Team India's attitude very disappointing

64

It was a very disappointing last-match loss for India. The least everyone expected of the match was a decent fight from a team that was already down in the series. What perhaps went against Team India was the wrong decision on the toss itself. Had I been the skipper, I would never have elected to field first. Having played on the track before, India should have realised that the wicket tends to slow down during the day. The ball was turning and India could have gone ahead, batted and put up a fighting total. That said, it's important to understand that no team can succeed in a match if the top order fails to fire. If a batting side, considered to be one of world's strongest, fails to put up a winning show despite going out with seven batsmen,....

Team India: From deadly to vulnerable

10

India's defeat in the Trinidad ODI can be attributed to a highly unplanned batting strategy. I don't know if it could be called an unimaginative gameplan, but it was surely a half-hearted effort. After the quick loss of early wickets, it was up to Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif to stablise the innings. But both of them failed to do it and did not keep the momentum going. This is where Team India is different from Australia. Even if Australians suffer early blows, they not only survive them, but also overcome them. They manage to maintain the tempo and do not lose focus. Indians, on the other hand, crumble like a pack of cards immediately after losing the initial few wickets. They do not know how to get out of the trouble that....

Losing the match a blessing in disguise

26

The second One-Dayer did not go the way India wanted. In the end the hosts won the match by the narrowest of the margins. However, this match would have taught the youngsters in the Indian team many lessons. The first and foremost being you cannot relax even if the target looks small. Secondly and most importantly that it is very important to keep your cool when the team is under pressure and not throw away the wickets by playing rash shots. For the first time in recent times, India will be under pressure in an ODI series. In the match Indian pacers gave a brilliant start. Both Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar bowled full and got the movement off the air that troubled the West Indians. In the first match the bowlers were guilty of bowling shot and were punished by Chris Gayle. In the second....

A Captain's knock

0

India's victory against the West Indies in the nail-biting one-dayer was certainly a well-deserved one. Skipper Rahul Dravid definitely walked away with the honours for having played a captain's knock with all authentic, copy-book shots, and holding the team to together. Dravid displayed all skills of a confident skipper, anchored the innings and did not get desperate to put runs on board despite losing Yuvraj early on. The way Yuvraj lost his wicket could have easily brought down the confidence of the team. But Dravid with all his gritty character and textbook techniques, kept the momentum going and made sure the run rate never got out of hand. His knock of 105 can be easily described as a very mature innings, and no wonder he's called the Cool Wall of Cricket. What worked in his favour was the fact that....