India started pretty okay after the initial wide, but the flurry of extras continued as India gave away 14 wides. And it showed in the final tally. In fact, the situation wasn’t all that bad for India, as Sri Lanka had been reduced to 216/6. But a last wicket partnership of 40 in just 23 balls swung the momentum Sri Lanka’s way.
Ajit Agarkar was the pick of the Indian bowlers and many would argue that some key LBW decisions did not go India’s way, but the fact is they also missed some key run outs and the fielding overall was average. Compare that with Sri Lanka who fielded spectacularly and the difference was evident.
The real culprit of the Indian downfall was the celebrated batting. What is it about the Indian batting that lets the team down every time it is vital? Uthappa fell to a blinder to Vaas and Ganguly was picked up by the enigmatic Muralitharan running backwards (reminiscent of Kapil Dev in 1983 except for the fielding position) to peg India back. But there was still hope with Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag, Yuvraj and Dhoni yet to come.
They came. They went. No difference to the match outcome. Tendulkar failed when it really mattered once again while Dhoni walked for an LBW appeal. Yuvraj ran himself out silly and Sehwag was the only one who showed any fight. He eventually fell to some brilliant bowling by Muralitharan and outstanding captaincy by Jayawardene.
Rahul Dravid fought alone but it was a losing battle. And right after he was struck by cramps, he smacked Lasith Malinga for four fours in an over. A brief glimmer of hope for the die-hard, but it was all too little. He fell in the next over and that effectively ended any hopes India may have had. Twice in the game India lost two quick wickets (Ganguly and Tendulkar in the space of four balls for one run while Yuvraj and Dhoni in the space of three balls for no run) and that cannot happen when chasing a substantial target of 255.
But hats off to Sri Lanka. They were virtually guaranteed a spot in the next round, but they did not play badly despite that. They wanted the two points going into the next match and for that to happen, they had to ensure that Bangladesh went through. And by Jove, they did ensure that! A total team effort and this team looks like they can go all the way.
India still technically has a chance if Bermuda pulls off an upset over Bangladesh. But that’s highly unlikely. The burning question now is “what next”? Will heads roll? Will there be a change in guard? Is this it for Chappell? Answers to this will come by sooner than expected or necessary for this is a debacle that cannot be forgotten quickly or easily. At least Indian cricket fans can go to bed early now!
India Captain, Rahul Dravid
On failing to live up to expectations of millions of fans
"I hope that the players won't be under any physical danger,"- "I don't expect that to be the case to be honest. People will be disappointed and that is fair enough. "They had invested a lot of hope in this team and we haven't delivered."
On senior players playing their last World Cup
"It is not an ideal scenario, If you were writing a fairytale, you wouldn't write it this way. "That is the beauty and cruelty of sports sometimes."
