Indians were not at their competitive best
The sense of complacency seemed evident yesterday as the Sri Lankans defeated the Indians convincingly at Sharjah
Woorkheri Raman
21-Oct-2000
The sense of complacency seemed evident yesterday as the Sri Lankans
defeated the Indians convincingly at Sharjah. The knowledge that it
was not a knock out tournament gave them a sense of indifference. The
manner in which Rahul Dravid was run out suggested that the Indians
were definitely not at their competitive best. Apart from Tendulkar,
the determination was missing somehow and the Lankans showed why they
are a very good side in this format of the game.
Ganguly with a couple of tons behind him went after the bowling from
the start and was patchy in his short innings. The Lankan seamers
obviously were keen on keeping the ball just short of a length and
eventually Vaas surprised him with a well directed short delivery to
dismiss him. Dravid had a reprieve but failed to capitalise and his
tenure ended with Jayasuriya effecting a direct hit from mid-on.
Dravid, a committed cricketer, would not like to the replays of his
dismissal. Muralitharan showed Yuvraj Singh what the big league was
about by luring him into a drive to inner edge on to the stumps. The
off-spinner troubled the young batsman with his guile before settling
the issue in his favour.
In the meanwhile Tendulkar realised that he had to play as long as
possible if the Indians were to make a match of it. In the company of
Robin Singh he kept the scoreboard ticking and the fact that Tendulkar
had only three fours and a six in his century is an indication how
much the Lankans were in control. Gunawardene made a mess of things
when he dropped a regulation catch and had he taken it the Indians
would have been subjected to a humiliating defeat. Singh and Tendulkar
got out in the quest for some quick runs at the death with the Indians
putting up a competitive score on a pitch where stroke making was not
all that easy.
The double strike by Prasad accounted for Gunawardene and Attapattu in
the early overs bringing in a semblance of a chance of victory for the
Indians. What made the Sri Lankans win the game was the contribution
from the middle order batsmen along with Jayasuriya, the captain who
played a typical innings. The partnership between Sangakkara and
Arnold put paid to whatever hopes the Indians may have entertained in
the middle game. Arnold in particular played positively throughout
with Sangakkara providing the required support.
The lack of a fifth bowler is definitely having an impact and the
reluctance of Ganguly to give Robin Singh a reasonable spell makes it
difficult when the Indians defend a modest total as they did
yesterday. As such the think tank has to come up with a solution to
plug this rather huge void sooner that later. The Lankans exposed the
bowling limitations of the Indians with precision. Kumble was
expensive by his own standards and he is bound to be ineffective at
times more because of lack of support from the other end. Agarkar did
get a couple of wickets but conceded far too many runs in the context
of the game. Zaheer Khan bowled an economical opening spell but he has
to realise that yorkers are not the only means to tie the batsmen
down.
In a way this defeat would serve as a remainder that the Indians have
to be consistent and a team is only as good as its last game.