The Indian Cricket Team- rather a tragic rendition of harassed, angst –ridden players. If you please, shall we start with the coach himself? Even without the infamous match fixing allegations looming over his head, Kapil Dev had been struggling with his responsibility. Add to that the pressure of being accused of the scam. He even was aware that certain people in the board too were against him. What kind of influence would that be on the team?
Come down to the players. The captain first Saurav Ganguly has managed to keep up the tradition that I guess, he has sworn to follow. Once again, he lost the toss. This was the 11th loss for the toss in the last 12 tries. In fact, just a day earlier Ganguly was quite scathing about both Azhar and Jadeja.
Talking of Azhar, we know the pressure he is under, too. Did that show in his unceremonious exit after scoring shameful “One run”?
Tendulkar, of course had clearly indicated during the Australian tour that he did not quite fancy Azhar playing on his side. So, the key numbers four and five in the batting line up did not merit the trust of each other.
Now, come down to the bowlers. Srinath very conveniently opted out of playing one day Internationals. And yes, the loss showed Agarkar’s recent form is definitely nothing to write home about.
That leaves out Anil Kumble, who had to be put in early in the game. So, India’s only credible bowler was used up even before the middle, when he would be needed the most. Bhandari, of course did the best that he could. But then, the pressure was strong and they all succumbed to it.
They all succumbed to it – and India lost to Pakistan.
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