In recent cricket history, the tag of chokers has been second only to fixers in the list of dirtiest insults. Through the 1990s, this dubious moniker has been reserved for the South African cricket team, particularly in the one-day game. Now, there seems to an unworthy successor: India. That first capitulation, in April 1999, to Azhar Mahmood's honest seamers in front of a rioting Chinnaswamy seemed like one bad hairday. Seven lost finals later they're like Bob Dylan's men with moustaches singing 'Jeez, I can't find my kneeees.' From Sharjah to Singapore, India are choking all over the place.

They lost five times after batting second. Four times, they conceded more than 290 runs bowling first and lost by 123, 254, 16 and 121 runs. On the two occasions they lost bowling second, they looked to have it sewn up before they were hit by two hurricanes in Ricardo Powell and Chris Cairns. From 67 for 4, Powell blasted 124 in 93 balls. From 132 for 5 and hobbling on one knee, Cairns struck 102. Sachin Tendulkar didn't play in three of the finals. In the four in which he did play, he made 0, 5, 69 and 0.

Compare this with Hansie Cronje's South Africa. They lost the Titan Cup final in 1996-97 and the CUB finals in 1997-98. But in between their two World Cup eliminations they won a triangular tournament in Nairobi, one in Sharjah, two at home, a quadrangular tournament in Pakistan and a Mini World Cup in Dhaka.

India, clearly, have set new standards. They even lost twice to the West Indies.

A loss-by-loss account:

1. v Pakistan, Pepsi Cup at Bangalore. April 4, 1999. Lost by 123 runs.
Reeling from two Test and two one-day losses at home, India played the match without Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin. This hardly explains, though, why Shahid Afridi (65) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (91) should smash their best bowling line-up for 292. Shoaib Akhtar and Wasim Akram removed the first three, and Azhar Mahmood efficiently dismissed the next five, even though the barrage of water bottles from the crowd managed to stop play for a while.

2. v West Indies, Singapore Challenge at Singapore. September 8, 1999. Lost by 4 wickets.
Of all the defeats, this was the one that should not have got away. Rahul Dravid made a masterful 101* and the unlikely allrounder Nikhil Chopra scored 61, as India reached 254. Along with Debasis Mohanty, Chopra then reduced West Indies to 67 for 4. Enter Ricardo Powell: 124 runs and 8 monster sixes later, India's losing streak had begun to gather momentum.

3. v South Africa, LG Cup at Nairobi. October 4, 1999. Lost by 26 runs.
Lance Klusener was sensationally bowled first ball by Mohanty, and Venkatesh Prasad struck twice to reduce South Africa to 18 for 3. But Herschelle Gibbs (84) found support from Cronje (39) and Derek Crookes (25) to take the total to 235. With India again lacking Tendulkar and Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja promoted MSK Prasad to No. 4. His gutsy 63 was the only real contribution, and India, always behind the ball, ended on 209.

4. v New Zealand, ICC Mini World Cup at Nairobi. October 15, 2000. Lost by 4 wickets.
Flushed with life by the spectacular emergence of Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan, India reached 141 for 0 in the 27th over of their trophy clash. But dense lower-order batting restricted them to 264. New Zealand lost their top five for half that total. Chris Cairns (102), with a damaged right knee, played a modern classic, and forged a priceless 122-run sixth-wicket partnership with Chris Harris to snuff out Indian hopes.

5. v Sri Lanka, Coca-Cola Cup at Sharjah. October 29, 2000. Lost by 254 runs.
Records tumbled ingloriously for India. Sanath Jayasuriya annihilated them with 189 runs in 161 balls - jointly the second-highest score in one-dayers. India were then bowled out for 54, their lowest total in ODIs, which meant they lost by 254 runs, the largest margin ever. Enough said.

6. v West Indies, Coca-Cola Cup at Harare. July 7, 2001. Lost by 16 runs.
Having successfully chased four times out of four in the league phase, Sourav Ganguly won the toss and inserted West Indies. Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul all feasted on poor bowling to make 290. Tendulkar, after three matchwinning innings in the tournament, was out for 0. From 80 for 5, Sameer Dighe (94*) and Reetinder Sodhi (67) valiantly hoisted India to 274, 16 short of the target.

7. v Sri Lanka, Coca-Cola Cup at Colombo. August 5, 2001. Lost by 121 runs.
Jayasuriya it was once again, making a controlled 99. Russel Arnold and Romesh Kaluwitharana provided the late flourish to power Sri Lanka to 295. Two wickets in successive balls saw India in early strife and the counter-attack never really gathered steam. Eventually they were bundled out for 174. Another day, another final lost.

Rahul Bhattacharya is a writer for Wisden India

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