What a storming way to get to the finals. India didn’t just make it to the finals but did it in style that will give them lots of confidence as they take on Australia. The world champs will not be too worried as they have beaten India quite convincingly in their previous two encounters but the pressure of the final and that too in front of the vast crowd at the Eden Gardens can make the best men blink. The long gap of almost a week without a game also can be a problem as players can lose the rhythm that they have and also the momentum that teams have does get a bit slow with gaps like these.
India will also be heartened by the return to form of Virender Sehwag who wisely took his time against the Kiwis and then began to play the kind of strokes which make him such a hard batsman to pin down. The little champion has been in superb form throughout the tri-series and will be looking to shut up all those who say that he doesn’t perform in crucial games like the finals.
It was his blitzkrieg that took the game away from the Kiwis and after that the bowlers had no clue how to bowl which suited other batsmen as they helped themselves and India to post one of their biggest totals in limited overs games. Eden Gardens is also VVS Laxman’s favorite ground and so he also will want to score some runs which seem to have dried up after his ton in the first match of the series. No mention of India’s batting can be complete without mentioning Rahul Dravid who has been in the form of his life and has played the best limited overs cricket of his career. He may not inspire confidence behind the wicket as he is a reluctant wicketkeeper but there is no doubting that he will try his best in the finals.
India leave for Australia virtually days after the finals and so they know that the best way to go there is to win the finals for then the morale will be high and so also the belief that they can play well there. The bowling is a bit of a worry and that’s why it will be important for India to win the toss. The new ball bowlers have been taken apart by the Aussies and have looked bewildered as to what to do next. Limited overs cricket is especially hard on the bowlers but the Aussies make it harder still.
Kumble coming back after the sad demise of his father, bowled a lot slower than he usually does and looked far more effective doing so. Kartik might want to show that his omission from the side going to Australia was a mistake and he bowled with great guile against the Kiwis.
All the controversy about going or not to Pakistan seemed to have demoralized the Kiwis to some extent and once the Indians got off to that great start, there was surprisingly a quick droop to their shoulders. The absence of their skipper Fleming didn’t help and they kept on making the mistake of having Oram bowl at the death in spite of seeing that he was being clobbered by the batsmen in the earlier games.
That was bad captaincy because on Indian pitches he bowls at just the right pace for the batsmen to employ the slog shots. The other Kiwi bowlers had nothing but a glare as their weapon. Scott Styris has however been the pick of their team on this tour. The Aussies have the odd injury problem as well but they have the bench strength and crucially the fierce desire to protect their champs tag and so it promises to be a finals to watch.
