by Okay! Great performance, needed to score 241 in 40.5 overs did it with 9
balls to spare...
We have seen this happen before..
Earlier it was New Zealand, got the stick... remember 108 odd in 12 overs by
Kapil & Vengsarkar; whirlwind opening stand by Gavaskar & Srikanth in 1987
World Cup, and more recently a team effort against Australia in Titan Cup.
The question is that such games are very few and apart, look at Pakistan
team which has this uncanny ability of defending low scores, and chasing
high scores. When will India reach that stage...
About yesterday's match.. few points to note.
First of all, well played Zimbabwe, if it were not for those 29 runs of two
overs, you would have been in finals.
Azhar should not have been sent 1 down, Azhar should have been sent after
Tendulkar got out. This way there will be one senior & experienced bat to
come after Tendulkar. What would have happened if Jadeja's catch was not
dropped when he was at 19, is anybody's guess.
First, SRT is a class player when he gets going (which is not that often
recent times), he can take on the best bowler from the opposing team.
I expected a century from him against Zimbabwe, but never expected it to be
this classy and crucial, yesterday, he would have scored century against
any team in the world, even India included. But..
SRT always has this ability to get out at crucial times after scoring well,
remember world cup match against Australia, SL (semi-finals), and even
yesterday. After he was out there was a chance for India to collapse, and
loose the match. No doubt, he played very well, one of his best innings,
but after his wicket fell, if we had lost, it would have been sad. As a
captain and team player knowing that there is not much reliable batting and
run rate required is above 6, he could have stayed on unless he got out to
a classic ball. A class batsmen should be able to fine tune his innings to
play a very long innings.
The men of the match should have been Jadeja and Robin Singh for the way
they batted the last 10 overs, very controlled and sane batting. Especially
liked the way Robin Singh batted. Remember he was the all rounder who could
not score a single run off 15 balls some matches back. By sticking with him
we have found an all rounder who can shine with the ball or crack a quick 30
odd with the bat, and an electric fielder. The only thing sad is that he
should have been given a chance few series back.
Good to see India win without much contribution from Azhar!!
What next...
We have the potential to win against SA but will we do it .. my heart says
yes, my brain says no...
Good luck to both teams...
Kamal.
PS. Chelega!!, at least we came to the finals... Attitude of Indian Team.