The Hindu : Sport : India paid the price for a negative mind-set

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 31, 2005

Sport

Sport

India paid the price for a negative mind-set

Most of the soul-searching will be done in India in the next weeks, and while tickertape parades may not be seen in Pakistan, muted celebrations will be in evidence all around the nation.

Inzamam-ul-Haq and Bob Woolmer will return to Pakistan feeling as though they dodged the executioner and that they are vindicated for their stand to take a committed team to face India.

Sport is about overcoming adversity, some of which is real and the rest imagined. It was the demons in the mind of the Indian team that, in the end, let them down and allowed Pakistan to draw a series that only they believed they could.

The difference in the series was that Inzamam and Woolmer kept their nerve and played the more positive cricket when it was required while India backed off on the two occasions when they should have wrapped up the series.

The much-vaunted batting line-up succumbed to the negative mindset that became apparent once Sehwag lost his wicket. Had India played more positively in the afternoon they would not have created the environment in which the Pakistan spinners reduced top class players to mere shadows of themselves.

With all due respects to some wholehearted performers, the Pakistan spinners should not have been able to mesmerise the likes of Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxsman and Ganguly.

After all, haven't we witnessed them dominating the talents of Warne, Muralitharan and Saqlain on occasions in the past?

Shahid Afridi was the unlikely hero for Pakistan along with Younis Khan who finished on a high note.

Inzamam responded in the only way he knows to criticism of his captaincy and his commitment in Australia. His century in his 100th Test will only serve to magnify his status as a hero back home and was a fitting contribution to a strong team performance.

His leadership was strong and showed a tactical side that we have not noticed too often before. It seems from a distance that the captain and the coach have struck up a good working relationship and that Woolmer is getting some just reward for his hard work and shrewd thinking.

While Pakistan will only be tinkering at the edges as it selects a squad to tour the West Indies, much wailing and gnashing will accompany the post mortem of the series from the Indian perspective.

The Indian captain will be on the receiving end of much of the vitriol that will pass as reasoned comment but that may not do him or the cause much justice. Having said that, his own shaky form is not helping his cause.

Sometimes one is too close to the woods to see the trees when in a slump and a few days of introspection will serve Sourav well. He has not lost his talent but he has lost his focus on what made him the champion player that he is.

Often in these situations the focus is placed on the physical when I believe the solution will be found in exploring the mindset that is the major contributor to the poor initial movements, which is the crux of his problems.

If he can return to the simple process that he took to the wicket in Brisbane just over a year ago he will not only resurrect his batting but his captaincy and, most probably, his team as well.

CafeCricket

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport