Positive attitude paid dividends

Powered by a brilliant unbeaten century from Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan defeated India in a convincing manner to keep its hopes alive in the Coca-Cola series at Sharjah. Moin Khan's men were positive in their attitude and this obviously was the key to a much improved display.

The Pakistanis were charged up for the occasion and from the manner in which the Indian attack was handled, it was evident that the batsmen had a game plan in place.

Inzamam took control with a judicious blend of attack and defence, while Yousuf Youhana rotated the strike.

The point to note here is that even during the later stages of the innings when wickets are often lost in a hectic search for runs, Inzamam and Youhana kept their cool, collected runs in a clinical fashion, and batted through the fifty overs.

It was surprising that Sachin Tendulkar, who had operated quite usefully against South Africa, was brought on only in the 47th over. His assorted spin has often provided India with vital breakthroughs, apart from putting a check on the flow of runs. Did the fact that Robin Singh completed his quota of overs (he was the most economical of the Indian bowlers) cut into Tendulkar's share.

Ganguly could have juggled his resources much better under the circumstances since the frontline bowlers were proving to be expensive anyway.

After Inzamam's heroics, it was the turn of Waqar Younis to hog the limelight. In an incisive spell the experienced paceman broke the back of the Indian batting and in the process proved a point to all those who had written him off.

Chasing 270 plus was always going to be difficult and the onus was on Tendulkar and Ganguly to provide the team with a blazing start. However, both were dismissed early and the heat was clearly on the other batsmen. They buckled under the mounting pressure.

In fact, they were not even able to stay long enough to improve India's Net Run Rate, which has on occasions proved so crucial. It was also reported in some newspapers that a message had been sent to the batsmen to step up the scoring, but no urgency was seen in the field of play.

The Indian fans would not only have been disappointed with the outcome, but also in the meek nature of the surrender. There was a total absence of fight.

www.krishsrikkanth.com

-By K.Srikkanth

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