What went wrong?

Well that is the question on every Indian's mind. Being one among a billion heartbroken fans, that is indeed the question on top of my mind.

Did we not have players who had the ability to match the best? Yes we did.
Did we not have experience in the team? Yes we did.

Then what on earth went so wrong that we are out of the world cup already?

The first and the most important error that the Indians made was in the make up of the team they played. One could sense even when they played the first match that something was wrong with this line up. There was no balance in the team and the wrong players were playing at the wrong positions. Chappel and Dravid might talk about being flexible with the batting line up but the fact remains that certain players have to be played at certain positions. It is well known that Sachin is at his best while opening the innings and that was the major driving force behind India's wonderful run in the last world cup. Why on earth would you bat him at 4 and open with somebody like Uthappa who most certainly lacks the technique to do well against quality attacks. The opening slot is arguably the most important in ODIs as the tone of the match can be set right at the outset. Against Srilanka it was evident the way Vaas managed to set the tone right away as Uthappa played out a maiden and that is where a player like Sachin would have seized the initiative. This mistake of playing Sachin at 4 led to Yuvraj playing at 6 which was another crucial error. Yuvi is the player in best form and 4 was the perfect slot for him to play. Dhoni at 6 and Pathan at 7 would have been ideal to follow Dravid at 5. This batting lineup would have been the most balanced and would have given each of the players the best opportunity to perform to their potential.

The second factor which was pretty evident was a lack of energy in the team. By energy I mean the vitality that the team displayed. As I had said in my earlier post this Indian team needed somebody to give them an impetus and to drive them forward. Ganguly did that brilliantly in the previous world cup but alas Dravid isnt the leader of men that Ganguly was. The team ended up looking flat in the field and their bowling and fielding lacked purpose. The bowlers did bowl well against Lanka but still they let them off the hook when they should have finished them off.

The third and final aspect is that of the spinner they played. They played Harbhajan in the first match and he did not look very impressive. Then they played Kumble against Bermuda and he was his usual self. Again against Lanka they went back to Harbhajan just because Lanka had a few left handers in their line up. It was obvious that between Bhajji and Kumble the latter was in better form and hence it made absolutely no sense to go back to Harbhajan and he bowled poorly against the lankans. Out of the Lankan top 6 only 3 were left handers that too at the top of the order, hence the selection was really illogical.

All in all it was a pathetic performance and they got the deserved result. Ofcourse changes are needed in the team, not because of lack of talent but for lack of vitality. This just goes to show how much a Kaif diving around the covers and screaming words of encouragement can do to a side. I believe he is a future captain and is important to India's future.

The captain and the coach need to take the blame for the debacle and there is no way Chappell will get his contract extended after this.

Final Word: Attitude is as important as talent.

Black Saturday

A day India and Pakistan will never forget………

I am taking a break from analyzing the teams and their chances in this world cup to speak about a day which has made its way into world cup annals as one in which the so-called minnows overcame all odds to defeat their illustrious counterparts.

Bangladesh is a team which no longer deserves to be called a minnow. They are showing tremendous improvement in all aspects of the game and their place among the test playing nations is well deserved. They displayed ample proof of that by a comprehensive thrashing of India today at Trinidad. It was the first game of the world cup for both teams and the Bangladeshis could not have asked for a better start to the tournament.

Complacency…overconfidence…many experts might use these words to describe the way India played today. I choose to simply say that they were outplayed in all parts of the game. True it might have been a different story had Dravid decided to bowl first….but the fact remains that he chose to bat first and they batted poorly. The Bangladesh bowlers did the basics right and were disciplined right from the start. They gave nothing away to the Indians and reaped rich rewards.

Slow pitches…Left arm spinners….this has come to be the cause for India’s failures in the recent past. There was a time when no spinner to bowl to an Indian line up without getting walloped, but this is no longer the case. The Indians just don’t like to graft. Ganguly did his best but threw it away when he should ideally have looked to play the full fifty overs. Yuvraj was the one man who looked fluent from the word go but could not go on to make the much-needed big score. In the it was the last wicket pair of Munaf and Zaheer who had to take them to a score which made them think they could defend.

The aspect of India’s loss today which worries me most was the lack of enthusiasm in the field when they came out to bowl. They knew they had a low score on the board, they knew they needed to make early inroads to have a chance of winning. But they seemed to come out with a feeling they would just roll over the Bangladeshi batsmen. They almost looked as though they were just waiting for the batmen to make mistakes rather than make things happen. It was then that they needed to show some real urgency and put the pressure on the batsmen. Instead there were easy runs given away and absolutely no pressure on the batsmen. It was then that Dravid’s deficiency as a captain was displayed. He might be a good thinker of the game and excellent at reading the game. But he is certainly not a good leader of men, unlike a Ganguly or a Graeme Smith. This is also where the wicket keeper comes into play. Good wicket keepers can bring the team alive by constant chattering and encouragement, but there was absolutely no sound from Dhoni behind the stumps. Karthick definitely wins over Dhoni in that regard.

All said and done, it was a simply superb performance from Bangladesh. It was heartening to see the improvement made by the team as a whole. What was even more heartening that the team is so young and show signs of going places. The fielding was simply outstanding and India could learn from them in this regard. The way the youngsters came out all guns blazing was amazing to watch. One particular incident stood out : Zaheer Khan has his tail up after getting a wicket, charges in and hits Tamim Iqbal on the throat….the response – two smacking hits to the boundary the second an audacious shot coming down the track….was simply superb to watch. The future of Bangladesh cricket is in good hands.

Well the only consolation for India is that they weren’t the worst team on the day…Pakistan were even worse!!!! Ireland, playing their first world cup bundled them out for 132 and managed to overhaul that in spite of a few jitters!!! The Irish are playing with a wonderful spirit and have quite a few supporters in the windies. But its indeed a sad end to Inzy’s last world cup though he has already lifted the cup in 1992. Hopefully the people of Pakistan will not remember him for this terrible loss.

All in all a bad day for the subcontinent. I guess it would need another rollicking from the Indian media to get their team going before it is too late.

The Proteas

Its time for the Final four!!!!

Yes the teams that I am writing about are the ones which will reach the super eight.(thats pretty obvious aint it?) And the first four teams that I wrote about are the one which I think will not make it to the semi-finals. Why? Because I think all of those 4 teams will lose to these four teams.

Having said that I shall now discuss the Proteas - South Africa.

The two words that come to mind when you think about this team and past world cups are : CHOKERS and UNLUCKY.

'Chokers' is a term oft used to describe this team and many rule this team out just because of this tag. They have somehow managed to lose out during the big matches and that has probably been the difference between them and the Aussies. But if there is somebody who can remove that tag for them then it is going to be Graeme Smith.

'Unlucky'- One can say that they have been one of the most unlucky teams in world cup history. 1996 - A perfect route to the quarters was spoiled by a Lara blitz and they were out of it.
1999 - A controversial Herchelle Gibbs catch and a semifinal tie and once again they were denied.

Coming to the present team, the immediate feeling one gets is that this is a strong outfit especially in the shorter version of the game. In terms of leading from the front, Graeme Smith stands out. Though I am not a huge fan of his, I have to admit that his attitude and strong leadership is definitely praiseworthy.

Smith, Gibbs, Kallis, Prince - They form the crux of the batting order. While Smith and Gibbs are attacking players, Kallis provides the right balance, and Prince is the rock in their middle order who lends solidity to their batting. Following them are hitters like Kemp, Boucher, and Pollock all of whom can cause tremendous damage in the final overs.

The bowling could be a cause for their undoing. Nel, Ntini, Pollock, Langeveldt, Kemp, and Hall sounds like a very good attack not to forget Kallis. But the biggest problem with this attack is the sameness and lack of variety. On pitches that are expected in the West Indies, the team that is successful is likely to be the one having a good variety in their attack. Ofcourse on a helpful deck these bowlers could wreak havoc and South Africa's chances in this world cup might revolve around their bowling attack.

This is definitely the last world cup for Pollock, Gibbs, and Kallis who have been stalwarts of South African cricket and they will definitely want to leave a mark on this world cup.

The format of this world cup is one where bad luck is not going to play a big part until they reach the semifinals. But its the Proteas, so anything can happen!!!!!

The only reason I place them at the bottom of my final four is again because they are Chokers!!!

Final Word: A good team but not world cup winners!!!

England

It was a hard decision whether to place Srilanka and England lower down my pecking order. In the end I chose to place England above the lankans purely on the question of team morale and confidence. England was a team that had sunk to its lowest ebb in the beginning of February 2006, but they came up with 4 phenomenal performances and sunk the Kiwis and the Aussies to go on to win the CB tournament. What more can a team ask to boost its morale and confidence?

However morale and confidence alone cannot win the world cup for them. Theirs is a team which wears a totally unsettled look. Why, they are not even sure if their captain is going to be Vaughan or Flintoff. I personally feel that England would be better served by Freddie the player rather than Freddie the captain and hence would hope for their good and Vaughan is fit to play and takes on the captaincy. If it were not for captaincy I doubt if he would even have a place in the team but then he has been chosen and the team needs to live with that.

Bowling seems to be their weakest link and is probably going to be their achilles heel in this world cup. Their bowling line up will probably read as - Plunkett, Mahmood, Flintoff, Anderson,Panesar, Collingwood & Dalrymple. None of these names with the exception of Freddie are proven performers. Good performances from Plunkett and Collingwood got them the CB cup but you just cannot rely on that. There isnt much bench strength either with just Bopara and Jon Lewis the options. It is going to be very tough for England to win this world cup with this bowling attack.

Their batting looks much much better and they will infact have a problem of plenty if Vaughan is fit to play. It will be interesting to see if they drop Strauss or Joyce, the former is more experienced while the latter has put in some impressive performances recently. Ian Bell has been pretty consistent and provides solidity to their middle order. Collingwood is in simply superb form as he showed in the CB cup. Dalrymple has come up with some important knocks and can be a dangerous player. Flintoff is a worry, he hasnt been in great touch with the bat and England will hope he can get going in the World cup. But the key to England's batting and to their hopes in this world cup lies with one man alone - Kevin Pietersen. Returning from injury all English supporters will be praying he can continue where he left off. A definite matchwinner as he has shown many times, he can certainly destroy any attack and can leave an impression on this world cup. I would love see him in full flow and the small ground in the Windies are certainly not going to prevent him from raining sixes!!!

England have more negatives than positives. Their wicketkeeper is pretty inexperienced to add to their woes. They will be hoping for some miracles like what happened at the CB cup to win the world cup.

Final Word: Watch out for KP.

Srilanka

The Lankans led by Mahela Jayawardene are next on my list.

A comprehensive defeat in the recent series against India is the build up for this team as the World cup draws nearer. Not ideal, one could say. The morale and self-confidence within the team couldn't be too high at the moment. The only solace lies in the fact that Vaas and Murali, the core of their bowling attack were not playing in India. However I do not think that will change their fortunes too much in World Cup.

The sad thing with this team is that they are still totally dependent on their old warhorses to win matches. Sanath,Vaas,Murali,Atapattu,Jayawardene, and Arnold were all part of their triumph in 1996 when they took the world by storm. In the current team the only match winner apart from these players is Kumar Sangakarra. This stylish left hander is a shining star in their batting line up. But consistency has always been his problem. He never really looks out of form but often throws his wicket away by being over ambitious and reckless. Srilanka will be well served if he can put a price on his wicket and play more responsibly. There are other youngsters such as the dashing Upul Tharanga and the impressive Chamara Silva who are undoubtedly very talented but are yet to cement their places in the team.

Their bowling department is a cause for concern. Apart from Vaas and Murali nobody else poses a serious threat either by way of wicket taking or in being miserly. Maharoof who recently opened the bowling in India was extremely wayward and looked to have completely lost his rhythm. Malinga, their fast man seems to trying more things with his hair than with his bowling, and he gives away too many free hits. Fernando is one person who has promised a lot over the years and when in good rhythm (which is rare) he does pose a threat to the batsmen. He bowls one of the best slower deliveries in the world which is extremely difficult to pick up. Malinga Bandara is their other spin option who is more of a restrictive type of bowler than a wicket taker. Ofcourse there is always the wily Jayasuriya who goes through his overs extremely quickly and can be useful in the middle overs.
A matter of serious thought is the Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene. A tremendously gifted batsman who is facing a serious lack of form at the moment. He has gone through these troughs before and Srilanka will hope he regains form which could be crucial to their chances. If not his captaincy could also be affected and this will put a lot of pressure on the team.

Final Word:
Fireworks from one of the most destructive players in world cricket, for whom this world cup will be a swansong..yes the one and only Sanath Jayasuriya. But can he win the world cup for them once again....I dont think so.


Final Word: