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Pak take Sahara Cup

The last time India faced a 300-plus target set by Pakistan, the result was a world-record win.

This time round, the result was a thumping defeat -- a conclusion that was foregone from the moment Azharuddin won the toss for the fourth time running, inserted Pakistan also for the fourth time and found Pakistan running off to a mammoth score, on the back of some brilliant batting by Afridi and Inzamam ul Haq in particular, and some thoughtless bowling by the Indian bowlers.

The unwisdom of putting the opposition in when your main bowlers are struggling to find length and line was discussed in the previous match report -- a reiteration here serves no purpose, really. This sudden insistence that India will always chase is rather puzzling, and increasingly worrying -- you have to wonder when sanity will return to the team management. I mean, in three editions of the Sahara Cup, the team batting second has almost inevitably found itself in trouble -- why, then, go out of your way to bat second?

Agarkar did start off with a wicket in the second over of the Pakistan innings, Anwar again going too far across to off to work to leg, missing the line completely and losing leg stump. And from then on, the bowler again slipped into the error of trying too hard, bowling every conceivable kind of delivery instead of sticking to any length or line, and as a result, kept going short, and was punished, 37 runs in his first five overs being the statistical indication of the stick he took.

Prasad for his part seems to be struggling physically. His length, usually the most reliable feature of his bowling, has been woefully lacking on this trip, his shoulder is rarely behind the ball with the result that even his trademark leg cutter is missing, and at his pace, when he bowls short, he is really asking for punishment.

To compound Azhar's woes, Saurav Ganguly bowled as though his mind was more on his hamstring than on the ball. At both ends of the wicket, there were damp patches, making the bowler's footing uncertain, and Ganguly seemed too conscious of the fact that he could slip and injure himself. Thus, he bowled well within himself -- and considering that he is not exactly fast to start with, this meant the ball came nicely on to the batsmen, just right for hitting.

Afridi, given ideal conditions for his brand of batting, went completely berserk. The fun began with a flicked six off Prasad, over midwicket. Then he went after Ganguly, with a flurry of sixes and fours, and Ganguly retired from the bowling crease with figures of 4-0-44-0.

But more than the huge hits, what was impressive about the Pakistan innings today was the way the batsmen consistently worked the singles. The most revealing of stats is the 35-odd singles Inzamam had in his innings --which, from a guy who hates to run, is indicative of how much of a difference Javed Miandad has made to this side, in the brief period he has been a coach. Interestingly, Afridi after his whirlwind century -- his 100 came off 88 balls -- said that Miandad has been talking to him about how to go for the big ones, and not to throw his wicket away.

Another interesting facet of the second wicket partnership was the way Sohail talked Afridi through his innings -- at the first sign of the batsman losing his head and going berserk, Sohail was down the track, gesticulating, cooling him down, shepherding him through to a long innings.

If the bowlers -- barring Sunil Joshi and, in his first spell, Javagal Srinath -- let India down, then the fielders compounded the confusion. To start with, the fielders were pushed too far back to stop the singles, and even when the ball was played to them, there was, barring a few exceptions, this complete reluctance to attack the ball.

Joshi was the only bowler to really impress. Coming in when the Pakistan batsmen were rampant, the left arm spinner jammed on the breaks and, more importantly, had both Sohail and Afridi in all kinds of trouble. Afridi, who had dominated every other bowler except Srinath, decided to go after Joshi, and paid the price, slicing an attempted straight hit down the throat of wide long on. But by then, the damage had been done, and Pakistan had the platform for a huge score.

Inzamam was looking ominous, when an Agarkar inswinger got the edge of his bat and Azhar, of all people, put one down at midwicket -- characteristic, that, of the Indian outcricket on the day.

Joshi did get another breakthrough -- albeit a slightly iffy one -- when Sohail looked to run one down, the ball held its line where the batsman was playing for it to come in to him, and Mongia took the edge.

After that, it was Inzamam and Malik. The progression tells its own tale: 20/1 in 5; 50/1 in 10; 84/1 in 15; 123/1 in 20; 148/1 in 25; 176/2 in 30; 198/3 in 35, 241/3 in 40; 277/3 in 45, and 40 off the last five, to get to 317 in 50.

Wickets did fall in something of a heap at the very end. Malik missed on a pull at a straight ball from Prasad and was bowled, Inzamam swung at Srinath, missed and was bowled, Ijaz holed out to deep midwicket -- but the damage had been done in course of the second wicket partnership, and the odd wicket falling at the very end was going to make no difference to the inevitable.

About India's performance on the field, the less said the better -- the frontline bowlers were too wayward, the "fifth bowler" -- Kanitkar and Ganguly -- went for 66 off the first six overs they bowled, and all this added up to one of the most forgettable bowling performances in recent memory.

Chasing at over 6.3 from the outset calls for a cool head, and some good thinking. Which is precisely what the Indians seemed to lack. The team as it stands has no player capable of doing an Afridi, or even a Tendulkar. The answer, then, was to look for singles right from the outset. Sohail facilitated this by actually having just one slip, from the start, and having his fielders outside the circle, walking in to the edge of the 30-yard mark as the bowler delivered -- which meant that checked pushes were going to go for singles.

Instead, both Ganguly and Sidhu kept trying to hit harder and harder. And only ended up finding the fielders, the pace of the shots ensuring that there was no possibility of runs. 20/0 in five, and the pressure was beginning to tell. Ganguly kept trying uncharacteristic shots, dancing down to Aqib Javed, cutting where he would have driven... you could almost see the frustration mounting, and when Azhar Mahmood produced one on off stump, that kept marginally low, Ganguly tried to work to leg, played all over it, and was bowled.

Mongia was upped in the order, ostensibly to pinch hit. As it turned out, he stepped away from the stumps looking to hit over cover, found the bowler keeping it wide of off but went through with the slash anyway, and ended up giving first slip an easy catch off the top edge.

Azhar came, and looked good. Sidhu for his part held on, chancing his arm whenever he got sufficient width, hanging in there when he couldn't get the ball away, and though slowly, something of a partnership seemed to be building. India went from 34/2 in 10, to 59/2 in 15, 88/2 in 20.

Steady, sure, but way too slow. And with every notch the asking rate climbed, the pressure was going to increase exponentially, and the mistakes just had to come.

They did.

Aamir Sohail bowled one outside off, Azhar slashed with feet nowhere in line, and sliced a simple catch to short third man.

That Sidhu would go down the track to spinners is a given. All Afridi had to do, when the opener telegraphed his intention, was to bowl flatter and just wide enough of the stumps to beat the bat, and Moin did the rest.

Dravid started off with a quick single. In his play, it seemed like he was hell bent on proving that he could run between wickets as well as anyone -- so when Jadeja worked one off his pads, to fine leg, Dravid made the two comfortably, then turned for the third. Shahid Afridi, who was having one of those days when he could do no wrong, raced around the fence, stopped with his fingertips, transferred the ball and threw in flat and fast, a brilliant piece of fielding that caught Dravid inches short of the crease.

Two balls later, Afridi was at it again. This time, Jadeja played to short square, Kanitkar took off, and Afridi from a side on position hit the stumps with a direct throw.

And immediately thereafter, Jadeja attempted a cut at Saqlain, the ball pitched outside off and turned in just enough to go under the bat and onto off stump, and that flight ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Toronto via Delhi went to waste.

Check out the progression, to this point. 110/3 in 25, 137/6 in 30.

You dont really recover from that kind of wicket loss, more so when you are looking at having to beat your own world record if you want to win. What remained of the game gave Agarkar, for one, an opportunity for some batting practise before he finally lost his patience and tried to hit Saqlain out of the ground, failing as so many others have before him.

And... why belabour the point? Another crushing defeat for the holders of the Sahara Cup.

Sohail's captaincy has been impressive. Here, his field placing was spot on -- I particularly liked his idea of having a slightly backward gully reinforced by point, for the Indians who get a lot of runs in that area. Also, given that the match was won by over number 30, and with one more to go tomorrow, Sohail decided to give his quick men a rest and bowled his irregulars, including himself, right through.

For India, more than the defeat, what is important is the margins -- which have been getting progressively bigger with each outing. A narrow defeat gives the losing team a reason to hope, to turn it on the next day and reverse the result. Crushing defeats, though, have a demoralising effect, and the Indian body language shows just how hard they have been hit.

Rather ironically, as the innings meandered to the inevitable conclusion, the cameras kept panning to Sachin Tendulkar in the pavilion, the Indian opener having come to the ground almost immediately after landing in Toronto. He is expected to play tomorrow -- but way too late to do any good.

The Sahara Cup, thus, has been won by Pakistan, and the formality of another game is all that remains of this year's edition. Pakistan will want to reverse the results of last year, and take it 4-1. India for its part has only pride to play for, and the possibility of reducing the margin to 3-2.

Two strong teams, two heavy defeats -- now why do I have this irresistible urge to say I told you so?

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