Cricket Tournaments

What do you remember when we talk about the 1980s and 1990s in Indian cricket? Indians being the   underdogs cruised to a phenomenal victory over the mighty West Indians to lift the world cup. Emergence of some exceptional cricketers like Amarnath, Kapil Dev, it all happened in 1980s. Gavaskar’s excellent strides against the fast and fierce West Indian bowlers like no-one could ever do! 1990s saw some outstanding cricketers in action, from the likes of Sachin Tendulkar to Rahul Dravid to Anil Kumble to Sourav Ganguly.

But, these excellent years did have something to regret about in Indian cricket. Match-fixing sagas were the most disappointing ones among them. Playing against your own country even after being in the squad is one of the worst things you could ever do. Why would you ever do that? How could your conscience ever let you do that? How could you ever sell your own country? The thought just amuses me.

Indians were extremely confident about playing in India but when it came to pitches abroad they would falter. Basically India didn’t have proper technique to counter the pitches abroad, especially the ones outside the subcontinent.

But life isn’t always about what you need, it’s sometimes about what happens. And as said, everything happens for a reason.  Whatever happened was for a reason, and the reason was pretty awesome. This gave India the need to get in some-one who could actually coach them in a way to play against the teams in their own den.

Its been a decade since the resurgence in Indian cricket started. With John Wright’s inclusion to the team, it was time to adopt dome international standards and techniques. His being a unique style of coaching, it didn’t go down well with the Indian players in the beginning. But his ability to adapt and understand the Indian political situations in cricket well and creating strategies considering the Indian cricketer’s mindsets help made the perfect start for an excellent decade. His partnership with Saurav Ganguly as a captain was outstanding and they together paved the way for many more youngsters.

Their partnership was the reason to why we have such exceptional and mature cricketers like VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virendra Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and many more in our arsenal. He set a base, a foundation for Indian cricket. Some exceptional wins, he led India to the final of the World cup. And the credit has to be given to him. But statistics doesn’t matter as much as they way he has taught Indians how to play cricket in the right manner. Some motivational tips, the team huddle and there you go play cricket in the right way, in the right spirit on the ground. That’s what he taught them the best, apart from coaching them how to play cricket.

But his era was cut short due to loss of form of Saurav Ganguly and other cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar. Though his tenure ended abruptly, but a job well done! But what matters is that the way he still advises the young boys and feels proud about the Indian cricket.

But what came next, was completely out of imagination. Greg Chappel’s spell with Indian cricket was one of the most horrendous experiences ever to be believed.  A supremely dominating, dictating and tyrannizing coaches I’ve ever seen. I agree these are harsh words, but all he’s done is worse to the Indian cricket.

Removing Ganguly from the team, marking an almost end to his exceptional career he never could have done worse. Ego problems always create bigger problems. I agree Ganguly had to be shown the right way, but not with the harshest solution. It still shows how much hatred he inflicted in the hearts of Indian cricketers, as no-one still has no words for him and as his name comes, they just say ‘Pass on please’.

Though an exceptional cricketer, his tactics never went down well with the Indians, as the way his tactics didn’t go well with the world in his playing days when he was captaining Australia. Asking his brother, Trevor to bowl the ball as if they were playing in a school playground, was one of the most disgraceful moments in the world of cricket. Even his brother, Ian Chappel doesn’t acknowledge it.

As his term was over, Gary Kirsten took his place. One of the most media-shy coaches, he never went in front of the media except when he left. He understood every player’s mentality and the way to deal with them. A cricketing brain, he was exceptional with whatever he did.

With M.S.Dhoni he had forged a partnership which was worth to watch. Winning the World Cup after 28 years, they together with the team got smiles on the millions of Indians all around the world. He was like John Wright in many ways. But where Wright laid the foundation, Kirsten was the man to lead the team forward.

He was a coach, a friend, a supporter everything you needed at that point of time. His coaching style was different and how! After winning the cup, he was carried on the shoulders by the young guns like the way he carried the team during his tenure. Creating a place in the heart of these millions of people is not easy, and he’s done the impossible. He has got himself the respect which he deserves. Cannot be forgotten that soon.

With him leaving the post, his post has been taken over by Duncan Fletcher. Looks like a media-shy person like Gary Kirsten, hopefully he’ll continue from where Gary Kirsten left and very well, indeed.

India - England

India’s tour to West Indies has already kick-started with a win over them each in ODI’s and the T-20 formats. With youngsters giving a chance to prove their mettle in tests as well since the senior players have been given some rest, people are looking forward to the positives coming out of this series as this will prove how strong is India’s bench strength. However, this series hasn’t been the talking point which surprises me quite a lot as India- West Indies rivalry has been phenomenal as years have passed on, though it has lost its touch in the last decade or so.

With India touring England in the month of July this year, the focus has completely shifted on to them. With India playing overseas after a long time, it has to be a tough one to go past. Ganguly said,” India will win in West Indies, but England will be tough”. This looks quite true with the fact that England has been playing phenomenal cricket around and have been going great guns. Retaining Ashes cup at away and defeating Australia at their home ground is no sort of joke. Though their ranking in ODIs is quite higher when compared to their performances but when it comes to tests they’re just looking for a chance to throttle India from the top spot. And when you have the opportunity to defeat India in their own den with flurrying bouncers and swing that takes away the game from the Indian counterparts.

But what makes England a serious competitor to the #1 ranking which India has earned so deservedly. These players are certainly to be credited.

Alastair Cook

Averaging 48 in his test cricket, he gives England a perfect start what a team actually needs. But what has been exceptional, is the way he has come up and shown what he means to his team. He was the main reason to why England retained the Ashes trophy. A run machine for England, he scored 766 runs in 5 tests he played with an exceptional average of over 120. With 3 centuries, 1 double century and 3 more half-centuries he had a splendid series. And that happened in just about 7 innings in which he played. Even in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, he has already notched 335 runs in just 3 innings. Being in blazing form, he is the torch-bearer for England at the moment and certainly the man to watch out for.

Jonathan Trott

An exceptional player, playing just 19 tests has already notched 6 international hundreds which includes 2 double hundreds already. A prolific batsman, he has been in tremendous form this year, winning the cricketer of the year award for England. In the Ashes series tour he was next only to Alastair Cook and Michael Hussey for the number of runs he has scored. An exceptional double hundred in the 1^st test he played against Sri Lanka in the ongoing test series, was an example of his unbreakable defense. Always on the lookout for runs, he is going to be tough one to breakthrough.

Greame Swann

Been considered to become the best off-spinner, he certainly has got the talent to be one. With a career 135 wickets and a splendid economy rate of 2.9, he has always kept on the batsmen and never let him score runs. He always keeps the batsmen in defense and keeps him thinking all the time. The batsman ultimately succumbs to the batsmen and gives away his wicket. Making a debut in 2000 for an ODI, he was called back in 2007 and ultimately cemented his place in the team. Playing his spin is difficult, and with India touring to England in July, it’s going to be a strong but healthy rivalry between the best off-spinners in the world at the moment, Swann and Harbhajan Singh.

James Anderson

The spearhead of the England pace attack, he has been phenomenal this season. With 24 wickets in the Ashes series, he dismantled the Australian batting line up with sheer pace and his swinging ability. An experienced bowler, he is one of the best pacers in the world today along with Dale Steyn, Zaheer Khan and Brett Lee. Though injured at the moment, it’s highly likely that he would recover before India’s tour and would get the perfect rest before such a high-profile series which would decide to who actually deserves the #1 ranking. Pace and swing is all that he’s got, and with the England pitches he wouldn’t need anything more except the experience and intelligence which he’s god-gifted.

Apart from these players, there are many more players who have been in exceptional form. Just the fact, that these players have taken away the limelight from the other players. Andrew Strauss along with Ian Bell and Matt Prior also has notched up some outstanding performances. Ian Bell especially has been consistently performing. Kevin Pieterson, though injured for the moment he has been well impressive for England in a couple of matches himself.  Even in the bowling department, Chris Tremlett has been phenomenal. Picking up 17 wickets in the Ashes tour and demolishing the Sri Lankan side along with Swann to win the test match which was always looking for a draw, he has given England a bowler to support Anderson.

A tough time ahead, India is not going to take this series lightly. M.S.Dhoni, the calmest ever captain the cricketing world would have ever seen, might know it better but it all falls down to square one. Defending the number 1 spot against a team like England is going to be tough. Laxman said,”I never got a 100 in England. Hopefully, it would be very special if I get a 100 at Lord’s and India wins the match,” Preparation has to be tough and I don’t think India will falter at this point atleast. A rivalry to watch out for, India-England has always been exceptional to watch. Right from early days, to taking out shirt incident by Andrew Flintoff and Ganguly mocking the same one, to Yuvraj Singh hitting Stuart Broad for 6 sixes in an over. There might be many more moments which I wouldn’t have been even aware about.

A tough schedule ahead, India-England is going to be an interesting tie to watch.

Its been a long tough schedule for India all around this year. With just some breaks in between the World Cup and the IPL, the South African tests just got over 10 days before the World Cup. On top of that, the West Indies tour is going to take just 6 days to kick start. Unfortunately, it puts a lot of pressure on the players and their fitness because of this packed-up schedule.

Indian Cricket Team With World Cup 2011

The test squad as well as the ODI squad for the West Indies tour have been announced and its quite disappointing to not hear some of the big names. Virender Sehwag already pulled out of the ODI squad because of injury, while Gautam Gambhir cannot play both the test tour as well as ODI tour because of a shoulder injury which was apparently caused in KKR’s last game against Mumbai Indians. Yuvraj Singh too has a throat infection which ultimately leaves Dhoni and Zaheer Khan to take rest off this schedule. This is not all, as Sachin Tendulkar too gets off the flight to West Indies as he wants to spend some time with family.

Such a schedule just takes a lot of toll on its players and just can’t be acceptable. All the big names being injured all the time and begging for some rest just makes it tough to live a life for them. A bowler has to be prevented from injuries, but as the number of games is increasing, the injuries can certainly go long-term. With Indian fast bowlers are even more susceptible to injuries it just makes it worse. And an injury to a player like Zaheer Khan, where we don’t even have a back-up bowler just makes it even tougher.

As every coin has two sides, this tour and the rest taken by players, has its own advantages too. This tour certainly gives an exposure to younger players in the team to take more responsibility and gives an opportunity to more players to show their talent on an international base. An opportunity, which would give India a larger pool of players to select from and would be an extremely nice opportunity to rotate the players, especially the fast bowlers. This could reduce the chances of players getting injured which will ultimately help India on the whole.

But its sometimes extremely disappointing to look when you see the players still selecting the club and money over country. As per the news, Gambhir was already injured before the start of the IPL season, though he didn’t know the intensity of the injury. On top of that, most of the players preferred playing in IPL with their respective clubs instead of taking the much needed rest. But preferring to take rest during the West Indies tour instead of playing the game for the country just amuses me. Which clearly states, that players have started giving much more importance to the club over country.

Obviously big money lures people and has quite an impact, but why put money over country. They say money is not the only answer but it makes a difference. Country and money are the only answers for the players and they let money make the difference here.

Its extremely important to give an opportunity to every player who is truly deserving, but not on the cost of so many senior players being rested. BCCI needs to keep some basic strategies in mind, and give opportunity to some players at a time, instead of giving every player just to show their talent on one stage. An extremely phenomenal scheme, they can certainly try and make 2 pool of players and try and rotate players at a regular interval. This can certainly help the team. But for that, we unarguably need to get in more talent to play for the country and not waste the talent.

West Indies tour on its way, its time for players like Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina to take up the big responsibility and try and carry the team on their shoulders. Apart from that its definitely a good opportunity for youngsters like Dhawan, Vinay Kumar and some more to shine and steal the limelight away from the other cricketers who have already put themselves in the list of top-level cricketers. Even in the test squad, Badrinath has atlast got a chance to prove himself that he is the lone and vivid player who has the skills to fill the big shoes ahead of Yuvraj Singh and Chateshwar Pujara.

Team India with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Trophy

It was a contest befitting of a World Cup finale, and a victory that a billion countrymen would cherish and relive for the rest of their lives. Sri Lanka played hard and tough – they were sublime at times (read Mahela Jayawardene) and at times deadly (read Lasith Malinga). Still, India managed to garner enough courage to recover from adversity even on the day that mattered the most en route to ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 glory. It will be a day that will be etched in the memory of cricket loving Indian public till time immemorial. Here’s a relook at the big moments that made the final.

Toss confusion

This had to make an appearance for it was the first instance in the World Cup final wherein the toss had to be held twice. Apparently, there was so much noise and buzz around the Wankhede Stadium that Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara’s call just couldn’t be heard. The second time around it almost needed a roar from Sangakkara to ensure that he was heard loud and clear. Lanka won it and, with it, augmented their chances of victory.

Zaheer Khan stands tall again

It was arguably the best spell in a Cricket World Cup final and erased the bad memories of an overenthusiastic Zaheer Khan’s atrocious opening burst in the 2003 final against Australia. The left-arm seamer, who ended up as the joint leading wicket-taker in the tournament alongside Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, was magnificent in his opening spell, bowling a perfect line and length and was duly rewarded with the wicket of Upul Tharanga. The pressure of the occasion clearly got to the in-form Lankan opener. But, to be fair to him, Zaheer was unplayable in his opening spell, and his figures of five overs for six runs with three maidens aptly reflected it. The ball was doing enough for Zaheer and, using all his experience, he kept the Lankans on a tight leash throughout. Thanks to Zaheer, round one clearly went to India.

Sangakkara-Jayawardene join forces

For the umpteenth time, it was Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara who rebuilt the innings amidst a mini crisis. Following Tharanga’s dismissal they seemed to have recovered well enough courtesy a good partnership between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sangakkara and some wayward bowling by surprise choice S. Sreesanth. However, just when they seemed to be on the up, Harbhajan Singh struck. He was lucky to get Dilshan bowled round the wicket. From there onwards, Sri Lanka’s two most experienced batsmen took it upon themselves to do the repair job. And they did a wonderful job, rotating the strike at ease and managing to find the boundary whenever the opportunity presented itself. It wasn’t anything new for them as they had done it time and time again in the past. But, this was the World Cup final and they were rising to the occasion.

Yuvraj’s strikes bring India back

Yet again, it was Yuvraj Singh’s left arm spin that brought India back in the game when Lanka seemed to be getting the upper hand. He bowled an innocuous delivery outside the off stump, which managed to find the edge of Sangakkara’s bat, two short of the latter’s half-century. And when another partnership between Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera began to threaten, it was again Yuvraj who broke the threatening partnership, trapping Samaraweera in front of the wickets, URDS coming to India’s rescue again.

Jayawardene’s sublime counter attack

At the fall of Samaraweera’s wicket Lanka were back in a spot of bother. However, Jayawardene responded with a splendid counter attacking innings, finding the boundaries at will and striking two awesome partnerships, first with Nuwan Kulasekara and then Thisara Perera. Both the batsmen played their part too striking some crucial big blows even as Jayawardene was caressing the ball all around the park. The power play overs really saw Lanka take their game to a different level. Ironically, Zaheer who was exceptional in his opening spell, was the one who was taken to the cleaners as Lanka ended their innings on a marvelous high.

Malinga silences Wankhede

In spite of the Lankan counter attack, the large gathering of Indian fans at Wankhede Stadium were hopeful of some fireworks from the explosive Virender Sehwag and of course the master Sachin Tendulkar. However, all it took was two deliveries to silence the noisy crowd. Lasith Malinga trapped Sehwag plumb in front as the latter failed to get bat on a fast, inswinging delivery and was accompanied back to the dressing room by a second ball-duck. Sachin Tendulkar looked untroubled during his stay at the crease, but it was only a brief relief. The pressure seemed to get the better of the big man too as he flirted with an away going delivery from Malinga and nicked it behind the stumps. The ball only just carried to Sangakkara, but it was enough to spark off wild celebrations in the Lankan camp.

Delhi boys rebuild

Lanka were firm favourites once the two Ss departed. However, as Naseer Hussain had commented after the finale of the Natwest Trophy in 2002, “This Indian batting just keeps coming at you.” Nothing much has changed nearly a decade later as Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli went about their job brick by brick. It was partnership that has defined Indian cricket in recent years. The ‘never give up’ attitude of the Delhi boys kept India in the hunt. A striking feature of their partnership was the ease with which they rotated the strike under pressure and always ensured that the run rate stayed under control. However, just when they seemed to be getting on top, Kohli fell to a brilliant return catch by Dilshan to even out the game.

The captain takes it away

How often have we heard… ‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man.’ On Saturday, with the pressure reaching fever pitch, M S Dhoni walked into bat ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh to the surprise of many. But how well he played! In the company of a defiant Gambhir, Dhoni ran like a hare between wickets until both grabbed their backs and decided to take it a little easy. And once he got his eye in, Dhoni clubbed the bowlers like only the man from Ranchi can do. The ease with which Gambhir and Dhoni chased down the target saw the Lankan heads fall steadily, and the formalities were completed pretty soon. It was a fitting end to the game as Dhoni smacked Kulasekara out of the ground to clinch the trophy for India.

There were a couple of major disappointments on both sides. Jayawardene did everything right during his innings and yet ended up on the losing side. On the other hand, Gambhir fell tantalising short of a century. But, as Dhoni said post match, he had only himself to blame. Keeping personal glory aside though, it was a team that deserved to win the World Cup for the manner in which they overcame once challenge after the other.

Following Ireland’s historic win against England, it was almost a given that Indians wouldn’t be in for a cakewalk on Sunday. And even as the Irish men went down, they made sure that they kept their pride in tact courtesy of an excellent fighting effort with the ball. In spite of the fact that India were chasing an extremely small total, the Ireland bowlers kept India in check throughout the chase. And it was only towards the end of the innings, thanks to some massive hits by Yusuf Pathan and a sedate knock by Yuvraj Singh, that India managed to breathe easily. Irrespective of the result, both teams came out with plenty of positives and would go into the future games high on confidence.

From the Indian perspective, the biggest plus was undoubtedly the all-round performance of Yuvraj. It was he who brought India back into the game with both bat and ball. Following the early loss of wickets courtesy a magnificent opening spell by speedster Zaheer Khan, Ireland had made a solid comeback via a fruitful and sensible alliance between skipper William Porterfield and the experienced Niall O’Brien. The two seemed to be cruising and building solid platform for the Irish innings, until a brilliant piece of fielding brought an end to the dangerous partnership. From there onwards, it was all Yuvraj.

The part-time left-arm spinner’s deliveries often look innocuous. But, there are times when he gets it right and could be extremely frustrating for the opponent. On Sunday, not only did he maintain a tight leash on the Ireland batsmen, but also undid them with some smart bowling on a pitch that had some help to offer. Ireland aren’t known to be great players of spin. Still they wouldn’t have seen Yuvraj as their major threat. But, as things panned out, he ended up plucking out half of their side. The Irish batsmen just had no answer how to deal with his spinning deliveries. They often ended up playing the wrong way and fell prey to Yuvraj’s guile one after the other. Okay, it was only Ireland, but this performance should egg Yuvraj on to greater things with the ball in the future. His captain MS Dhoni has always maintained that the lad from Punjab is a vital cog in the bowling machinery even if he wasn’t performing with the willow. And, on Sunday, Dhoni stood vindicated.

Buoyed by his bowling effort, Yuvraj came up with the goods while having the bat in hand too. Even as the other experienced guys like Sachin Tendulkar and Dhoni led the job half done, Yuvraj stayed till the very end and saw the team through. It was a mature effort that saw his hit only three fours in his 75-ball unbeaten stay at the crease, also a tribute to Ireland’s plucky effort. This knock should do a world of good for his confidence and India would be desperately hoping that he can now replicate this effort against the bigger teams.

While Yuvraj was undoubtedly the architect of India’s victory on Sunday, there were a couple of other noteworthy contributions that cannot be underestimated. Firstly, it was Zaheer Khan’s opening spell with the ball that gave India the much sought after early breakthroughs, something which they had struggled to get in the initial two games. The Indian left-arm pacer bowled two beauties to see the back of Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce. With the ball moving, the duo were totally at ill-ease against Zaheer and were easy meat for India’s numero uno bowler. The other heartening aspect was the big-hitting of Yusuf Pathan. He hadn’t had much to in the tournament so far apart from dropping catches, which doesn’t say much. But, on Sunday, it was his belligerent cameo that helped India sail through somewhat troubled waters. Even if it was against Ireland it was a crucial effort which will give Pathan some assurance going into the bigger tests.

The fact that Ireland managed to push India so hard reiterates that they still aren’t at their best and a lot of areas still need sorting out. First and foremost, Piyush Chawla’s place in the XI should be put under the scanner considering yet another unimpressive effort. Apart from the warm up game against Australia, he hasn’t looked threatening at all. Even against a team like Ireland, which has a reputation of not playing wrist spinners well, Chawla lacked penetration. And it is about time R. Ashwin gets his deserved chance, putting the theory of not playing two off-spinners together on the back burner for a while. One strong rationale behind this is that even the other part-time off spinner in the side, Pathan, has been least impressive. Against Ireland, Yuvraj bailed India out. But, everyday can’t be a Sunday. And hence the need to test Ashwin early in the tournament is essential. Though Dhoni has maintained that nothing much can be done about the fielding, the Indians at least need to hold their catches. If they keep dropping catches, a time will soon come when they will have to pay dearly for it.

Despite the loss, Ireland only won more hearts. This is one team that no cricket lover can hate for they give every game their hundred per cent. Even after losing two early wickets, Porterfield and Niall O’Brien batted with the poise of veterans as Ireland went about rebuilding their innings. It was a credible partnership that laid a solid platform for the team. The manner in which they handled the spin of Harbhajan Singh and Chawla was highly commendable. And if not for Yuvraj and Zaheer, might well have been facing a much tougher task.

Even with the ball in hand Ireland kept fighting. Former captain Trent Johnston did exceptionally well to get rid of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir with some intelligent bowling. The other bowlers and fielders also chipped in to frustrate India. In the end, India managed to stave off the challenge, but Ireland undoubtedly won over a few more fans.

Yuvraj Singh

Four days into the Irani Trophy clash between Rest of India and Ranji champions Mumbai, there has only been one dominant side. Yuvraj Singh-led Rest of India made a mockery of the Mumbai bowling attack, which means the latter would fail to lift the coveted cop this year as well, extending their lean run in the tournament that began at towards the end of the last decade. To make matters worse, they haven’t been great with the bat either on a pitch where ROI’s batsmen were slamming balls left right and centre with their eyes closed. In short, Mumbai have been terribly disappointing, and the one-sided contest would serve no good purpose for Indian domestic cricket.

Right from day one, ROI have been on top. Batting first Abhinav Mukund and Parthiv Patel slammed effortless tons. But that was just the beginning and the end of the misery. In between, Shikhar Dhawan, Subramanian Badrinath and Virat Kohli made substantial scores. And, as if that wasn’t enough, Ravichandran Ashwin, the man of the Champions League, chipped in with a blistering half-century to kill Mumbai hopes further. A score of 660 plus was ample evidence of the haplessness of the Mumbai attack.

Excluding skipper Wasim Jaffer and the wicket-keeper everyone had a bowl, and although Dhawal Kulkarni picked up a five-for, it came at the cost of conceding 148 runs. Surprisingly, it was part-timer Rohit Sharma who ended up with the most impressive figures. But that was nothing more than an aberration. Also, the fact that their most experienced bowler Ajit Agarkar was struggling with his fitness only compounded matters. Agarkar could bowl only 15 overs in the entire game and that was a big handicap.

Replying to a mammoth score, Mumbai needed to put their best foot forward, but that was far from the case. Except a defiant half-century from skipper Wasim Jaffer, the Ranji champions had nothing substantial to offer. Considering his high standards, even Jaffer would consider his effort a failure. However, about the rest, the less said the better. As many as seven of the other ten batsmen reached double figures, but not one among them could cross 41. Therein lay Mumbai’s core issue and with it went their any outside chance of hoping to push for a win.

Surprisingly, Yuvraj Singh did not enforce the follow-on. However, even while his captaincy decision could be questioned, the same cannot be said about his batting effort in the second innings. After falling for a blob the first time round, the India Test discard made sure he reminded the selectors of his much-discussed talent yet again. Yuvraj was in no trouble as he played every shot in the book on the way to making a trouble-free double hundred. The innings comprised of 28 fours and five sixes and came off 194 balls. That pretty much tells the tale and paints a sorry picture of the Mumbai bowling attack once again. Apart from Yuvraj-delivered agony, they again had to suffer at the hands of Mukund and Badrinath, who carried on from where they left off in the first innings.

Chasing a massive 782 for victory, Mumbai made a decent start with Jaffer looking solid yet again. With the pitch not playing too many pranks, a respectable batting performance can still see Mumbai draw the game. However, it hasn’t been a performance worthy of a champion side. Far from it, and sad since we know what they are capable of.

Yuvraj Singh

After being axed yet again, for the Test series against Australia, Yuvraj Singh might be beginning to wonder what the future holds for him, at least as far as his Test career is concerned. Injury, fitness and poor form, the former Kings XI Punjab skipper has seen it all in what has been a forgettable year for him. However, the lanky and now extremely experienced left-handed batsman must not feel completely disheartened.

Every one goes through bad times. However, he must remember that tough times don’t last, but tough people do. This is the time for introspection for Yuvraj, with five months left to go for the World Cup. His Test cricket career can take a backseat for the moment. As of now, he needs to concentrate on getting himself fit for the big test in one-dayers. But obviously, he will be in the scheme of things for next year’s cricketing bonanza. But, for that, he needs to bring himself to prime form.

Yuvraj cannot be blamed for everything that has gone wrong with him in the last year. At the same time, he cannot be absolved of his wrongdoings. It has been a bit of both bad luck and lack of professionalism that has contributed to Yuvraj’s latest downfall. Nothing much can be done about the luck factor, but considering the amount of experience behind him, he must surely have found out what else went wrong with him. And so, this isn’t a bad time for Yuvraj to pick up the pieces. After all, he is still 29, an age when most batsmen are at their peak.

Yuvraj Singh

He needs to start from scratch though, and must have the tenacity to go back to a lower grade of cricket and get his act right. It won’t be easy especially after ten years at the top. But then, the best in Indian cricket, from Sourav Ganguly to VVS Laxman, have done it and come back as better players. So also, Yuvraj has the capability to make a strong comeback. He has done it before and there is no reason why he can’t do it again. After all, he is more mature now compared to the last time he was dropped.

Apart from the batting aspect, he needs to work his way back on his fielding skills as well. And for that staying fit is of utmost importance. It is not easy considering the kind of lavish lifestyle the ‘prince’ enjoys and also the added distractions named IPL and T20 cricket, apart from fashion shows and TV appearances. And thus, this is where the real test will come for Yuvraj. Does he have the inspiration to battle his way back, or is he satisfied with what he has achieved so far, which isn’t unimpressive by any stretch of the imagination, but borders on the line of expected considering his humungous talent.

How Yuvraj shapes up in the next couple of months, will go a long way in determining how far his international career stretches from this point. Further, there will be two major challenges in front of Yuvraj in the times to come. One is to get his Test career back on track and the other will be to re-establish his one-day supremacy. If he fails in either, he will not have done absolute justice to his potential.

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.