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In keeping with our poor form during the best part of the series, India came up with another abject performance to gift the final ODI to New Zealand on a platter. The batsmen were again the culprits and their being shot out for just 122 - after Stephen Fleming won the toss and put them in - meant that the hosts were never going to be under serious pressure on the day. As I mentioned in my earlier columns, the golden rule of ODI batting is to play out the 50 overs. But Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Mongia being back in the hut before the end of the seventh over in the morning ensured that Sourav Ganguly's men were always going to struggle to achieve it. I think this unwelcome spate of failures from our batsmen, today as well as the earlier matches, can be put down to their giving up the fight once they found the ball seaming around. What they should have done is attempted what New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming pulled off with great success later in the afternoon - occupy the crease and battle his way out of his indifferent run. But sadly, almost all the Indians seemed to have too many mental blocks to even take the first step in that direction. It was this failing, and not the pitch or the conditions, that were to blame for what has been the worst tour in recent times as far as the Indian team is concerned. After this horrendous series, the selection committee will now have to rethink their policy of placing their faith in only a few players. Giving repeated chances to certain cricketers despite numerous failures just on account of their past deeds is a policy that should be abandoned at the earliest. New players should be tried in their place and groomed. For instance, on Tuesday, I felt that Parthiv Patel should have been played ahead of Dinesh Mongia. The young man has played just one ODI despite being in the squad for a long while, and I felt he could certainly do with a few more matches to prove his credentials as a specialist wicket-keeper/batsman. Moving on, I think the best thing the Indian team can now do is put this series behind them after quickly assimilating the lessons that it has offered. They must also remind themselves that the World Cup is going to be played in relatively batsmen- friendly conditions and that if they put their minds to it and play at their best, they could go a long way towards erasing their horror run in New Zealand. © CricInfo |
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