Time for changes in the middle-order

Once again it was the Indian batting that blew a fine opportunity to gain a stranglehold on the contest. A total of 224 at Sharjah was hardly enough against the strokeful Lankans.

It is time some changes are made in the middle-order that has let the team down. Vinod Kambli has been given more than his share of chances and youngsters like Hemang Badani and S. Sriram do deserve a break.

Under the circumstances, Sachin Tendulkar's approach was right. It might have been a sedate innings by his standards, but with wickets falling at the other end, he had to stay and compile runs.

In contrast, skipper Sourav Ganguly's stroke selection surprised one. He tried to play across the line more than once early on and did not appear to be the smooth stroking southpaw that he normally is. The Bengal batsman was in imperious form in Kenya, but perhaps the pressure is finally telling on him. The repeated failure of the middle-order could be the reason.

Sri Lanka has one brilliant bowler in off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who once again made life difficult for the batsmen, but the others chipped in with their bit as well, bowling stump to stump.

It must however be said that the Indians did not help their cause either with some foolish running between the wickets. In the end, the team was at least 30 to 40 runs short.

Coming to the Lankan batting, all credit to the consistent Russell Arnold and the young Kumara Sangakkara. Both collected their runs in a cool manner, without letting the asking rate climb. The two knew that against an Indian attack that did not hold any great threat, all they had to do was to stay in the middle for the runs to come.

The Indians invariably get bogged down after the loss of early wickets, while teams like Lanka maintain the run-rate, despite setbacks. There is less burden on men coming later in the order.

Sourav Ganguly and his men were unhappy with the excessive dew at night. This is nothing new in Sharjah and has been a factor, ever since day\night cricket came to this venue.

For the next game, the Indians would do well to include left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi instead of the unimpressive paceman Ajit Agarkar, especially since the pitches in Sharjah are on the slower side.

K.SRIKKANTH

www.krishsrikkanth.com

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