Only a cricketing miracle can save India’s exit from the 2007 World Cup, and that is if Bermuda can somehow beat Bangladesh in the last match of the group. That will leave India tied on two points with Bangladesh, but India will be able to go through on the better run rate. The Bangladeshi players were there at the ground to watch the India-Sri Lanka game and see how many they would have to get in case India won the game, but now they have to only win their game against Bermuda to qualify for the Super Eight stage of the World Cup.
India have brought it upon themselves by the manner in which its batting has let them down. In a crunch game, it is imperative that the batting, which is the strength of the side fires, but instead, it was the bowlers who did a manful job till the slog overs, when some controlled hitting by Vaas and Russell Arnold gave Sri Lanka just the impetus it needed by posting a score over 250. When a team has a final flourish like the one the Lankans had courtesy of that partnership, spirits are lifted in the dressing room and the team steps out to defend its total with a spring in its step, and that was clearly evident in the manner in which the senior Lankans fielded. Muralitharan took a terrific catch, as did Vaas off his own bowling to send back the two openers, and Jayasuriya was sprightly enough to give the youngsters in the team just the incentive to try that much harder.
Earlier, it was Tharanga’s application that steadied the Lankan innings when Agarkar, Zaheer and Munaf had sent back the major batsmen, Jayasuriya, Jayawardene and Sangakarra. The Lankans have discovered a gem in Chamara Silva, who has an ice-cool temperament, and has the ability to raise his game when his team needs it. He and Dilshan, another player with loads of determination, played sensibly, not taking too many chances, but keeping the score moving, and then in the last ten overs, opened out. Still, India would have thought that they would be able to restrict the Lankans to about 240. The Vaas-Arnold partnership got them the extra runs, and a total that they defended quite easily in the end.
With the openers falling early and Tendulkar also going cheaply, India needed a repair job like the Lankans had done, with Dilshan and Silva. Sehwag, who was looking good, played a shot that was forgettable, and when Yuvraj ran for a non-existent run and got out, it was all over. If Yuvraj couldn’t make it when he was about 16 yards from the crease, how was Dravid going to make it from 22 yards, and the Indian captain is not as quick as Yuvraj. Dhoni was foxed by a superb quicker one from Murali, and though Dravid tried his best as wickets fell around him, it simply wasn’t good enough.
If India do go out of the event, the BCCI will have to move very fast to look at the appointment or reappointment of the coach and the support staff, as there is hardly any time between tours for them, and maybe, just maybe, the BCCI will also look at domestic cricket and try and raise the standard there, even if it means cutting down on tours so that the international players are available to play and make the domestic competitions more meaningful than they are at the moment.
