We still haven't learnt from the debacles

The expectations were high when India took on the mighty Sri Lankans for the Coca-Cola Cup in the triangular series on Sunday. Having won its last three league matches, it was widely believed that India was peaking at the right time, and that it would make a match out of it, but sadly all such hopes were destroyed with a pathetic display in the final encounter. I would have been happy if India had gone down fighting. But this was meek surrender.

Chasing a target of 296, I knew India would not get anywhere near the total the moment it lost those two early wickets. One obvious blunder committed in the bowling department by captain Sourav Ganguly was not rotating the bowlers shrewdly. Where was the need to persist with Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra when they were bowling a poor line and length? Harbhajan Singh, the best bowler in the tournament for India, should have been given the ball in three spells instead of having to bowl at a stretch. The Sri Lankans were only too happy to play out the Sardar.

Moreover, Hemang Badani and Reetinder Singh Sodhi could have been tried to break the partnerships. It surely sends wrong signals to a young team when the captain does not repose faith in the skills of some of the bowlers. Badani and Sodhi are not by any yardstick great bowlers, but definitely are capable of getting breakthroughs on their day. Frankly, it was poor rotation of bowlers by the captain. The art of captaincy lies in managing the bowlers in such a way they do not feel neglected.

Sourav only aggravated issues by losing his cool often, overtly showing displeasure to any lapses on the field on the part of his boys, which clearly showed he was not the master of the situation. Any captain worth his salt would keep his head intact despite the obvious pressures that go with the job. Unfortunately Sourav faltered on that count miserably.

For all the blunders the Indians committed on the field, Sri Lanka's performance was marvellous. The way the team paced its innings was a lesson by itself. Not yielding to blind hitting in the initial overs, the Lankans dispatched the bad balls to the boundary, and ran between the wickets in great style.

The Lankans showed why they are considered a major force to reckon with in international cricket by displaying stability and character especially under crunch situations. Sanath Jayasuriya has come a long way from the slam-bang approach he used to adopt in his early years. He has understood the importance of occupying the crease and milking the bowlers. And the way Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene laid the foundation with a century partnership was inspiring, and that enabled them to launch a blitzkrieg on the hapless bowling attack later.

I was really impressed with Jayawardene's innings. While staying there rock solid, he never resorted to big hits but at the same time ensured his team maintained a good run rate.

Coming back to the Indian team, I must say that its approach to the task has become highly predictable and the opposition has understandably taken advantage of it in full measure. For instance, the Indian captain's dismissal was predictable. The way the captain perished outside the off-stump for the third time proved that in ample measure. The Sri Lankans laid the trap and the captain fell for it.

One-day cricket is all about innovation, planning and surprise, and the Indians don't seem to have learnt these from the debacles. We seem to wait for things to happen. Instead we should make things happen.

K.SRIKKANTH

www.krishsrikkanth.com

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Section  : Sport
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