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Tournament marred by placid wickets

Dhoni is not only a fine batsman and keeper, he is also emerging as an excellent leader, writes Imran Khan

It’s no surprise that India and Sri Lanka face off for the final. As everybody had predicted it Pakistan did not make it to the final.

A fine win against India notwithstanding, the team lacked bowling power, decisive leadership and if the batting looked good it was because the conditions are completely loaded against the bowlers.

Full credit to India for beating Sri Lanka and qualifying for the final. It looked a very good batting side on Thursday, and I was impressed with Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s composure during the pressure match.

There were some voices of scepticism that suggested that Sri Lanka played under par because it wanted to play against India in the final, but that is utter nonsense.

A team that wants to lose does not score 309, and if it fielded a little below its best it was because the game was not a must-win one for it and quite often that does rob a team of some intensity.

Such allegations take the sheen away from India’s tremendous run chase, and from the fact that it chased down 300-plus totals twice in the tournament.

Impressive

Coming back to Dhoni, he is not only a fine batsman and keeper, he is also emerging as an excellent leader.

There are some captains who remain captains, and there are some who grow into the role of a leader. Dhoni belongs to the latter category.

I was impressed that he has started coming up the order, playing sensibly rather than explosively, and is able to set an example for his team to emulate.

Looking ahead at the final, India’s batting looking in good touch, and on these completely flat surfaces it has the ability to chase down any total.

The Sri Lankans too have some fine in-form batsmen and class bowlers like Muthiah Muralitharan.

Pakistan will be a spectator to the final encounter, but it will take some heart from the last two wins, particularly the one against India.

The tournament has been marred by the completely placid nature of the wickets.

They remind me of the surfaces we used to play in Sharjah — completely devoid of any pace or movement.

It might be a good idea to play six bowling options, because in such conditions, you need as many bowlers as possible and the chances are, only a couple of your batsmen will get out, no matter how big the target is.

Gameplan

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