The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : India is not an overrated side

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Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

India is not an overrated side

By Javagal Srinath

The Indians, after having set high standards for themselves, were found wanting in the shock defeat against the host. The Sri Lankans had all the cylinders firing right from winning the toss.

But then, does that mean that India is an overrated side? It's definitely not. It's true that India's mighty batting line-up could not fetch a victory this time.

The true strength of the team is evaluated in terms of the resilient nature of the side and how well it stages a comeback from the jaws of defeat.

The Indians bowlers were guilty of giving away too many no balls and wides and the 16 extra balls didn't do any good to the analysis. We all understand that given the aggression of the batsmen in the one-day matches, even the good balls go for runs.

Sometimes, even a great bowler ends up giving away runs despite bowling well. But bowling wides and no-balls is entirely in the hands of the bowlers. Wides and no-balls are the only indication of the apparent rustiness of a bowler. That's one area where the team will have to work on a lot in the next few training sessions.

Zaheer seems to have not recovered fully from his injuries. He appeared almost to be limping in his last few overs. Ganguly did the right thing by finishing Zaheer's spell at a stretch. I would be surprised if Zaheer plays further in the tournament.

When a bowler suffers an injury during his spell, it's always advisable to continue his bowling at length and ask him to leave the field.

Once the body cools down it is almost impossible to do any justice on the field.

The evening conditions helped the Sri Lankan medium-pacers. Dambulla is no different from the typical sub-continent wickets, where the evening moisture and breeze aid the bowlers with swing and bounce.

Zoysa and the evergreen Muralitharan turned the heat on the Indians all through the innings, with the tall left-armer Zoysa extracting disconcerting bounce from one end and Murali turning the ball at will from the other.

And please, do not forget about the dark horse of the Sri Lankan bowling attack, Ferveez Maharoof. I was greatly impressed by this new lad who bowled with tremendous control in the death overs.

A well-disguised slower delivery, along with yorkers and highly controlled wicket-to-wicket bowling made him a very effective bowler. Maharoof also excelled under pressure with his variations coupled with accuracy. The cool-headed Sangakkara, who is supposedly the brain behind the Sri Lankan batting, rallied the innings till the end.

The partnership between him and Jayawardene was structured very well. Their initial approach of running the ones and twos and the calculated aggression in the slog overs appeared to be a well-executed plan.

The surprising change in the Indian batting order will call for some criticism. The decision, perhaps, was taken to make use of the flamboyant batting skills of the diminutive wicketkeeper, Parthiv Patel.

Although not many would understand the rationale behind that decision, the team must have decided to experiment.

This was the best chance to see how Parthiv would respond under such circumstances. It's a well-known fact that a lot of cricketers blossom under pressure and when burdened with more responsibilities.

With Parthiv not doing much, the decision may have looked a bit silly, but had the youngster clicked, then Ganguly would have been a champion!

The Indian team will now go back to the drawing board to iron out the flaws. Frankly, there is not much to panic.

We have seen that the pattern of this Indian team is to suffer a jolt before it starts settling scores. Some may accuse me of sounding too optimistic about this team, but its only fair to say that I can read the pulse better. — PTI

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