Mindless cricket, pointless panic and... a lifeline

India’s defeat at St Kitts was unexpected, sprouting many queries. Ayaz Memon answers FAQs on what’s going wrong (and right) with Rahul Dravid’s team in the Caribbean.

Why did the Indian innings falter despite Sehwag’s scintillating innings?

Dravid’s first over duck was adequately covered by Sehwag’s timely return to form, but the middle order seemed intent on harakiri. Three run outs was three too many, especially when there was no need for risks, and more particularly because Yuvraj too was not playing. At 205 for 3 in 35 overs, India should have been aiming for 300. The last 15 overs producing a measly 40 runs was a display of mindless cricket and pointless panic, exemplified by specialist batsman Venugopal Rao sacrificing his wicket to preserve Ajit Agarkar’s!

Were the run-outs the most disappointing aspect?

That, and the inability of the batsmen to tackle Gayle and Samuels — surely spinners like these are plentiful back home — aggressively enough. The batting gameplan seemed to go haywire in the middle overs.

Another Lara failure, but yet again the West Indies did not succumb. How come?

Some of the other key players stood up to be counted again, which portends trouble in the remaining matches. It seemed unlikely that Sarwan could better his 98 not out at Kingston, but the century here was a tour de force. In tackling off-spinners, he is like Javed Miandad, with the ability to judge the length early and play with the tide or inside out, and hit fearlessly over the top. Especially noteworthy was the manner in which he dismantled Powar’s threat in his first spell. Most importantly, Sarwan, with splendid support from Gayle first, then the hobbling Chanderpaul, batted right through the end. India’s specialist batsmen had vacated the middle by the 43rd over.

How should Rahul Dravid’s role in the game be assessed?

For the Indian captain, it was ecstasy and agony in its myriad manifestations —  and then some more. He won the toss, chose to bat on a beautiful track, got a blob, saw the team recover through splendid partnerships between Sehwag with Raina first, then Kaif, only to see the bottom fall out of the innings.

Defending only 246, he marshalled his resources quite superbly except for bowling Ramesh Powar from the wrong end — with the wind — in his first spell. But he got India back into the game by taking a smart catch at slip to get rid of Lara, and then applying pressure even on the well-set Sarwan and Chanderpaul through a lot of supercharged bluff, some fine bowling changes and brilliant field placing. Just when it seemed that India might pull off an improbable win, his misfield in the last over allowed Sarwan the opportunity to regain strike. And the match was gone.

Surely there is something that India can take out of this game?

Sehwag was brutal, flamboyant, effective. His return to form will worry Lara. Kaif was a splendid foil to Sehwag, and Raina played an impressive cameo that bespoke his potential. Agarkar looked to be the best bowler from either side till Chanderpaul hit him for 12 runs in the 45th over, which swung the pendulum the way of the West Indies. In the context of the match, Harbhajan, with clever variations in line, length and trajectory, was the pick of the attack. The delivery which beat Lara in the air, and took the outside edge of an intended ondrive for a catch to slip was a beauty. The fielding was aggressive and purposeful but, in the end, 245 was 30 runs too few to put the West Indies out of contention.

What happens from here?

Dravid knows that India could so easily have gone to Trinidad 0-3 down, the series lost. There is relief in that and a lifeline for redemption. But now they have to win both matches to prove — more importantly to themselves — that the achievements of the last six months were not without merit.

Scorecard

India: Sehwag lbw b Bravo 97, Dravid lbw b Bradshaw 0, Raina b Bradshaw 26, Kaif run out 61, Dhoni run out 15, Rao run out 11, Pathan c&b Samuels 1, Powar b Sarwan 1, Agarkar c Lara b Bravo 8, Harbhajan not out 7, Sree-santh not out 1. Extras (lb4, w11, nb1): 16 Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs): 245

FoW: 1-1, 2-62, 3-174, 4-211, 5-215, 6-219, 7-224, 8-233, 9-243.

Bowling: Bradshaw 8-2-40-2, Edwards 9-0-49-0, Taylor 4-0-30-0, Samuels 10-0-41-1, Bravo 8-0-45-2, Gayle 10-0-35-0, Sarwan 1-0-1-1.

West Indies: Gayle c Dhoni b Agarkar 40, Samuels lbw b S’santh 11, Morton lbw b Agarkar 0, Sarwan not out 115, Lara c Dravid b Harbhajan 5, Chander-paul lbw b Pathan 58, Bravo run out 1, Baugh not out 1. Extras (b4, lb2, nb2, w9): 17 Total (for 6 wkts, 49.5 ovrs): 248. FoW: 1-30, 2-31, 3-116, 4-131, 5-237, 6-241

Bowling: Pathan 9-0-50-1, Agarkar 10-1-32-2, Sreesanth 9.5-0-57-1, Harbhajan Singh 10-1-33-1, Powar 10-1-59-0, Sehwag 1-0-11-0.