This is what over-confidence makes

Well the one-off T20 match between India and England was just another instance of one team over estimating itself and in the process taking the opposition or granted. This time, it was not a hare-tortoise story that was the case with India but this was a result of the wrong selection of the playing XI which proved costly for India. The match definitely was a costly one for India where the loss was not restricted to one match alone but was as good as a series loss where India lost all the T20 games it played. Loss record for India is 100% in the T20 tournament against England this series.

Though only one T20 game was played, a loss in that means India lost 100% of its matches. Coming to the game, it was not a good decision to include someone like Robin Uttappa in the playing XI when one has to take a long route to trace back when exactly did Uttappa last play an international T20 match. That was not a bad decision as well when Uttappa has been a player on the to be included lists but, yesterday's scorecard says it all. All that Uttappa could score was a single before Kieswetter caught him behind the stumps.

There have been matches in this bilateral series where huge totals have been chased down but there have been no games where small totals have been defended successfully. And, with that fact in front of us, it should come in as no surprise that a total of 120 stood nowhere when it comes to chasing and England did exactly that. Though Suresh Raina was successful to a little extent, the batsman with the highest strike-rate happened to be Ashwin who scored 17 runs at a strike rate of 154.54 runs. The generosity of the Indian batsmen was evident when they gave away 2 overs maiden.

There was surprisingly nothing much to complain about the English batsmen when they had the match well in their chance. Thanks to the total of 120 set up by the Indian batsmen which didn't make any of the English batsmen to fear for. Though here were initial strikes of Hales and Kieswetter, the batsmen who came in later had little to do with most of the damage being done by the bowlers. One can go through the scorecard to see who the major wicket-takers were. If not for Jadeja, the rest of the players who returned with a wicket were part-time bowlers.

A totally clueless England

Looking at yesterday's game between India and England, one has to pinch himself to see whether it was a dream that he was witnessing when India crushed England yet another time despite winning the series for the fourth consecutive time to return the favor back to the touring nation. That was not the Indian team with the likes of Sehwag and Yuvraj doing the trick with the bat but some Varun Aaron whose name was felt only yesterday when he grabbed 3 wickets returning with a spell that read 6.1-1-24-3. As an Indian cricket fan I wish there were more than 5 games.

Had the series been a 7 match one, India would have made history when they would have become the first ever team to have won all their matches in a 7 match one day series. Players like Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin make their names felt only once in a blue moon. But, against a team like England and especially yesterday, they had their ball do the talking. Though Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar proved comparatively costly with the ball, they had a wicket against their names and an over maiden. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were the most successful bowlers with 3 and 2 wickets respectively.

It was confusing whether the pitch aided the bowlers or the batsmen when India were on the top in both the departments while England were at the receiving end in both. Had the pitch aided the batsmen, England, with the likes of Pietersen, Cook and Bopara should have made it count. But, all England could manage was 220 on the board finishing their innings with 4 more overs still to go. And, had the pitch been a bowler's paradise, then still the Indian batsmen should not have seen the match end with 10 more overs still to go. Does England have an answer?

India had three quick wickets falling when Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane and Parthiv Patel fell early. Thanks to Greame Swann who grabbed three wickets out of the four that fell to see at least one English bowler returning successful. With that initial success, though a win was far from reach, the match should not have ended so early when there were ten more overs left. May be the English captain wanted to prove that England batsmen played more than the Indian batsmen could manage. To put an end to the sweet revenge, all India now require is a win in the fifth ODI and a win in the one-off T20 match.

Sehwag has to go

Well if a dashing opener from a team is expected forced to return back from a major tournament, most of the time puts the team in confusion as to whom to go in for in the remaining encounters of the tournament in case the team has to face a tough opponent. However, at times the absence of a similar player becomes a boon for the viewers if not for the team to see a tough fight between the two teams which would otherwise be just another game and just another win for that team. A tough fight can be a treat for the viewers' eyes more than a win or a loss.

Here as well, the situation is almost the same with Virender Sehwag having to opt out of the remaining matches of the Asia cup. There are matches against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to go for India, before they take on Sri Lanka in the final of the tournament. It was the win against Pakistan that mattered much for India and moreover, a win against Bangladesh is guaranteed if not for some unexpected mishaps like in the world cup 2007. If that would happen, it would be another Extremes case. Anyway that apart, with the presence of Gambhir, Dhoni and Yuvraj Sehwag's absence shouldn't matter much.

All the aforementioned names belong to the list of big hitters provided they are inform on their day. Prior to the ommision of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar has been ruled out of the Asia cup for reasons not so important here but which hardly drew a response. Out of the two remaining games, one of them being a cakewalk, the other becomes inconsequential with India already having beaten Pakistan in their opening match and with Pakistan losing both their crucial matches against India and Sri Lanka. Bad luck was that both these matches were close encounters for Pakistan with the margin of defeat being 16 runs and 3 wickets.

The absence of Virender Sehwag though deprives the team of a powerful opener, at the same time provides the platform for another batsman to prove his myth on the big stage. There is Virat Kohli, Rohith Sharma etc, all of whom are waiting for a chance to prove themselves and have even done so in the past. But, with the playing squad restricted to just eleven, the rested players will have to wait for their turn either when a match is being played against a weak team or when the match they are playing is of little consequence. Worst come, one of the regular player gets injured.

I Blame it completely on the bowlers

Well a day after team India's loss at the hands of Sri Lanka, the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni makes no delay in starting the blame game by terming all batsmen to be responsible for team India's yet another loss in the finals of a tournament involving three nations or more. My doubt is "Does Dhoni include himself in the list of the batsmen whom he refers to as culprits?" Oh! I had forgotten. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a wicketkeeper isn't it? And why should one refer to him as a batsman which is his secondary commitment. May be he has even bowled a few overs in international cricket.

But, that should not be the issue now. May be that Dhoni considers his 19 ball 14 runs that included three hits to the fence an effort worth mentioning in India's face saving 245 runs on the board. Anyway, that apart, a close look at the scorecard of India's batting line up would reveal that the batting did live upto the mark. Not only for the contributions of Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Virender Sehwag whose names get highlighted in the scorecard, but, had it not been for these three, a total of 245 that saved the face for India would be a dream far to relish.

A total of 245 was never easy to chase atleast as far as the Sri Lankan batsmen are considered and more so in today's world where in the last four tournaments, Sri Lanka have managed just one win from each tournament. Sri Lanka took their innings until 9 balls prior to completion of 50 overs with the loss of 6 wickets. None of the batsmen who made it to the crease were found being able to strike the ball confidently. Though there was a wicket falling even before the first runs were scored, India could not continue doing that for another one hour or so. A look at the Indian bowling chart reveals Sreesanth's 72 run gift that should have been more than hundred had the Sri Lankan batsmen been a little more consistent.

Sreesanth gave width outside the off stump in such a way that even the South African bowler Allan Donald would have had the batting innings of his life. Then comes the short pitched, over pitched and full tosses that could have been thrown away by someone with a little better caliber. Bad luck that Ashish Nehra had to leave his journey after bowling just 1.2 overs. And I suggest that one goes through the bowling chart thoroughly so that an idea regarding the Indian bowlers can be got. Dhoni had to rely on someone like Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja who bowled 17.4 overs between them. Had I ben in place of Dhoni, I wouldn't have tossed the ball to Sreesanth who bowled his full quota of 10 (9.3) overs.

I wonder why not did Dhoni hand over the ball to Sehwag and Raina when Yuvraj could bowl! The change in bowling has always been found to slow down the scoring initially. Atleast these were better than Virat Kohli. I wish Dhoni stand in front of the mirror and shower curses so that the stupidity is not repeated atleast in the near future.