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India a Big Disappointment

© Sarosh Elahi

India`s performance in the Sharjah cup was simply disappointing. After beating South Africa in the one day series at home much more was expected from them. Their in form batsmen Tendulkar, Ganguly, Azhuruddin, Dravid and Jadeja were being considered as a force to reckon with. But unfortunately they failed to produce the results. Not only the bats men failed but also the bowlers failed to impress .The slow and low pitches were expected to help Kumble and Joshi but they bowled well in only one match. Srinath looked out of form and Agarkar and Prasad produced good balls, which were few and far between.

Tendulkar's four innings in the cup produced under 100 runs. He was either bowled or trapped LBW on three out o four knocks. This turned out to be a major chink in the master blaster's usually impeccable defense. He tended to hit his way out of trouble and went hard at the ball instead of trying to time it. The last inning he played reminded us of his old self but just as he was about to cut loose, he got himself run-out. Ganguly got two promising starts but failed to capitalize on the opportunity. The South Africans and Pakistanis tucked him up on the pads and usually got him out playing frustrated shots.

Azharuddin and Dravid played at too slow a pace for ODI cricket. Both got at least three starts but lost patience and threw their wickets away. They failed to rotate the strike while consolidating the loss of their openers. Failing to rotate the strike was a surprise as it is something we have come to associate with Azhar. By the time Jadeja, Robin and Karim got to the wicket it was really a lost cause.

Turning to the bowlers we find another abysmal showing. Agarkar impressed with his subtle changes of pace but failed to contain the batsmen in the slog overs. Prasad change of pace can now easily be detected by batsmen making this weapon of his useless. His average speed of 128 km/h is not hard to comprehend with. Robin Singh bowled well in the series and did his job but failed to provide the bowling with the inspire his fellow bowlers.

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