In a two-match series, when you are 1-nil down, it is next to improbable to make a comeback. But, the present Indian team, under MS Dhoni has made it a habit of constantly delivering the goods when the chips are completely down.

And the second Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens was no exception. India had been humiliated at home in the first Test, a rarity in itself, and two of their main batters weren’t fit for the Kolkata challenge. There was extreme pressure on Harbhajan Singh, in particular, to perform following the team’s miserable bowling effort at Nagpur.

Add to it, there was hardly a few days’ gap between the two Tests and there was plenty of pitch talk, pertaining to the grass on the wicket. Yet, when the moment arrived, Team India stood up to be counted.

The South Africans, who were ruthless in the opening Test, floundered with their batting after winning the toss, and it was just the window of opportunity India needed to comeback into the game.

Zaheer Khan, who unfortunately could not bowl much in the second essay, was brilliant in the first innings and set up the game nicely for India. He has had the knack of grabbing the big fishes, and did exactly that at the Eden Gardens.

For the other experienced bowler Harbhajan, it was almost like a do-or-die game. He hadn’t performed well in the recent past and was severely criticized in the media, some of it was fair and some rather derogatory.

But, the offie took things in this stride and answered the critics in the only way a cricketer can. He must thank his stars that he was playing at Eden Gardens, without doubt his favourite ground. Once he got a wicket, he was a different bowler altogether.

The manner in which he foxed Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy on the final morning reminded one of the carnage the Aussies were subjected to by the Turbanator at the same ground 9 years ago. Of course, he has lost a lot of the zip he possessed in those days, but if he can come up with more such performances, there is no reason why he still can’t remain India’s number one spinner.

Harbhajan’s lack of success has been attributed to the absence of Anil Kumble, who retired two seasons. While that’s a pretty fair assessment, the good news for him is that Amit Mishra proved he can be quite a potent weapon.

I am in no way comparing Mishra to the legendary leg spinner, but the delivery with which he took out Jacques Kallis was hint enough to suggest that he could be the next special thing in Indian cricket. That’s still a long way away though. For starters, he needs to maintain consistency over a reasonable period of time, and provide the requisite support to Harbhajan.

And while it wasn’t surprising that India put up an exceptional batting performance, they still need to be credited for it. After Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar played their part, India still could have been in trouble.

But, VVS Laxman demonstrated why he was so sorely missed at Nagpur. It was his and Dhoni’s ton that buried the Proteas. And though Hashim Alma and the tail kept India at bay till the closing moments, the magic of Eden had the final say.

The Indian team may have retained their number two ranking in ODIs despite the loss in the tri-series finals, but their insipid showing does not augur well for the World Cup, which is just over a year away. The worrying aspect is that this is not a one-off loss. India have been faltering in the finals way too often in recent years and in most cases, it is the strong batting line-up that has let them down. The Dhaka final had a similar tale to tell. This is one aspect India will need to work on very hard if they want to be seen as strong contenders for the 2011 World Cup.

Cricket may be a team game, but it is important that each and every individual takes up certain responsibility and tries to fulfil it to the hilt, especially in such crunch games. Starting with the openers, Virender Sehwag can play only one way and should continue doing so, but his partner Gautam Gambhir could look at adopting a slightly cautious in case Sehwag is doing well. To be fair to Gambhir, he has been doing an excellent job and was plain unlucky to be dismissed in the finals, but then things could have been different had he decided to take his time and not attempted strokes from the word go.

Virat Kohli had a great series, but unfortunately failed on the D-day. While one can’t be too harsh on him as he is still relatively inexperienced, his shot selection was rather disappointing for a man in prime form. Kohli needs to realize that such purple patches don’t come in your career often and hence you must make the best use of it. The plus point in Kohli’s favour is that he has proved to be a quick learner – the transformation from scoring 30s and 40s to hundreds has been rather swift. He now just needs to carry on the good work.

Like Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni’s shot selection was also questionable. But then that’s the flip side of being aggressive. When it doesn’t work, it ends up looking rather ugly. India would dearly hope the experienced duo can get their act together in future finals. That is because if they fire, there is very little chance of India losing, such will be the brutality of their attack. In short, the Indian batters need to work out a proper mechanism when it comes to competing in finals.

To be brutally honest, the situation is equally bad in the bowling department, if not worse. And a lot of it has to be attributed to the non-stop cricket the Indians have been playing (for some weird reason, mostly against Sri Lanka) as well as the power play restrictions. Zaheer Khan has clearly lost the edge he held over batsmen over six months back and his partner Ashish Nehra’s fitness concerns have comeback to haunt him again. To lose Nehra in a final was a big setback for India and vindicates the selectors’ stance to keep him away from the Test squad. Harbhajan Singh continues to bamboozle us all and this has been haunting India for a dangerously long time. Time for some soul searching, boys.

When India take on Sri Lanka in the tri-series game on Sunday, they would hope to push for a win and guarantee their place in the final. But things wouldn’t be all that easy in spite of their recent triumphs against Lanka. This is because Sri Lanka have been the best of the three teams in the tournament so far and their unbeaten record stands testimony to it. India, on the other hand, India have been horribly ragged, especially with the ball. Not that their batting performance has been especially great. In both the games they have been in deep trouble. If not for MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, they might well have ended up embarrassing themselves against Bangladesh after the loss to Sri Lanka.

Sadly, the toss has been a hugely influential factor in the series. And even the half-an-hour early start hasn’t it made much difference. In all the games, the team batting first has won and unless the trend changes, this tournament will end up being quite a farcical one. Having said that, Sri Lanka might try the experiment of bowling with the wet ball given a chance considering they are already through to the final. Ironically, it would also present India with their best chance of handing Lanka their first defeat of the tournament and securing their berth for the finals.

Whether they bat or bowl first, the fact remains that India’s bowling needs to show marked improvements. Zaheer Khan has been India’s bowling spearhead for a while now, but he certainly hasn’t been at his best since the start of the series against Lanka in India. Probably, he needs a break to recharge his batteries. It’s the opposite case with Ashish Nehra. Having made a strong comeback into the side and cementing has place as the second seamer, Nehra now has to prove his consistency. To be fair to the left-arm seamer, he hasn’t had the best of conditions to bowl. Still, a cricketer with his experience will be expected to do better. Harbhajan Singh’s inconsistency in recent times has been baffling, and a real cause for worry. One can’t predict what he will dish out on Sunday so better wait and watch.

Speaking of India’s batters, Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh have been among the runs while Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina too have made useful contributions. One the one hand, India would want these men to continue firing and on the other hand will hope for the openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to explode in the manner we all know they can. That would solve a few problems for India.

Sri Lanka too would want their good batting form to continue. They would be boosted by the return of Tillakaratne Dilshan. Even in his absence, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene came up with the goods (read centuries), which is a great sign for the side. Their bowling effort has been commendable as well with Chanaka Welegedara being especially potent while spinner Suraj Randiv is improving with every game.
With two well-matched sides, one can only hope and pray that the toss doesn’t end up hampering either team once again.

Is this the stroke of luck Sri Lanka needed? For the first time in five years, India will be without the two lynchpins of their middle-order – skipper MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, one serving a ban and the other ruled out due to a recurrence of his finger injury. Moreover, Lanka have fond memories of the venue for the fourth and crucial ODI. Thirteen years ago, it was here at Eden Gardens, Kolkata that a rampaging Lankans knocked India out of the World Cup in an embarrassing fashion. So despite being 2-1 down, they still have enough going for them. It’s now up to the visitors to exploit the situation to the hilt.

Let’s not be unfair to India though. Considering that they won at Cuttack in an extremely handsome fashion, the home side will start as favourites even in the absence of Dhoni and Yuvraj. In Virender Sehwag, they have a positive stand-in skipper and a batsman whose credentials do not need to be discussed. It will help that he has been in great form. Additionally, Sachin Tendulkar too has played with a lot of comfort. His knock at Cuttack should given the side further assurance that they can afford a somewhat brittle middle-order. While Sehwag and Tendulkar have been among the runs, the same cannot be said around Gautam Gambhir. And so India would be hoping that the southpaw has a big one reserved for Kolkata.

Coming back to the middle-order, this game will be a great opportunity for the youngsters to stand up and show what stuff they are made of. Suresh Raina will get an opportunity to bat up the order, and it’s about time he starts converting his 30s and 40s into big scores. Ditto with Virat Kohli. In his short stint at the international level, it has been observed that Kohli loses focus after getting a good start and looking well set for a big score. Here’s a chance for him to set the record straight. Among the others, Dinesh Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja would be expected to chip in if needed.

As has been the case throughout the series, the Indian bowling and fielding, in particular, will be under the scanner. The pacemen continued to struggle in the third ODI and it was only due to the efforts of the spinners that India could make a superb comeback. While it is good news that the Eden Gardens pitch will offer assistance to the slow bowlers in the latter half of the innings, the fast bowlers will have to put up a better show else the efficiency of the spinners will automatically be reduced.

One should also be careful of not putting excessive pressure on Jadeja, the bowler. While it is true that he bowled excellently in the last game, it is also a fact that he’s more of a part-time spinner and won’t be as successful consistently. That responsibility is still to be shouldered by Harbhajan Singh. If Jadeja manages to get through his quota of overs without being overtly expensive and picks up the odd wicket, he will have done his bit. And if India succeeds in wrapping up the series at Kolkata, the team too would have done its job well.

As if the run glutton at Rajkot wasn’t enough, the Nagpur ODI is likely to be another nightmare for the bowlers from both sides. The only silver lining for the poor bowlers is that one can’t expect another 400 plus score from both sides, but, in all probability, it will be another high-scoring encounter nonetheless. India managed to escape by the scruff of their neck at Rajkot despite posting a mammoth 414 on the board. Still, a win is a win and they would thus go in as slight favourites to clinch the Nagpur ODI. The Lankans on the other hand would be keen to put the disappointment of the ‘so near yet so far’ loss behind them and start afresh in the day-night game.

Sadly for the visitors, they will be handicapped by the loss of ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who missed the opening one-dayer, and pacer Dilhara Fernando. Both of them have been ruled out of the series which means Sri Lanka will be forced field some rookies in this crucial match. That said they would do well to exhibit some faith in the other spinner in the side, Ajantha Mendis. Agreed, he has been a shadow of the sensation that spun world cricket upside down last year, but the team managed needs to show faith in him and back his ability to deliver. Furthermore, the Lankans would be praying for the eccentric Lasith Malinga to be fit for the game as his return would add some much-needed teeth to the visitors’ bowling line-up even on benign Indian pitches.

Rajkot may have been a batsman’s paradise. Still, one has to accept that there was some sensational display from both sides. Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar set the tone for the ODI series with a blistering opening salvo, while MS Dhoni delivered the backup punch with such alacrity that the Lankan bowlers were made to look absolutely prosaic.

However, if one thought India had done enough to seal the deal, it was a not to be. What Indians did well, Sri Lanka did equally well, even better at the start to be honest. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga matched Sehwag and Tendulkar stroke for stroke and went on to outdo them. The skipper Kumar Sangakkara then joined in the fun and cleared the fence with such unhurried ease that the target looked well within reach. Bizarre as it may sound, one has got to say that the Lankans should have achieved the target rather easily considering the position they were in at the end of 35 overs. But, the pressure got to them and eventually they let India get out of jail.

While the batters will head into Nagpur high on confidence, the same cannot be said about the bowlers. The pacers from both sides were slammed for plenty and the spinners only did slightly better, Harbhajan Singh being the sole exception. He was the best bowler on display from either side. Additionally, the fielding performance of both sides is also a major worry, with catches being dropped left, right and centre. And with another run feast on the cards, the Nagpur tussle might well be decided on the basis of which side bowls and fields better.