NEWS
MATCH REPORTS
DIARY
OTHER SPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
PEOPLE
ARCHIVES

Sri Lanka waltz into Aiwa Cup final

I remember, before the World Cup, rueing that the team management never takes steps to teach the tailenders to bat. After the performance in the four games of the Aiwa Cup -- most especially in today's key game against Sri Lanka -- I think I'll settle for the management just teaching them how to bowl.

India, put in to bat after Sanath Jayasuriya won the toss, put 296 on the board. A winning total against pretty much any team on the SSC track, where the ball tends to stop a shade and not come on properly, in the second half of the game. But the point was, India needed to do more than win -- as Lanka came out to chase, India needed to keep them down to under 271 to get into the final on a better run rate.

Then came the rain. And the confusion began. There is an ICC ruling in place which holds that if a match is effected by rain and Duckworth-Lewis comes into play, then the runs in that game are not computed when taking the net run rate into account. In other words, the minute the overs were reduced and D/L rules used to redo the equation, India were effectively out of the final.

But when play resumed, the match referee announced that Sri Lanka needed to make 222 in 40 overs to get into the final. Which means the ICC rule was given the go by -- and that raises a question. Why have rules? Why not leave it all to the organisers of each tournament? And what kind of body is this ICC, which lays down laws but can't seem to be bothered to implement them? (Cammie Smith is here, mind you, as ICC's match referee).

But never mind that. Play resumed, and when the field was spread after the 40th over by Tendulkar, acting on the assumption that it was a 40-over game, he was told to bring the field back in. There was a bit of a natter, and then it was announced that somebody had miscalculated, that the match would now be over 42 overs, and that Lanka needed to make 271 to win, 232 to get into the final.

Now this is downright silly -- if, with all the time in the world, the match referee and the umpires can't get their sums right first time and set a proper target, there is something seriously wrong. Having the third umpire call the umpires on the field to revise the overs count while play is on is nothing short of farcical.

None of this is to excuse the Indian performance on the day, mind -- these are, however, issues that need to be addressed.

To get back to the game. India dropped Vinod Kambli -- which came as no surprise given the way he moved (or rather, did not move) in the field the previous day. India opted to open with Ramesh and Sachin Tendulkar, and the innings got off to a controversial start when Chaminda Vaas straightened one with the arm, pitching middle after swinging in a touch, and took Tendulkar on the pad. There was a huge shout, and it was turned down.

Was he out? Frankly, after seeing the replays a few times, I wouldn't want to call it definitely, one way or the other -- the ball seemed to be moving away off the seam to leg, but when the ball hit pad, it was in front of the stumps. Would it have hit the stumps? From the replays, you can't say for certain given it was the front pad. Anyway... that got the Lankans all upset.

They had more reason to be upset as Tendulkar and Ramesh then settled down to some fluent strokeplay. Ramesh had a slightly uncertain start -- but once he got set and his feet started moving, he looked very good indeed, going at a brisk pace before a rather airy drive without moving his feet saw him edging to the keeper.

Rahul Dravid has a problem he needs to go into the nets and work out. A batsman whose trademark was his outside off stump play has -- I would presume in an attempt to change his style of batting -- been out four times in four innings playing no-percentage prods in that region, and that is a worry. Here, he started off right, letting them go outside off. But as dot balls mounted, he apparently figured that he had to do something drastic -- what he did was slash at a wide one outside off, managing to tip it to the keeper. On the evidence of these four games, I would think it was time someone took Dravid aside and told him, listen, bud, for your own sake, play the way you know how, not the way you think the selectors or the spectators want you to play.

That wicket brought Ganguly and Tendulkar together -- and sheer delight for the paying public, even though it was their own team that was at the receiving end.

That Tendulkar has a back problem is now increasingly evident. Thrice, the doctor came out on the field, to give the batsman stretching exercises, cool his back with ice water, and do other little running repairs. On another occasion, he went down the track, got under a ball and lifted over the long off boundary -- but an instant after going through with a shot that puts some strain on the back, he was seen doubled over, clutching his back and seeming in obvious pain.

There is a very long series ahead -- and important tours when the Kiwis come here for Tests and ODIs, after which the Indians go to Australia for a very big tour. It would be in the long range interest of the team for the management to take a decision here -- and a good one, judging by what I saw today, would be to rest Sachin from the ODIs coming up in the immediate future, get him the best medical attention there is, and focus on getting him fully fit for the New Zealand tour, as a tune up with an eye to the one Down Under at the end of the year as the real goal.

Given the circumstances, I would rate this innings of his very very highly. With a dodgy back, the temption would have been to go for broke, hit a few big ones, get the team off to a flier and get back in the hut for some rest. Instead, he chose to bat through, running hard for the singles right through, gritting his way through the pain and hitting the big ones as and when occasion offered. His 23rd century may not rank among his five best from a purely technical standpoint, but taken overall, it was an exemplar of commitment, and worth every minute of the standing ovation the Lankan crowd gave him when he, having smashed Zoysa for two successive fours, overhit the next one to blast the ball into Muralitharan at midwicket.

At the other end, Ganguly finally came good. A big problem for the Indians in this tournament has been the lack of form of Ganguly and Dravid. One of them at least got back into the groove here, with an innings of real class. Moving him down the order to four was a good move by the management -- one, it protected him from further loss of confidence had he gone out early and got out while the ball was seaming around. More importantly, it brought Ganguly in at a time when the spinners were operating -- and Tendulkar included, there is no cleaner player of spin, no cleaner hitter of the cricket ball, than Ganguly. Dancing down the wicket to the spinners, and lifting them high over the fence in the V is a Ganguly signature shot -- and for one who uses his feet so consistently to spin, I don't recall too many times when he has been stumped, an indication of how well he picks up the flight and how immaculate his footwork is. What is interesting is that at the death, Ganguly has the eye to step away from the stumps or go down the track to the quicks as well -- so you never know, if Ramesh settles at the top of the order, Ganguly at four might be a very interesting choice to make in the long run (though this does bring with it the risk of breaking up a partnership that has done very well) over the past couple of years.

Here, he paced himself to perfection. Took his own time to get off the blocks, but once he was set, he started working the ball around nicely, taking the pressure off Tendulkar. And once his captain got out, Ganguly exploded -- to such an extent that suddenly, the focus was on whether he would get to a century. He didn't, thanks to a superb catch in the outfield by Russell Arnold, racing around the line to hold as Ganguly smashed Jayasuriya around over midwicket -- to end an innings that started slow, moved up the gears very nicely, and finished on a spectacular note.

Jadeja and Robin used the last couple of overs to take India to 296/4 in 50 overs, the former finishing the innings by clubbing the last ball over wide long on for a six.

296 is the kind of total you should be able to defend against pretty much any team in the world. So, on this track, is 271, which was what Lanka needed to make to get into the final.

India, however, lost it yet again at the very outset. Srinath, after his customary bad first over, bowled with good control -- but there is something about the sight of Jayasuriya at the bowling crease that seems to completely psyche out his partner, Venkatesh Prasad. Against Australia in the previous game, he was brilliant. Here, he completely lost the plot.

Jayasuriya had obviously figured that the only way Lanka was going to do the job was for him to go berserk. Srinath, who went round the wicket from the very first ball and gave him no room outside off (the only ball that Srinath bowled short and wide outside off was cut in the air over point for six), was proving difficult to get away. So the choice was to go after Prasad -- and Jayasuriya, who doesn't believe in half measures, came dancing down the track twice on the run to smash him back over his head. He then stayed back -- and Prasad obliged by pitching short and letting the batsman cart him around the park. From 22/0 in 5, Lanka went to 59/0 in 10, 95/0 in 15. And the game had at that point gone away from the Indians.

What was surprising was that Prasad, a veteran player with oodles of experience, completely lost his cool. After being hit, he was seen gesticulating, yelling at the batsman and generally losing it completely -- and when you lose it, you don't think and when you stop thinking against a batsman hell bent on going after you, you are out of the game.

Add to that the usual quota of misfields -- and when India misfields, the results are spectacularly comical -- and India had effectively abdicated a place in the final right there. Watching them, it was as though they had allowed all the confusion -- the showdown between Prasad and Jayasuriya, another one between Chopra and Jayasuriya when the latter, at the non-striking crease, gesticulated to the umpire that a Chopra delivery was wide and the bowler promptly turned round and snapped at Jaya, telling him to bat and let the umpires do the umpiring (while the rest of the Indians milled around and Jadeja, true to form, remonstrated with the umpires), the mixup when the match referee overruled himself and increased the number of overs -- to get to them and effect their concentration.

When Lanka looked to be waltzing away, Jayasuriya gave it away, needlessly waltzing down to Robin, flailing at a ball and managing only to touch to the keeper. Kaluwitharana, promoted up the over, emulated his captain shortly thereafter -- only, he didn't even manage to touch the ball, losing his off stump after a wild foray down the track.

India were back in with a chance. Atapattu was playing very cautiously (which, while good in itself -- he again produced a brilliant performance as anchor -- meant the run rate could be checked) and Jayawardene was new to the crease. Sachin brought in a slip, a silly point, a short fine leg -- and Kumble, whose personal nightmare continued, pitched short. Time after time. And a batsman of 'Baby Jaya's calibre needs only one invitation -- which, here, was gladly accepted.

Jayawardene took over from his captain, playing an innings of immaculately controlled aggression. That he got runs and got them quickly was not too surprising given the way India's bowlers bowled (when two of your three frontline bowlers go for over 6 an over, you don't really expect results do you?). But that he kept cool, didn't succumb to any rushes of the blood, and had the maturity to wait for the loose ball to hit, was praiseworthy, and yet another sign that in this lad, Lanka have found one player who can in time take over the mantle of Aravinda D'Silva.

Between Jayawardene and Atapattu, the Lankans coasted to within a toucher of the target (the 232 needed to get to the final, that is, for it was obviously the man goal Lanka had set itself) before Atapattu went mishitting Kumble for Ganguly to take a well judged catch at wide midwicket (earlier, when Atapattu was just into double figures, the same fielder had let one go, in the slips, off Chopra).

Chamara Silva, outstanding in the field, played a wild hoik at Chopra and gave Prasad, deep at square leg, an easy take. And off the first ball he faced, Chandana top edged a slog off Kumble for Chopra to hold very well at backward point. Suddenly, three wickets had gone down in the space of 12 runs. A bit of pressure, and there could still have been some fireworks as new man Russel Arnold walked out to bat. Tendulkar gave him a slip, a silly point, a short cover, a short square leg -- and Kumble produced three successive short balls that the batsman smashed to the fence.

End of story. The Lankans, once past the 232 mark, made a rather wild and wooly charge for the larger goal of winning the match, and lost wickets in a heap to finish at 247 for 9 in the allotted overs -- but effectively, the game was over well in the 39th over itself, when Lanka raced past the 232 mark and got into the final, leaving the Indians the consolation of having registered their first win of the tournament.

Within a week, this team will be in Singapore to take on Zimbabwe and the West Indies. With this bowling -- or rather, with these bowlers bowling the way they did here -- they might as well not bother.

I want 100 per cent from each player, Tendulkar had said before the series started. If he is keeping a ledger, he will need to record that his bowlers gave him less than 100 per cent mentally, and his fielders gave less than 100 per cent physically. And the team paid a heavy price.

Scoreboard