A loss against the Lankans today could jeopardise India’s chances of reaching the finals further. The onus is now on the batters to take us through
A loss against the Lankans today could jeopardise India’s chances of reaching the finals further. The onus is now on the batters to take us throughADELAIDE: The difference between Australia and the rest of the cricketing nations is that, the world champions win even when they play badly. Barring Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke, Australian batsmen have not exactly fired yet, but they still stand atop the tri-series table.
Ask Ricky Ponting about his form and he would say, “I’m not worried as long as we’re winning.” They are not just winning, they are getting bonus points as well.
Neither Mahendra Singh Dhoni nor Mahela Jayawardene can afford that audacity. They both are fighting relegation. Rather, elimination. Their batsmen have yet to come to the party. India failed to chase 203 and Sri Lanka fell 63 runs short chasing 236 against Australia. The predicament is somewhat similar.
On the eve of Tuesday’s important match, both Dhoni and Jayawardene issued clarion calls to their batsmen. The winner will get a pole position for the finals.
“The batsmen have to realise that they soon have to fire. The guys have to realise from the mistakes they make,” Dhoni said.
“We need to go hard, but the shot selection has to be a bit better. In world cricket a lot of guys do go hard up front, with the power plays and all that, but the guys have got to be a bit smarter. The way we lost wickets in Perth was not good. At crucial times, we keep losing wickets and you can’t do that in a run chase,” Jayawardene remarked.
Having been bundled out for 153, India, one expects, would shore up their batting. But the think-tank seems to be unwilling to change their bowling attack. The thinking in the team seems to be that Sri Lanka have always exploited the fifth bowler.
In the crucial match, India do not want to give that leeway to the islanders. “The bowlers have put us in winning positions. I’m for five bowlers,” Dhoni said.
The last word, of course, is not yet out. “We’ll decide in the morning,” said Irfan Pathan, addressing the pre-match media conference.
With Sehwag ‘completely fit’, India seem to be mulling over bringing the
Delhi batsmen back on top of the order. But who will make way for Sehwag is the question.
It could be Robin Uthappa — if they want stick to five bowlers — or it could be S Sreesanth as Munaf Patel has done well enough to merit another chance, if they go in with four bowlers. It could, of course, be neither and Sehwag may continue to sit in the sidelines.
Yuvraj Singh will continue to stay, despite scoring only 37 runs in four games. The skipper has made that clear. No more questions on Yuvraj.
But there have been some questions over players losing focus. With the auction of the Indian Premier League set to take place on Wednesday, there are murmurs that the Twenty20 heroes of the team are not too happy with the IPL contracts.
Irfan Pathan took pains to explain that the team is totally focused on the job. We will know it on Tuesday.
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