When Sourav Ganguly walked on to the field on Wednesday, two things crossed my mind. Firstly, was he walking in to open the innings with a sense of loss and despair or he was going in to the centre with a light head? I knew, only Ganguly could answer that honestly.
Being the most successful Indian captain, one can understand the void that was created in Ganguly's cricket after he lost the leadership. The issue is not about the emptiness in him but the dilemma of who should be the next captain. Understanding the psyche of the Indian board and the selectors, two factors can influence the choice of next captain -- the result of the ongoing tournament and Ganguly's form with the bat.
Ganguly wisely chose to play for English county Glamorgan to keep his cricketing mobility going. But he surely realises that the pressure of international matches is a different ball game. The milestone of 10,000 runs must have made Ganguly proud. It is surely a reflection of his hard work.
Nothing comes easy for Rahul Dravid. Although living in this world of science and technology, one has to take into consideration the immeasurable values of luck and vagaries of the game. In Wednesday's match, in what it appeared to be the most measured approach by Rahul, he could hardly counter the uncertainties of the game.
Mahela Jayawardene didn't look convincing until Upul Chandana walked in and started playing his natural game. Chandana's positive approach pepped up Jayawardene to take charge. When wickets fall regularly at the other end, batsmen at the non-striker end feel the heat and sometimes get little negative. But once one batsman starts striking the ball well, the other batsmen gain tremendous confidence to add to the partnership.
Indians once again missed the fifth bowler badly. Somehow, the depth in batting gives the batsman captains more confidence. On sub-continent wickets, if six regular batsmen cannot do the job, the probability of the seventh doing it is quite bleak.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not playing as a pure wicketkeeper. In my opinion, he is more of a batsman, who is doing a decent job behind the stumps. Bits and pieces bowlers like Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina can only come into play to take off some overs. One cannot expect them to take wickets. The last few games had presented Indian team with a situation where every bowler was expected to take wickets rather than just rushing through the overs. It's time that the six Indian batsmen own up the extra responsibilities to accommodate the fifth crucial bowler.
Indian batsmen did not stay at the wicket till the end, leaving the tail to fend the last 10 overs. They had to depend on Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan throwing the bat around mindlessly at the fag end. Although Irfan looks a decent bat, regular batsmen could surely score more runs at the end. In both the games against Sri Lanka, Indians fell short by minimum of 30 runs.
V V S Laxman missed out another chance to make an impression. He now probably finds himself among the list of favourites to be dropped by the selectors.
The Indian bowlers looked good for the third time. Laxmipathy Balaji was bit wayward but did a more or less decent job. Ashish Nehra has not only bowled well but is amongst the wickets. He should not get injured at the moment.
With the finalist for the tournament have already been decided, the Sri Lankans, I feel, have reached the peak a little too early. Or will the Indian deliver the knock out punch when it matters most?
