. The Aussies could extract only 1 over maiden when Brett Lee happened to be the lucky guy this time. Likewise, there were four bowlers from India to have completed their full quota of ten overs that included the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin. There were three bowlers from India to have been better than the four from Australia. Concluding the post, did the Aussies take the Indians for granted or was Dhoni lucky to have this his?

What does Sachin and India want to prove?

Hmm..this is for the second time in the tournament that India have lost with Sachin Tendulkar scoring a century. But, as most of the tongues wag, I don't blame it on the maestro keeping in mind various superstitions. When cricket is a team game, leaving something completely upon one player is just stupid and a shameful act as well as cowardly. One can go through the scorecard of yesterday's game between India and South Africa at Nagpur to see what actually happened. If not for the opening duo, no other batsmen really stood to the occasion. Of course, Gambhir did.

But, with the likes of Yousuf Pathan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh being there in the team and that too in full form, things should have been a lot better. India were at one stage charging in at 267/1 at the end of the 40^th over at over six an over and with ten more overs still to go. The total seemed to be somewhere close to 400 with all the aforementioned batsmen and tail-end batsmen like Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan who can do their bit with the bat at the fag end of the innings. Oh! I forgot to mention Kohli.

With such a strong batting line up and with such a great initial start, something much was expected and unfortunately, the total ended 4 runs less than 300. But still, all was not lost with the Indian bowlers being capable of doing things as expected with Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra being among top wicket takers for the team. They did well initially when South Africa were at one stage 247/6 after at one stage being at 223/3. 13 runs were needed from the last over and my goodness! I wonder how that was possible under that much pressure!

Failures with both the bat as well as the ball should and must draw all sorts of criticism no matter who scored a hundred or who held their nerves to restrict the opposition when there were 6 other batsmen who got out scoring single digit runs or just above the ten run mark and someone like Ashish Nehra who gave away 65 runs from 8.5 overs at 7 and a half an average that included the last over. I don't discourage Dhoni for giving the last over to Nehra instead I criticize him for under-using his bowlers when Sehwag & Sachin Tendulkar could have bowled.

Back to the pavilion

Well after the game between Pakistan and New Zealand got over a couple of days back, things have returned back to what they were with India beating Netherlands yesterday by 5 wickets. Though India have had to face the music in matches against England and with matches against South Africa and West Indies yet to happen, all that is left for we viewers is to wait and watch for these encounters. On the other hand, the match between Sri Lanka and Australia was washed off and South Africa spoiled all viewers' hopes against England when they failed to chase 172.

In that match against Holland, India lost 5 wickets which was not at all necessary keeping in mind the opposition they were facing. Holland are yet to win a game in this world cup and their dream can only be hoped to relish against Ireland at the fag end of the pool matches. On the other side of the tournament, even Kenya are yet to win a game with Canada already having opening their account and their hopes lie in that game against Zimbabwe. Anyways, those games are just for the sake of time pass with big games lined up in succession.

Something that the Holland team can realize is that five of their batsmen came up with decent scores with them crossing the 20 run mark. That can be the only achievement for a team like Holland who have not won a single match in the 1996 world cup-the time when they started playing cricket at the international level. Coincidentally, even Kenya started their world cup campaign in the same year 1996 and have been featuring themselves since then in all world cups. However, Holland missed out in the 1999 edition. But, that can hardly draw anybody's attention no matter what.

India could make this match theirs by having in Piyush Chawla who could not have entered the world cup at any other time. He was not a part of the game against Bangladesh and got belted against Ireland for 7 runs an over compared to the overall run-rate of 4 an over. A part time bowler in Yuvraj Singh happened to be the most successful bowler with a half century and 5 wickets to his credit. But keeping in mind Yuvraj's experience and Piyush's area of expertise, both stand at the same level. At the end, the match was just a walk over for Indians who registered another win.

Proving Sachin Tendulkar unlucky?

Well many a times there have been situation when Sachin Tendulkar scores a century and team India fails to emerge on the winning side which brings up the next day's headline that the star batsman is unlucky for his team whenever he scores a hundred. May be that was the reason why India beat Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the 2003 world cup when Sachin Tendulkar got out at 98 and 97 respectively. May be that was the reason why Sachin's nervous nineties happened to be lucky for India when India won that match if superstitions are to be believed.

I remember India losing the match against Pakistan in 2004 when India were chasing a target of 330 and India ended their innings at 317 with Sachin Tendulkar scoring 141. There could be many cases similar to this in his 400+ vast one day history. However, I personally don't go along with that stupid theory that a particular batsman scores a hundred and the team loses for, more runs on the board or individually, more are the chances of that particular team wining. Yesterday, India had absolutely no reasons to lose the game when at one stage they were looking forward to a total of 400+.

Though there can be some reasons for India not being able to end up victorious, absolutely no one can forgive the Indian team losing all their ten wickets in a span of 3.5 overs and with 305 runs on the board. That was the time of the innings when the batsmen had to step forward and take charge rather than losing wickets as though it was a cycle stand effect. And, if that was not enough, a total of 339 was a defendable one with strike bowlers like Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. It is difficult to figure out what went wrong with India when neither their batting nor their bowling had to complain.

Was the England team that strong that the Indians could not withstand their blows despite being on the home side? Was Struass someone greater as a batsman compared to Sachin Tendulkar or Virender Sehwag. I can sense some weakness in the bowling department of team India which made them struggle against Bangladesh as well in the opening encounter despite scoring a total of 370 on the board. Finally, I pity England first for not being able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and second for falling by just one run from making it to the history books which would have been the most successful run chase in world cups.

Beware India!

Well for the second time in a world cup, India faced Bangladesh yesterday and the result was slightly better compared to what it was four years ago at West Indies where India lost the match by 5 wickets to attain a much win situation with matches against Sri Lanka and Bermuda still to go. Well that was four years down the lane and an unforgettable one for team India and Bangladesh as well but for the right reasons like India. In yesterday's game, India on the outlook looks as though they've got everything right until the end. But, my opinion stands otherwise.

India no doubt did everything right from the start with Virender Sehwag's another 175 by an Indian batsman knock but in a different situation compared to Kapil Dev's. A score of 370 on the board and a target of 371 no doubt speaks for itself. But, a margin of just 87 runs with such a huge target on the board also speaks for the lackluster in the bowling department. Finally, the Indian bowlers could not even take all ten Bangladeshi wickets. The Indian bowlers could take only 9 Bangladeshi wickets. India had a tough task defending a huge target in its very 1^st encounter.

One can go through India's match against Sri Lanka in the 1999 world cup where India first posted a massive target of 373 on the board and on the other hand did the same with the ball as well by getting the defending champions for 216 with the margin of victory being 157 runs. And, this time, Bangladesh was much worse outfit compared to Sri Lanka in 1999 that consisted of Chaminda Vass, Muralitharan, Jayasuriya, Desilva etc. Despite the presence of the experienced bowlers like Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan, a total of 283/9 by Bangladesh is far from satisfactory one can say.

At one stage of the match, it was as though Bangladesh would do another upset on team India when at one stage they were 56/1 at the end of 7 overs with a run-rate of 8.0 an over which was followed by a 2^nd wicket partnership of 73 runs and a series of scores above 30 until Mushfiqur Rahim got out. It was fascinating to see the top five Bangladeshi batsmen get into double digits despite a demanding target set forth by India. It was the lower middle order and the tail end batsmen that failed for Bangladesh and spoiled their party. However, this should be a warning call for India who are to face South Africa and England in weeks to come.

The curse of 299

Well yesterday in the finals of the triangular series between India and Sri Lanka at Dambulla, not only did India suffer a loss in yet another finals of a tournament involving three nations or more but, also collapsed while chasing a total of 300, with Sri Lanka closing in on 299. This was the same score at which ten years back India slumped to their worst ever defeat in one dayers when they lost all their ten wickets for 54 runs while chasing the same target of 299. That match was a memorable one for Sanath Jayasuriya's epic knock of 189.

Similarly, the series being memorable one for Muttiah Muralitharan when he took 7 wickets giving away 30 runs in a game in the league stage of the tournament once again against India. That was the third time in history of one day cricket that a bowler had taken 7 wickets after Pakistan's Aqib Javed and West Indies' Windson Davis (who took 7/41) . For the second time in that series, India was at the receiving end of a bowler who took 7 wickets. The venue was Sharjah in both the occasions which makes it even more delightful for team India.

As a matter of fact, India and England are the only teams against which two bowlers have taken a 7 wicket haul. The other teams that have had it one are Zimbabwe against whom Chaminda Vass took 8/19 and Windson Davis taking 7/41 as mentioned above against Australia. As a matter of fact, no one has been able to take even a 7 wicket haul against Bangladesh. Anyways, coming to yesterday's match, this was a time when chasing even 350 should not have been tough atleast for India which didn't happen. One thing that is to be noticed is that this was India's second loss to Sri Lanka in the finals of a tri nation trophy.

Last time when India met Sri Lanka in the finals of the Asia cup, India won the match and prior to that, Sri Lanka won the finals in the triangular series late last year which also involved New Zealand. Of course, India didn't enter the finals of the tri nation tournament involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe. It is now a difficult task for anyone to hold the number of games played between India and Sri Lanka since 2008. Any tournament that stands canceled is found to be compensated by an India-Sri Lanka series. May be that is the reason Sachin Tendulkar was dropped despite there being fears of a series loss.

Sehwag: A one man army

Well if one could go through the highlights of yesterday's match between India and New Zealand, had there been no Virender Sehwag, there would not have been India in the finals no matter the devastating spells by the Indian speedsters Ishanth Sharma, Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra. It was a single handed game played by Sehwag when he belted the Kiwi bowlers the way he wanted by dictating each and everyone of them. With the wickets falling at will one the other end, Sehwag's contribution is indeed noteworthy. The next second digit figure came from the blades of the captain Dhoni.

Dhoni scored 38 runs at a strike rate of just above 50 in the 75 ball innings which he played. at the end of the day, only two others, leaving Sehwag were able to cross double digit with extras contributing 22 of them to be the third highest scorer in the Indian innings. It was a good toss to win the the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni which avoided his team from another 200 run defeat. Had New Zealand batted first, the match would have been a replica of the opening encounter where India lost by 200 runs and yes to Sehwag as well.

Indians drop the game

There is nothing left to say about India's chances at least in this edition of the world T20 where India lost their third and final match against Sri Lanka yesterday at Gros Islet by 3 wickets. India should have taken this match seriously for, a huge win in this match would have seen them sail over to the semi-finals of the world cup with West Indies later that day losing to Australia by 6 wickets. With this, India have lost all three matches in a world T20 for the second time in a row. One has to pity their fans back home.

However, the match was a must win game for Sri Lanka as well with them losing to Australia and having a win against the West Indies. They would have still made it to the semis in case they had lost by a small margin. But, a victory would stop all tongues that say Sri Lanka gained their entry ino the semi-finals on the cost of India and West Indies which would have let their heads low. India did take thir game against Sri Lanka seriously when all batsmen barring Yuvraj Singh contributed to the score of 163 which was a decent score on the board.

There have been cases where a total of 163 have been defended successfully. For a change, Sanath Jayasuriya was made to open the innings and much to everyone's surprise; all he was able to do was to get out on a duck. Scorecard suggests that the Indians have not learnt from the past when they just stuck to their four bowler theory when 4 bowlers bowled their quota and Yousuf Pathan was given to bowl three overs. Yuvraj Singh could have bowled another over or two when he was the successful bowler giving away just 6.00 runs from his lone over.

On the other hand, Sri Lankan captain used 7 of his bowlers which saw a little drop in runs being scored. One interesting fact is that the Indian bowlers never bowled an extra delivery. Coming to the Sri Lankan batting, if not for their openers, all the batsmen from Sri Lanka who made it to the crease scored a contributing and promising knocks. However, one cannot figure out why Mathews was given the MoM award when Sangakkara scored equal number of runs at a better strike rate. Kapugedra score a quickfire 37 who would have justified the award being given to him.

Gates not yet closed for India

It is confusing as to how come it happens only against India that a batsman can hit sixes at will. In their last game against Australia as well, there were 13 sixes scored by Shane Watson and David Warner between them. That was not the case for Australia against either Pakistan or Bangladesh. Yesterday, even against the West Indies, Chris Gayle had 6 hits out of the ground. Had it not been for Gayle, West Indies would not have won or even come close to winning the match. On can go through the scorecard to see no other score other than Gayle's being a highlight.

The series of scores from West Indies were 23 from Chandrapaul, 19 from Darren Sammy and 17 from Pollard. If Gayle's knock is removed from the list, the total would drop down to 71 from 9 overs at a rate of close to 8.00 runs an over. One thing that made the difference between the two teams was the way both the captains handled their bowlers. The Indian captain used only 6 bowlers with four of them bowling their complete quota with the remaining two bowling half of that. Of course, one had to Ashish Nehra 4 overs when he took three wickets.

On the other hand, the West Indian captain bought in 7 of his bowlers to bowl with every change accompanying a reduction in run rate and an increase in the run rate required to secure a win. One fascinating aspect was that every bowler from the West Indies had a wicket against his name. There was almost every Indian batsman who contributed with the bat but that was simply just not enough. Except Murali Vijay and Rohith Sharma, there were similar scores until Harbhajan Singh. Putting it simple, the Indian innings saw more of their batsmen making it to the crease with limited bowlers taking the ball.

Whatever, though India have lost both their games in the super eights, they still have a freak chance to make it to the semi-finals of the world cup with a match yet to go against Sri Lanka. In case India manage to win against Sri Lanka and both West Indies and Sri Lanka lose to Australia (which has a greater probability) then India's run-rate might be the qualifying factor to enter the semis. But, as mentioned, that would be a tough fight for India with both Sri Lanka and West Indies also being in the same phase that India are in.

India breakdown into peices against Australia

Anyone who would have watched yesterday's match between India and Australia would have just declared Australia as the winners of the world T20 even before the semi-finals of the tournament is decided. India was the only opposition that had a chance to beat Australia with the West Indies and Sri Lanka being underdogs in the tournament. The moment Australia secured a win against India, all would have just crossed their fingers. India was one of the teams to have won both their league stage games. of course, even Australia have won both their league stage games against Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The only difference between the Indian fielders and the ball boys was that the fielders were inside the boundary while the ball boys were outside it. There were more instances where the ball boys collected the ball and handed it over to the fielders than the fielders themselves stopping. The ball full-tossed itself 13 times in the duration when Shane Watson and David Warner were at the crease. The Aussies had more number of sixes than the number of fours which happens rarely and the case stands even more rare with India being the opposition. Putting it simple, Indian bowlers were tired of trying too many things.

Despite the score being too high, Harbhajan Singh could manage one over maiden which is definitely a feather in his cap. Though Harbhajan Singh went wicketless, he was the pick of the bowlers when he gave away runs at a rate of 3.75 runs an over. It was evident that Australia are poor players of spin bowling when a part time spinner like Yuvraj Singh scalped two wickets though he gave away runs at a rate of 10.00 runs an over. But, the frontline bowlers like Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan were completely failures with the ball who were among the major run donors.

If that was what happened when the Aussies were batting, here comes Indian batting which saw only one face that was Rohith Sharma. One can go through the scorecard to see only Rohith Sharma scoring 79 runs which was the only score more than 20. There were the likes of Murali Vijay, Gambhir, Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh but could only walk back disappointed. Harbhajan Singh was found to score 13 runs which was more than any other batsman barring Rohith Sharma. One has to thank God for the Aussie bowlers finishing the match in 17.4 overs which saved the viewers 10 minutes.

No2 for India

For the third consecutive time, India have got into the super eights stage of a world T20 tournament without losing a single game in its league stage. In 2007, India had beaten Scotland (taken for granted) and Pakistan while in 2009 India beat Bangladesh and Ireland to reach the super eights of the tournament. Now, as expected by all, India beat Afghanistan a couple of days back and yesterday they beat South Africa to keep the tempo moving. It was interesting too India battle Afghanistan today and face South Africa tomorrow. The games involving India were held back to back.

However, no one complains with India winning both the matches effectively and with it being a T20 game, even if two games involving one team is held on the same day doesn't matter. Indian batsmen never had problems of any sort when Suresh Raina did most of the scoring becoming the first Indian to score a century in a T20 international. Of course, there is no Sachin Tendulkar playing T20 cricket to score a century there. Anyways, with that apart, the match had only notable contributions from Yuvraj Singh and Raina who with the rest only filling the vacancies that were relevant.

It is not anybody's fault with Dhoni hardly getting anything to play and his score was an unbeaten 16 runs off 6 balls with one six and a boundary. Raina and Yuvraj together played 90 balls which was 75% of the match. It shouldn't matter who played with every batsman having his day. Whatever, it was foolish for Smith to stick to the six bowler formula when four bowlers bowled their quota. Whatever, chasing 187 is a tough job though Kallis on the top had the Indian bowlers running for cover when he struck 73 from 54 balls. May be that was too slow for T20 cricket especially when chasing.

Kallis stood for nine overs scoring at less than 9 runs an over which is quintessential in T20 cricket. Guys who came in later namely AB deVilliers, Morkel and Boucher scored quick runs but not enough ones to secure a victory. It was because of those batsmen that South Africa crossed the 170 run mark with the margin of victory limited to 14 runs. Towards, as there would be a man of the match who is responsible for his team's victory, there would also be a man who would be solely responsible for his team's defeat and it was Kallis in yesterday's match.

Caught Dhoni bowled Nehra

Well though the result of yesterday's match between Afghanistan and India didn't have any takers, the match was fun to see the opening batsman of Afghanistan scoring a half century. However, batsmen who followed didn't have anything to say with their bat going completely dumb. That was Noor Ali Zadran for you who scored 50 runs from 48 balls to see Afghanistan score a total in excess of hundred.

There was nothing to feel surprised about Afghanistan ending their batting with 115 on the board and one has to applaud them for playing their complete quota of 20 overs which most of the lesser known teams don't. If not for the 50 scored by Noor Ali Zadran, the next major score came from the number 5 batsman in Asghar Stanikzai who scored 30 runs together which constituted about 70% of the total of Afghanistan. Going through the scorecard of the match would reveal nothing but only a series of single digit scores if not for those two mentioned above.

It is really tough to write something about such games whose results are well known to one and all even before the match has been started announced. But, once in a while there would be surprises and a little bit of decent performances from batsmen from these teams as well. It was evident from this match regarding the wonderful pair Dhoni and Ashish Nehra make when Dhoni had three consecutive catches off the bowling off Nehra. This was the game where a captain can try experimenting with his players and Dhoni executed this very well by handing the ball to Yuvraj Singh and Yousuf Pathan.

Murali Vijay's knock at the top of the order speaks about Dhoni's use of such games as a platform to bring in new faces on the international arena. With the total being only 115, Dhoni experimenting new talent should be praiseworthy. I wish Ravindra Jadeja should have come in at number 3 instead of Yuvraj, when Yuvraj has a lot to prove in the matches to come. India would be facing South Africa shortly in the next few days by which time players like Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay and Praveen Kumar should be ready to take some evasive actions with the bat in case their team needs it.

India not targetting a whitewash against RSA

With the first two matches already being won by India and with it the series as well, suggestions are that India would be looking in for a whitewash. One need not specially cite the way India won the first one dayer against South Africa where the match went on until the last legal delivery was bowled. Anyway, that is a different issue altogether. However, the fact that seems evident after Dhoni's decisions to rest Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag is that Dhoni doesn't have the idea to whitewash South Africa. Instead, Dhoni's idea seems to give youngsters some international match practice.

This would be the first whitewash imposed by India over South Africa if at all India succeed in doing so. I just cannot remember as to when last did South Africa ever play an ODI series against India in India. From the past 6 years since the 2003 world cup, South Africa have been to India only for the test series if not for the 5 match ODI series that was played in October 2005 which was leveled 2-2 with one ODI being abandoned. In 2004, South Africa visited India for only a 2 match test series and so was the case on its earlier tour in 2008 where the Proteas played just 3 tests.

As a matter of fact India has hardly whitewashed any team barring Bangladesh. The only ODI series that I can recall in the recent past is the 5-0 victory over England in November 2008. That was a 7 match ODI series that was cut short to 5 one dayers owing to the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. The second best to this would be the 6-1 series win over Sri Lanka in 2005 and 4-1 against Pakistan in 2006. As a matter of fact, India were unable to whitewash Bangladesh on its earlier tour when India lost the 2^nd one dayer at Dhaka in 2004-05 by 11 runs.

And now though this is no golden opportunity, India has given up the idea of going in to whitewash South Africa. Dhoni has included the likes of Abhimanyu Mithun, Rohith Sharma and Murali Vijay who will be replacing Tendulkar and Sehwag. And as usual, there is no Harbhakan Singh and Zaheer Khan which completely rules out India's chances of winning the 3rd and the final one dayer at Ahmedabad. However, some chances despite the absence of key players would be absence of Smith in the South African team and the presence of Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina etc among a few others who can put pressure on the visiting team.