Asif

The recent allegations of spot-fixing as well as match-fixing on the Pakistan cricket team have taken away the sheen from what was an otherwise intriguing Test series. It was a shame to see players from both sides (Pakistan and England) just going through the motions on what turned out to be the last day of the Lord’s Test, owing to the clouds surrounding the game. It wasn’t Test cricket, and if the current storm isn’t dealt with an iron hand, the game will never be the same again.

The one-day series between Pakistan and England may be going ahead as scheduled, but one wonders how many will have the trust to watch the matches, believing cricket is a ‘clean’ game. Yes, that’s the gigantic task the ICC and PCB have in front of them at the moment.

Leave the game aside, first and foremost, a thorough (in the true sense) investigation needs to be conducted into the happenings in the Pakistan dressing room, as well as on and off the field during the notorious period. And once they get to the bottom of it, the harshest punishment needs to be given. Pakistan failed to do this when the ‘inaugural’ match-fixing scandal broke out in 2000. It was out in the public very soon that the judge and the PCB weren’t lenient towards certain players and allowed them to get away lightly. As a result of which, apprehensions remained over whether the game was indeed cent per cent clean.

Now, with the latest accusations on the Pakistan players, a lot of fingers will be pointed at what transpired in 2000… if only they had dealt with the situation in a more transparent manner. But then, one must also remembered that there were big names involved, without whom it would have been difficult for Pakistan cricket to move forward. As such, there would have been immense pressure on the authorities concerned to do the fine balancing act. And so, a couple of scapegoats – one at the end of his career and the other whose international journey was over as soon as it got underway – were quickly identified.

Pakistan Team

The crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time for Pakistan. No team is willing to tour the nation owing to security concerns. The one team that did show some bravado in the recent past, were greeted with bullets and returned home injured and hurt, apart from realising how foolish their decision was. Following the gloomy incident, the country also lost its right to host its share of World Cup games. This was succeeded by the now revoked life bans and fines, a result of the disaster Down Under. The only high point for Pakistan in recent times was their Test win over the Aussies after a mighty 15 years. But even that has faded into distant memory what with the catastrophic loss in Sydney also coming under scanner.

The saddest part is that a promising youngster, and the future hope of Pakistan cricket, Mohammad Amir, finds himself in the middle of the storm among others. The other Mohammad’s (Asif) name cropping up was least surprising since he has proved his notorious streak plenty of times in the past. However, all the names either need to be cleared or indicted. This investigation and its outcome cannot go the way of 2000. Else, the crowds would slowly but surely start doubting the credentials of this beautiful game. On the contrary, the harshest punishment needs to be meted out if anyone is found guilty. They should never be allowed to step on to the cricket field for their country ever again. After all, they knew what they were getting into and cannot feign ignorance.

It would also be in the interest of the game for those under suspicion to be kept away from the international arena till the matter is completely sorted out. One isn’t pronouncing anyone guilty as yet. However, if the players have a clear conscience it would be in their interest as well to step back and allow the law to take its course. Certainly, they wouldn’t be able to concentrate on their cricketing expertise under such a volatile atmosphere.

A famous saying goes, ‘If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it’. The opposite holds true in context of cricket’s latest controversy.

Sri Lanka India

Yet another final, yet another defeat. The surprise victory in the Asia Cup final notwithstanding, the Indians continue to struggle at the final hurdle. As if this perennial problem wasn’t enough, the woes of Team India were compounded in the series courtesy yet another below par performance by the youngsters. With just over five months to go for international cricket’s most prized competition, India have plenty on their plate to ponder upon. Crucially, the decisions taken in the aftermath of the Dambulla loss should not be in haste, and must adhere to sound cricketing logic.

I am saying this because the easiest scapegoat could be, and perhaps will be, Dinesh Karthik. When Gautam Gambhir returns to the team, he might not be needed. However, it will be unfair to discard him solely on the basis of his disappointing scores in the recently concluded tri-series. It must be taken into consideration that he is primarily a middle-order player and was opening only to fill in for his more illustrious team-mate. He even recorded a match-winning score in the Asia Cup final. However, when it conditions got tougher for batting, his technique was found out.

A utility player like Karthik, and a complete team man, deserves a fair chance to prove that he is good enough to represent India consistently at the international level. And for that, he needs to be played in the lower-middle order. The question then arises is can be afford seven batsmen. Well, the problem should all but solve itself owing to Ravindra Jadeja’s uninspiring efforts with the bat. It isn’t great news for India that they can’t find an all-rounder a la Angelo Mathews. However, that’s the truth and they need to make do with it. And unless they want to give Yusuf Pathan another go – which would be worth a try — it wouldn’t be illogical to slot Karthik in at number seven. He could even keep wickets and relieve some pressure off captain MS Dhoni’s back.

Even as the Karthik dilemma needs to be solved in right earnest, India need to look beyond Rohit Sharma and possibly even Virat Kohli for occupancy in the middle-order slots. Both started off in international cricket in highly promising fashion, but haven’t shown the consistency to be trusted upon, unlike Suresh Raina, who too took his time to blossom, and is now one of the backbones of this Indian side. Also, some of the shots the two played in the tournaments were shocking, and they could be axed for that purpose itself. Of course, Raina too had an unsatisfactory. But, it has to be taken into account that his debut Test series must have taken a toll on him.

Considering the uncertainty in the middle-order, it would be logical to give the veteran Rahul Dravid one final go. He did pretty well when recalled for the Champions Trophy in the absence of Virender Sehwag, only to be dropped for reasons best known to selectors. The argument here could be that the great man had a torrid time in Lanka. However, knowing Dravid the cricketer, it shouldn’t be long before he has sorted out his batting flaws, unless his powers are on the wage.

The brightest spot for India from the ODI series in Lanka was performance of Virender Sehwag. Had he not been tragically run-out in the finals, who knows what might have transpired, considering the murderous form he was in. Anyways, let bygones be bygones. What Sehwag needs now is some stern support from the other end. The return of Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar should help, but having their names on the scorecard alone won’t transform into runs. Everyone needs to battle it out in the middle.

Call it a surprise or what you might, the bowling that was expected to be India’s Achilles Heel turned out to be rather reasonable, although they would have liked to do better in the finals. Praveen Kumar, especially, was below par in the summit clash. He is one of those curious cases for India. When the ball moves around, he is lethal even at his pace. But when he delivers the same stuff on an unresponsive, he is easy meat for the opposition batsmen. As such, while it will be a good idea for India to have him around, he shouldn’t be a certainly for all games, considering the flaw in his game. The other three pace bowlers were impressive at various phases in the tournament. However, they have far from achieved their desired consistency.

All of this means Dhoni faces his toughest test as captain in the months building up to the World Cup.

Kumar Sangakkara

Momentum hasn’t made its presence felt at the ongoing tri-series in Sri Lanka. It has either been everything or nothing for all the three teams in each of the games. Keeping that in mind, there will be no favoured team as such when India take on Sri Lanka in yet another series final on Saturday. Whatever the result, both teams, as well as the spectators from both nations will heave a sigh of relief that the two teams won’t face each other very soon after this summit clash.

The Lankans may seem to have the slight advantage since they are playing at home, and also from the fact that their team wears a more balanced look compared to their familiar opponents. Unfortunately, though, recent history goes against them as the Indians have upstaged them in two tournaments in the last year or so. And thus, the home team will be keen to set the record straight this time round.

A glance at the two teams and the Lankans would definitely feel more confident this time round. They will be playing an injury-free side, with most of the players in form as well. After all, they upset India by a huge margin in their last game. A blessing in disguise for the Lankans is that Tillakaratne Dilshan hasn’t fired to the best of his potential as yet. The home team will be hoping he has reserved his best for the last. A lot can be expected from the experienced duo of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. If they fire, the lower order will become doubly dangerous.

Special mention needs to be made of the two all-rounders in the Lankan side. Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera – one a batting all-rounder and the other a bowling – lend enviable balance to the line up. What’s more Perera will be on a high following his five-for against the same opponent in the last league game, and while Mathews is yet to make a genuine impression, with his versatile skill, one is more or less assured that he can contribute in some manner or the other. The script only gets more pleasing as even Chamara Silva impressed in the one chance he got.

The bowling should be the last of Lanka’s worries at the moment. With Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga and Suraj Randiv preceding Mathews and Perera and all three among the wickets, skipper Sangakkara should be feeling highly assured of a good show. And so, if everything falls into place for them on the d-day, India could be in for a tough time.

Virender Sehwag

Shifting focus to India, there need to be thankful to Virender Sehwag, who has somehow managed to keep India afloat in the series. With two match-winning scores, one while chasing (very unlike Sehwag) and the other while setting a target, the Delhi dynamo has been India’s one man army with the bat so far. The positive for the Lankans is that Sehwag is due for a failure, if they want to look at it that way. But then, with the maverick Indian opener, the law of averages theory doesn’t work, so there is no guarantee of what Sehwag will dish out on the day. One thing is for sure though, he won’t die wondering.

What Sehwag desperately needs is some support from the other end. It would be unfair to blame Dinesh Karthik for his failures since is just a makeshift and is trying to do a job for his team. However, India cannot afford to lose quick wickets in the final as well. Also, it is important for them to abandon the part-time theory and look for proper opening batsmen, may be someone like a Murli Vijay in case Sachin, Sehwag and Gambhir are absent, at least when the ball is moving around.

Another worrying aspect about the Indians has been the performance of their young batsmen. While Virat Kohli can be excused considering he hasn’t had a permanent spot of late, the same cannot be said of Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. Despite being given ample opportunities, and a somewhat unfairly long run considering there are other youngsters around, they haven’t lived up to the potential. Jadeja has been decent with the bat but hasn’t proved worthy of a number seven till date. Sharma, on the other hand, is just not learning from the mistakes, which is a most worrisome aspect as far as India is concerned.

Rather ironically, the bowling has fared better, but that has had more to do with the conditions. Still Praveen Kumar’s early strikes in most of the games has given the bowling attack a potent look. Further, Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma too have contributed, and Munaf Patel’s success against the Kiwis could mean that he could be risked in the final, which would mean a four-pronged pace attack again.
All said and done, one only hopes that the conditions don’t play an overtly important role in determining the result, and also that the series of one-sided games is brought to a halt.

Ms Dhoni

Okay, for a change we aren’t discussing about an India-Sri Lanka game in the Emerald nation. Still, the India-New Zealand clash on Wednesday will be a highly significant affair in the context of the ongoing tri-series. As aptly pointed out by Indian skipper MS Dhoni, the game will be a virtual semi-final, with the winner joining the home team in the finals. Interestingly, both teams have had similar fortunes thus far, with a win one day and a disappointing loss on the next occasion. This is what makes the tussle between the two sides intriguing and very well-matched. Whichever team can leave their worst form back in the pavilion will benefit the most from the clash.

Starting with India, they entered the tournament with massive bowling worries. However, scores of 88 and 104 have meant that their batting deficiencies have also been seriously exposed. The problem begins right at the top, with Dinesh Karthik being unable to fit into the shoes of Gautam Gambhir. As a result, Virender Sehwag’s task has become doubly difficult. And while he has succeeded in helping India clinch one win, it is crucial from India’s point of view for him to find some support.

The non-performing youngsters are proving to be another bane in India’s build up to the World Cup. While Rohit Sharma has been a little unlucky with some close lbw shouts, the reality is that he still hasn’t ironed out the flaws in his game. And when you consider that he has been around the international circuit for a good four years now, it is a danger signal. His dismissals in the last two games have been as good as carbon copies.

For a while Virat Kohli looked settled at the number three slot. However, with Sachin Tendulkar shuttling in and out of the ODI team at his own will, Kohli has had to move up and down the order. And if his recent string of scores is taken into consideration, it hasn’t helped his cause at all. He might get one more chance to prove his worth again in place of, maybe, either Karthik or Sharma. It remains to be seen how he reacts if such an opportunity comes his way on Wednesday. A note on Ravindra Jadeja is essential too. While his bowling has been decent for a while, except the T20 World Cup, his batting skills haven’t come to the fore. And so, India need to decide very quickly whether they want him in the scheme of things for the 2011 World Cup.

Bizarre as it may sound, India’s bowling looks stronger in comparison. That, however, epitomizes the team’s batting debacles more than anything else. Still, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra have done reasonably well in the series. And when the ball moves around, as it has been doing in Lanka, they aren’t the worst trio. Thankfully for the Indians, Pragyan Ojha has stepped up his game, as a result of which India haven’t missed Harbhajan Singh much. And anyways, the Punjab off-spinner wasn’t having a great time with the ball himself.

Shifting focus to the Kiwis, they have their own concerns. The inexperienced batting line-up was found out against Sri Lanka. Also, it hasn’t helped that their last game against the home team was washed out. Considering the leisurely schedule of the tournament, (the players wouldn’t be complaining) the wash out means the Kiwis haven’t batted out in the middle for well over a week. India would be hoping to take advantage of the rustiness, if any has crept in. Further, their batting looks brittle if ones takes away Scott Styris and Ross Taylor. Things seem worse when you add the fact that Jacom Oram is back on the ‘I am injured’ list, even though Martin Guptill’s expected comeback should cheer up the Kiwi camp.

Like India, their bowling too wears a stronger look in the presence of Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills, with the experienced Styris for support. India will need to be wary of the opening bowlers as the new ball has been doing plenty in the initial stages, and the batsmen have been guilty of not applying themselves. The pitch, once again, will play a crucial role. With the rain around, some movement has to be expected both at the start of the game as well as under lights.

Dhoni’s luck at the toss may have changed in the previous game, but he wouldn’t mind retaining the losing streak if the team continues to win. On a more serious note, winning or losing the toss notwithstanding, application should be the keyword for both sides.

Virendra Sehwag

The controversy over the ‘denied century’ notwithstanding, Virender Sehwag batted with extreme maturity to lead India to victory in the crucial tri-series game against Sri Lanka. True, India weren’t chasing a massive target by any means. Still, the conditions weren’t the easiest for the batsmen under the lights. Most of the top order struggled to cope with the moving deliveries. As such, a repeat of the disastrous batting effort against New Zealand seemed a possible danger. This is where Sehwag came to India’s rescue, and how.

Often in the past, the swashbuckling opener has hit India out of trouble. And while he was totally restraint here either — never expect him to be – there were sure signs of a batsman, who was willing to hold himself back, even be it ever so slightly for the team’s cause.

On this day, Sehwag was prepared to wait for the loose balls instead of trying to invent strokes, which has often been his bane in the shorter format of the game. It was a masterly knock that not only ensured that India stayed alive in the series, but also saw to it that they were very much on par with the other two teams, courtesy the bonus point gained. If only Sehwag can continue to adopt a similar approach in the coming one-day games, one is sure his success rate would only be that much greater.

If Sehwag was the undisputed hero with the bat, there were plenty of them with the ball for India. Praveen Kumar swung the game India’s way early on with a lethal exhibition of bowling under overcast conditions. His performance at the top was critical in guaranteeing that India did not feel the pinch of another lost toss by MS Dhoni.

More importantly for India, the other bowlers stuck to their guns as well and did not allow the Lankans to get away, unlike in the game against the Kiwis, where the opposition recovered brilliantly to post a challenging total and then dump India out of the match with a cunning bowling effort.

Ashish Nehra, whose fitness was a concern, used his experience under such situations to proper effect, backing up Kumar were well. And thankfully for India, Ishant Sharma too raised his game and struck some crucial blows. Following the early strikes, it was imperative for the spinners to carry on the good work. And both Pragyan Ojha as well as Ravindra Jadeja responded to the task on hand.

All in all, it was a well-rounded bowling effort for India, something which should please Dhoni no end. Having said that, it still remains to be seen whether they can be as effective under less helpful conditions. This is all the more imperative in case of the spinners, who have looked listless at times in the recent past.

A couple of other areas India will want to work on would be their batting order, which still doesn’t wear a settled look. Dinesh Karthik put in a match-winning effort in the Asia Cup final. But he hasn’t been up to the mark before and after that.

In the absence of Gautam Gambhir, India need him to make the transition to a consistent performer at the earliest. Also, while both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma remain in the scheme of things for India, one of them needs to be identified as India’s next middle-order lynchpin pretty soon, in case Yuvraj Singh’s woes don’t end.

The Sehwag-enabled win has definitely given India something positive, from where they can build on. For that though, the rest need to chip in as well.

When the World Cup is held in the Indian subcontinent next year, without doubt crowds will flock to watch the matches. But that doesn’t mean the problems with the format can be ignored. And, anyways the major issue was never with countries like India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, where cricket continues to be a passion. But with the amount of T20 cricket being played, it was only a matter of time before countries began with experiment with the present one-day version.

It is not that the ICC hasn’t made changes to format. In fact there have been a number of them over the last decade — the introduction of the hawk eye, power plays, free hit, et al. However the moot problem, i.e. the predictability aspect hasn’t seen much of an improvement.

Thanks to the field restrictions, the scores are getting bigger and bigger, but are being chased down as easily as they are set. The boundary ropes are getting shorter, which means the bowlers are beginning to feel they have little or no role to play other than running in and landing the ball on a spot. Agreed this is exactly the same case with the T20 version. And herein lays the issue.

If the spectators can watch non-stop slam bang cricket in 40 overs (three hours) why would they spend seven hours (100 overs for the same); more so when the game gets so dull in the middle overs of both the innings, when the teams are looking to consolidate.

What the new two-innings format proposes is to do away with the lacunae. And hence it must be given a serious thought. With both teams playing two innings’ of 20 overs each there will be lesser scope for mediocrity, which the present 50-over contests are inadvertently promoting.

The game flourished in the ‘90s, because it matched people’s idea of entertainment. However times have changed. In this Twitter-Facebook era, who wants to see batsmen aimlessly pushing and prodding for 20 overs, before launching an assault? It is an ‘instant coffee’ generation and the cricket played must be in sync with the audiences’ mindset.

Among the advantages of the two-innings version will be that you can watch your favourite team or player bat or bowl a second time and cheer for them if they failed the first time round. Nowadays fans have a developed a tendency to switch off their television sets once the preferred team or player has batted.

The newly-proposed format can possibly discourage that from happening. Further, teams will also get a better chance to make a comeback, unlike now when most of the matches are dominated by one side. In the tri-series against Zimbabwe, all the matches were won by the side batting second, the last thing a one-day tournament needs.

The flip side to all this is that the future of the 2015 World Cup is in danger. Well, that was always going to be. As mentioned earlier, the 2011 World Cup was never going to be affected, considering it was being played in the Asian cricket-playing nations. But that doesn’t mean the ICC can relax. They have to look beyond, and too the future. And if that means altering the World Cup arrangement as well, so be it.

Even on Wednesday, the Indians began as if they were the underdogs and it was some senseless batting from the Bangladesh batsmen as well as a better bowling performance towards the second half of the innings that allowed India to get back into the game. Once that happened, there were literally unstoppable. Then too, there was some scope for improvement as India closed out the game.

The bowling performance at the start was especially appalling. Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar sprayed the ball all over the place and had no answer to the early onslaught by the Bangladesh openers. In a sense it was understandable since the former was returning from a break, while the latter hadn’t had the best time in Zimbabwe.

Still, the Indians cannot afford to be lax against the stronger Asian opponents. And so, it was good to see the duo coming back well in the second spell and regaining some respectability in their bowling. It is of utmost importance for them to carry on the good work into Saturday’s crucial encounter against Pakistan.

The Indians put up a much better show with the willow in hand, though one has to say they could have avoided a couple of hiccups. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma fell in quick succession, which put India in a spot of bother.

Chasing a mediocre total they would have preferred to canter home. And while they did manage to get through with a bonus point eventually, it was only because the Bangladesh batsmen had kicked themselves in the foot earlier in the day.

Shifting to the positives, there were a decent number of them for India to cheer about. As aforementioned, the bowlers came back very well after the initial outburst by the Bangladeshis.

Even here, there was a surprise package. It was batting wizard Virender Sehwag, returning from injury, who spun a web around the Bangladesh lower order. Tossing the ball and inviting the batsmen to go for the strokes, Sehwag was successful in defeating four batsmen in the air as he ended with career-best figures. While the return wasn’t surprising as he also boasts of a five-for in Test cricket, it was a proper test for Sehwag’s shoulder, and he seemed to pass fit.

When the Indians went into bat, there weren’t under too much pressure. But it still need one decent partnership to see them through. And while Sehwag couldn’t match his heroics with the ball, Delhi mate Gautam Gambhir ensured he left his stamp on the game. After the initially edginess, self-confessedly the T20 effect, Gambhir settled down nicely to lead India’s victory charge.

Despite the meagre total, it wasn’t the easiest pitch of bat on as the game progressed and, as witnessed in the opening game, the lights weren’t the best either. Under the circumstances, the southpaw’s knock was a highly valuable one. He paced his innings according to the needs of the situation, and was thus instrumental in India getting home.

In the form of skipper MS Dhoni, Gambhir once again found a steady influence. And even after he was dismissed, the Indian captain kept steady head and earned India the crucial bonus point.

This victory notwithstanding, things will be on even keel when India take on Pakistan over the weekend after what seems like ages, following the political conflict in the latter nation. For now though, they would be pleased just to have overcome Bangladesh, who were influential in embarrassingly knocking India out of the 2007 World Cup.

Despite a brave recovery from the Proteas, the Windies bowlers had done reasonably well to restrict the batting side to just over 350. What they needed though was for the batting to fire well enough for them to get a lead in the 150-run region.

Instead, the inexperienced line-up collapsed for a paltry score and, in effect, that is where the game was decided. In spite of a reasonable batting effort in the second innings, the home team was left with a little too much to do in the end.

That the game finished in three and a half days in spite of the amount of time lost due to rain told a tale in itself. None of the Windies batsmen could play a proper Test knock even though three of them crossed the 20s. The disheartening aspect yet again was the ungainly attitude of the players.

There was hardly any effort made to try and battle it out in the middle, expect for a brief while when Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Narsingh Deonarine were at the crease. If only they could take some lessons from the way South Africa fought back, the contest could have been a lot closer, even if the result wasn’t.

The top half of the Proteas’ batting completely fell apart. Yet, A B de Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher and even Dale Steyn showed great resolve in helping their side to fight their way back into the game. And once that was done, the South African bowlers proved to be deadly.

Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel demonstrated what raw pace coupled with a degree of accuracy can do to a mediocre batting outfit. They destroyed the Windies batting line-up with such consummate ease, as if they were playing against some minnows. While West Indies did not bat smartly, it was not South Africa’s fault and so the bowlers deserve to walk away with the plaudits.

And even as the home side fought back in the second essay courtesy gutsy efforts from skipper Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, Steyn and Morkel again did enough to destroy their hopes of a comeback. And this time, they were aided by the other bowlers too.

While South Africa did splendidly with the ball, they would like to top order to do better than what they did in the first innings at Port of Spain. Of course, they would have been pleased to see skipper Graeme Smith getting amongst the runs, still there is enough scope for improvement as none of their batsmen went on to get a ton despite a number of them getting close.

The Proteas should aim to shut out the Windies in the next Test with a dominating batting performance against a relatively weak attack.

If one has to pick up a bright spot in yet another disastrous performance from West Indies, it would have to be the effort of Sulieman Benn. After his controversial send off in one of the one-dayers, it was pleasing to see the left-arm spinner set things right with the ball.

Using his guile and height, Benn was successful in troubling the African batsmen and, in the process, was rewarded with as many as eight wickets. Not only that, as if to make a stronger point, he held up the opposition’s charge with his batting heroics in the second innings.

Now, if only Benn can continue to display the same attitude in the future matches, West Indies can be aided to some extent in their endeavourer to put together a better unit. Also impressive was debutant Shane Shillingford, who picked up four wickets and had South Africa in early trouble.

Shillingford has shown some promise, and it is crucial for the decision-makers to stick with him for a fair while and see if he is capable to delivering in the long run. Too many Windies talents have been recruited and discarded in recent times, just for the sake of chopping and changing, which has done little good for the team.

This Test has been another ‘what if only…’ story for West Indies. But, the good part is that Gayle has promised to give his young guns another go. This time, however, they need to put up a better effort, and the seniors like Chanderpaul too have to put their hands up and deliver to help West Indies put up a fight. About winning, that’s really doesn’t come into the equation as of now.

When the Indians embarked on this African sojourn, it was seen as a foregone conclusion that they alongwith Sri Lanka would progress to the final, despite arriving here with second-string teams. However, while the Lankans kept the promise and captured the cup, albeit with some hiccups along the way, the Indians fell by the wayside.

A number of factors were responsible for India’s failure. Most importantly, the Indians possessed the weakest bowling line-up of all the three teams. The likes of Ashok Dinda and Umesh Yadav are fit only for the T20 version as of now. This was evident in the disparity of their performances in the two formats.

While they were complete non-performers in the 50-over version, the same duo made life difficult for Zimbabweans in the 20-over format. This clearly signifies that players should not be blooded into one-day cricket on the basis of their IPL performances. No doubt, the duo possesses raw talent, but it needs to be nurtured and, for that, they need to be given time.

The same was the case with Murali Vijay, who was at ease in the ‘IPL’ version, but struggled in the longer format even against average bowling attacks. And hence, the selection of Saurabh Tiwary for Asia Cup sticks out as a sore thumb.

One hopes he proves me wrong, but on recent evidence, it is a clear case of playing with fire. Wouldn’t it have been better to pick a Robin Uthappa, who had a great IPL but, more importantly, has international exposure as well to his advantage?

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is probably an exception to the rule. He looked at ease in sole ODI he played on the tour, and even in the T20s.

Ashwin’s ability to toss up the ball and fox the batsman has already made him a man to watch out for. And, even in the limited opportunities he got, he proved his worth. Further, his batting effort on one-day debut stands testimony to his ability and character.

This lanky Tamil Nadu player is one who could do India proud in the future. The decision-makers need to utilize his talent to the hilt with Harbhajan Singh now on the wane.

The tour was also a great learning curve for Suresh Raina, who was appointed captain for the series. And while he struggled for most part, it was good to see him sign off on a high. Raina had already improved by leaps and bounds in the few weeks that he led the side.

Whereas, in the beginning he was holding himself back and hoping others hit the spotlight, towards the end he had realized that, whatever the situation, the captain must lead from the front. In this context, his knock in the final T20 at Harare was a landmark. It was a match in which the left-hander went out and expressed himself.

The results were bound to follow. This series should stand Raina in good stead both as a batsman and a leader, if he gets the opportunity to captain India again.

The two major positives for India from the series were the heartening performances of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. While the Mumbai lad silenced a lot of critics with back-to-back hundreds, the ex-India U19 skipper ensured that he cemented his place in the Indian middle-order even further.

Undoubtedly, Sharma and Kohli are the future of India’s batting, and it is essential for them to stay fit and in form with the World Cup coming around, more so since Yuvraj Singh’s temporarily lost his silken touch. Yusuf Pathan also shone towards the end, and hence one can only say that his axing was a decision taken in haste.

The Asia Cup is India’s next target, and while the experienced hands will be back for the four-nation tourney, India would do well to make a note of the lessons from the Zimbabwean safari.

With the PCB getting into punishment mode, a number of senior players, Afridi included, were reprimanded; some harshly and others let off lightly. And while some of the bans were upturned by an arbitrator following appeals filed against them, the leaked video fiasco, which revealed another murky side of Pakistan cricket, with back-biting and camp-culture being prominent, has only made things worse.

And so as Afridi leads his side into the Asia Cup, it is of utmost importance that, first and foremost, he wins the confidence of all the players in the side.

There has never been, and will never be, a lack of talent in a Pakistan cricket team. But while past teams have managed to put behind their individual differences and play as a team on the field, recent evidence has suggested that the current bunch of players are heading in the other direction.

The disaster in Australia was a culmination of all things wrong with Pakistan cricket. Since then, a number of changes have been affected in the hope that things can change for the better. The Asia Cup will determine whether they, indeed, will.

The newly-married Shoaib Malik, who has taken most of the brickbats in recent times for his divisive tactics both as captain and player, has been included in the squad of the four-nation series in Sri Lanka, as has been the other Shoaib (Akhtar), whose made news more for his misbehaviour and freak injuries.

Afridi couldn’t have asked for a bigger challenge so early in his leadership career. Not only will be have to prove himself as a tactician, but he will even have to deal with the likes of Malik and Akhtar in such a subtle manner that they are made to feel wanted in the team, so that they can put their best foot forward for Pakistan’s sake.

This will be far from easy task. But then that’s come with responsibility of leading a side like Pakistan.

Apart from uniting the team, Afridi’s needs to lead from the front himself. And this too will be an equally challenging task since accountability and Afridi have never met each other in the swashbuckler’s 15-year international career.

This is one of the prime reasons why he was not a certainty in the side at one point of time. In fact even these days he is more in the team as a highly-effective and sometimes match-winning leg-spinner.

While his bowling has turned into his greater strength, it is of utmost importance for Afridi to bat with a lot more responsibility now that he is the skipper. One is not saying that he should change his natural gave but if a sense of restraint can aid Pakistan in these times, then it is definitely worth it.

In short, the time has come for Afridi to take on the role of senior statesman now that there are enough mavericks to replace him in the likes of Umar Akmal and Mohammad Aamer.

All the other Asian sides are viewing the tournament beginning on Tuesday as the first step towards finalizing the squad for next year’s World Cup. It’s the same case with Pakistan as well, but they have an additional headache of putting together a ‘team’ first.

Afridi may seem the most unlikely man to reverse the damage done to Pakistan cricket. But responsibility makes people act in peculiar ways. Who knows Afridi, the captain, might be the Man Friday Pakistan have been so desperately seeking. At least the fans would be hoping so.