Unimaginative display by India

By K.Srikanth

India's dismal performance against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup proves nothing is going right for the team. Once again the side played unimaginative cricket and paid the price.

The Indians have been struggling for a year now and the tale of woe only seems to continue. Even on the few occasions where they held the upper-hand, the Indians failed to cash in on the opportunities.

The bowlers did well to curb the run-rate in the middle overs, but ran out of ideas when Romesh Kaluwitharana and Chaminda Vaas launched into them towards the end. The Indians certainly let Lanka off the hook, allowing the team to score 275 after having it at 209 for five at one stage.

The target of 276 was quite stiff considering that the two-paced wicket was not conducive for stroke-production. Once again Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar had to deliver for India to pull it off.

When Ganguly was dismissed early, fifty per cent of the contest was over. And when Tendulkar was out, virtually everything was finished for the Indians.

Depending too much on Tendulkar and Ganguly is not a healthy sign at all for Indian cricket. But this is a very familiar story. A total lack of planning was visible when the Indians were chasing and one was surprised to see Sunil Joshi being promoted up the order as a pinch hitter. This move has been tried earlier too and till date, Joshi has not succeeded.

The chances of Joshi scattering the field and boosting the run- rate as a pinch hitter are as remote as the Winter Olympics being held in Chennai. In any case, it was a stale tactic, and the element of surprise was totally missing.

True, an innovative approach is essential, but then, doing things for the sake of doing them is ridiculous. This clearly reveals that the attitude and the approach of the team have not changed at all.

To make matters worse, Rahul Dravid's terrible form continues and this must indeed be a cause of concern for the team management. While there is no doubt that Dravid is an excellent batsman with a proven record against some of the world's better attacks, it would be wise to rest him for some time, even though he happens to be the vice-captain.

A brief respite from international cricket would rejuvenate him and enable the batsman to stay focussed. Few cricketers have received as many chances as Dravid, but considering his talent the opportunities are justified.

The Lankans outplayed the Indians in all the departments of the game. The Indian fielding and out-cricket were sloppy and it really was pathetic to watch this, especially considering the training and practice that they have put in.

On the other hand, the Lankans, who were quite brilliant on the field, missed nothing. This is an area where there is plenty of room for improvement in the Indian team.

The above mentioned issues have been highlighted in this column on quite a few occasions earlier too, one cannot see any turn- around in the Indian team' performances. One wonders when they will start winning matches in both forms of the game.

www.krishsrikkanth.com

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