India couldn’t have asked for a better way to end their preparations for the World Cup than the facile win over Sri Lanka. It was a challenging total alright, but the Indians made light of it with a dazzling display of batsmanship. Robin Uthappa stated it all with a power-packed innings that brought forth appreciation from Virender Sehwag at the other end. What Uthappa’s aggression did was to ease the burden on Sehwag’s shoulders, so that he could take his time, rather than look to attack as the target was a pretty big one. Sehwag needs more time in the middle and once he does that, the runs will automatically follow. His footwork was good and he looked to play straighter, which is always going to benefit a batsman who is out of form and touch. The big test was whether he was prepared to hang in there or not and he answered it by sticking it out, which is good news for Indian cricket. The carping critics might point to his score, but at this level, attitude and approach also indicate if the player has it in him or not, and Sehwag has shown in this game that he is prepared to fight his way back to form.
Uthappa will be disappointed at throwing his wicket away once again. He must ask himself why he feels satisfied with just a half-century. If he wants to be recognized as a great player, he has to convert those attractive half centuries into centuries and more. Not only will centuries give him huge personal satisfaction and contribute more toward the team’s cause, but they will also ensure him a regular place in the team. That he batted at No. 3 shows that with opening batsmen playing, the flexibility in the team’s batting line-up is far greater than trying to push a pinch-hitter up the order.
Ganguly returned to bat and in the company of Yuvraj Singh, took the game away from Sri Lanka. It was good to see Yuvraj strike the ball so fluently and that again is great news for India as it embarks shortly to try and win the World Cup. The Sri Lankan bowling left a lot to be desired with Malinga and Fernando not bowling to the field set by their captain. Their fielding though was quite superb.
They have a problem at the start of their innings if Jayasuriya does not fire, and like in the previous games, the middle order has propped up the innings. With Sangakarra and Jayawardene both failing, the pressure would have been enormous on Silva, but he not only showed a calm and cool temperament, but a spectacular range of shots to get a century and take Sri Lanka to an imposing total. The Lankans may have got even more if Dilshan and Arnold had not thrown their wickets away to careless shots.
India have come back well after the disaster in South Africa and this bodes well for the World Cup.
