India stumble yet again at the final hurdle
Erapalli Prasanna - 6 August 2001
The can't-win-final story of Indian cricket doesn't seem to end.
Another golden opportunity to set the record straight has been lost.
The Indian captain Sourav Ganguly was a disappointed man after the
losing the toss on Sunday afternoon. He must have been aware of the
fact that Sri Lanka held all the early advantage and went on to take
the loss of toss rather philosophically. On a wicket that was being
used for the first time in the series and with the general feeling
that it might keep low as the game progressed, Sanath Jayasuriya got
his decision spot on to bat first.
The Sri Lankan opening batsmen blunted the Indian pace bowlers for
once. Sanath Jayasuriya and Avishka Gunawardene should be given credit
for taking the Indian attack apart. I felt that Zaheer Khan and Ashish
Nehra tried to bowl a bit too fast in their opening spell and paid the
price for it. Sri Lanka went out with a clear game plan and put that
into practice. Jayasuriya played steadily at one end and Gunawardene
went after the bowling. The strategy was well placed and it worked
wonderfully well as they added 70 odd runs in the first 11 overs at a
rate of more than six per over.
It was a decisive move by the Indian captain to bring Harbhajan Singh
into the attack. He delivered immediately getting rid of the dangerous
looking Gunawardene and helped to put the brakes on the scoring.
Harbhajan Singh has been improving by leaps and bounds as every game
goes by. Virender Shewag claimed the wicket of Marvan Atapattu and
gave India some hope of coming back into the match. The new batsman
Mahela Jayawardene along with Jayasuriya made certain that the bowlers
were never allowed to dominate.
In my opinion Jayawardene is really technically sound. He played an
excellent knock, playing Harbhajan Singh most competently. It was a
great exhibition of intelligent batting and even Harbhajan Singh will
agree with that. The Sri Lankan skipper was unfortunate to have missed
out on a hundred, when he looked good for a big one. Russel Arnold and
Romesh Kaluwitharana played some explosive cricket towards the end to
help their side to an imposing score of 295. It was quite
disappointing to see the Indians bowl without any purpose and
direction. It hurts me that much more to think that these were the same
bowlers who had pinned down the Lankans in the previous two
encounters.
Chasing a big score of 295 under lights is never an easy task. It was
a huge disappointment to see that the Indian batting lacked any depth
or character in a big match such as this. It was clearly evident right
at the outset that Virender Shewag would have to play another belter
of an innings to give India any chance of a win. The Indian batting
proved to be too brittle when it mattered most; it looks sound and
strong when the score is not exactly challenging.
There is a huge psychological mountain to climb for this Indian team.
The ODI series also brought to fore a few interesting aspects. Without
Sachin Tendulkar India will struggle to dominate their opponents. With
just three genuine bowlers in the side to expect to restrict the
opposition to a comfortable score and then to chase for a win is just
wishful thinking.
I would give all credit the Sri Lankans for they are deserving winners
of the Coca-Cola Cup. They showed a lot of character and they proved
themselves with a most comprehensive win against India. Sanath
Jayasuriya richly deserves the Man of the Series award and the car
that went with it for leading right from the front. Sri Lanka surely
are the worthy champions.
© CricInfo