It is said that catches win matches and the corollary goes ? dropped catches lose matches. That is what happened because, immediately after getting the life, Sanath Jayasuriya hit the same RP Singh for 26 runs in one over.
THE WHOLE country had pinned hopes on Dhoni to rewrite history by bringing home the Asia Cup – but the gods willed otherwise. He will return empty handed. Since we have got used to such returns, we will not bother much. The players have had a tough time. Sweating it out on the fields and with little or no time in between to recoup the lost energies, this will continue to happen. The sufferers are the audience who keep expecting to see a swinging of fortunes. The two main groups namely the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the team are not unduly worried – they are out to mint money, and we watch them in various advertisements to promote energy-drinks or lifestyle dresses or mobile phones or insurance packages.
The experts are analysing the reasons of our poor show. It was humiliating to say the least. After having the opposition literally on the mat at 66 for four, we allowed them to pile up 273 runs to add to our miseries. The turning point was the dropped catch of Sanath Jayasuriya off the bowling of Irfan Pathan by the fielder RP Singh. It is said that catches win matches and the corollary goes – dropped catches lose matches. That is what happened because, immediately after getting life, Jayasuriya hit the same RP Singh for 26 runs in one over – three huge sixes complemented by two fours. Anyway, the think tank was happy to see that the Srilankans were restricted to below 300 runs – the 274 runs required for the win looked to be an easy target.
When our team took the field hoping to cruise home to a comfortable victory, we lost our way. The hero of the previous games Gautam Gambhir departed early; however, Sehwag kept up the assault and the manner in which he was treating the bowlers had the Srilankans searching for a miracle. And, suddenly, a miracle did happen. A new bowler named Mendis entered the arena and, in next to no time, he had won the game for the Srilankans. Our batsmen had no reply to his jugglery with the ball. The wickets fell nine pins and, finally, it was a 100 run defeat.
Mendis was a weapon of the Srilankans that they had carefully nurtured and kept out of sight till the finals. It was the surprise element that all teams should have in their arsenal to counter the well planned strategies of the opponents.
.The whole Indian team danced on the tune of Mendis. They had no clue whatsoever. This is where the experience counts and the likes of Dravid, Sachin and Ganguly could have been handy. No doubt, the young brigade has some good talent but they seem to be choking when matters the most. The young brigade of Dhoni could manage only Aussie series win but that too on the heroics of Sachin. Mr. Dhoni you need to rethink your strategies. Take a leaf out of Srilankans- Do you remember Jayasuriys???Go by the talent not by age.
