Seeing the dejected, disconsolate faces of the Indian cricketers, I was reminded of the Pakistan team at Lord’s in 1999. It was a bitter pill for us to swallow when we lost to Australia, because we had played some superb cricket till then. The Indians too had played really good cricket till the finals, but on that day they did nothing right from start to finish. My sympathies are with Ganguly, because I was in his shoes four years ago, struggling with a talented bunch of players, who were suddenly overcome by an inexplicable attack of nerves.
Ganguly took the right decision after winning the toss, but Zaheer was particularly disappointing at the start. He was just not getting his away swingers right, and Adam Gilchrist was backing himself and attacking even balls that were doing something. Perhaps the Indians should have slowed things down a little, had an on-field conference, and tried to explain to Zaheer and Srinath, where they were going wrong. The Australian openers raced to 110 in 15 overs, and in the absence of a fifth bowler, the situation only got worse. Perhaps the Indians should really reconsider their seven-batsman strategy.
It won them the NatWest finals, but nine times out of ten, the seventh batsman will not be able to do something that the earlier six did not.
Anil Kumble, with his experience and cool head was the man Ganguly missed in the finals. In his absence, the part timers bowled 15 overs — 10 to finish the fifth bowler quota, and five to finish everyone else’s quota, since most of the front line bowlers were too expensive. I was also surprised that Saurav Ganguly did not bring himself on. He’s a golden-arm kind of bowler who often breaks partnerships, and more importantly it gives the team the right kind of vibes when the captain puts himself in the firing line when the going isn’t good.
The match was over well before Ricky Ponting’s late innings attack, and quite frankly, there was no chance for the Indians to overhaul 360 against the likes of McGrath and Lee. Sachin Tendulkar went early, but I wouldn’t criticize his shot. Those were the shots that were getting him truckloads of runs, and you can’t blame him for taking his chances with such a big target to chase.
The Australians once again played perfect, zero error cricket when it mattered most. The manner in which they capitalized on the attack of nerves in the Indian camp, and the superb strokeplay they exhibited proved that they are deserving winners.
The Indians did not shame themselves in this World Cup either. The only team to defeat them was the Australians, and apart from those two defeats, they played entertaining, attacking cricket. It was some consolation in the end that Sachin Tendulkar, deservingly was named the Player of the Tournament.
Arab News Sports 26 March 2003
