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, it just shows the lack of collective confidence.
What reflected poorly on Team India was the players' attitude on the field. The tiff between Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh was for all to see.
Dissent within the team undermines the confidence of the players. Whatever the argument was, it could have been sorted out later.
Talking about India's performance, Virender Sehwag played well, but did not get enough support on the other end. He could have made a significant difference had he been supported with a partnership. But his performance was commendable. He played within himself, played the ball late and did not go for silly shots.
The bowling lineup wasn't something to boast about. The inexperience of Sreesanth and Munaf Patel showed through. India seriously need to do some quick rethink on treating Sreesanth as their main strike bowler.
Riding high on a series win against a relatively weaker and depleted England side, India perhaps got a little too carried away. The performance of certain players, who did well in the series, got unnecessarily exaggerated. And, most of them did not live up to the initial hype.
Looking ahead, India have a tough task ahead in the upcoming Test series. They have an advantage too. Wasim Jaffer and V V S Laxman are back to add power to Indian batting. Sehwag is doing well too.
It's now up to coach Greg Chappell to boost the team's confidence. The series comes as an eye-opener for Indians and it needs to be realised that there are a lot of loose ends to be tied up, and fast.
(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishcricket.com) About the AuthorKrishnamachari Srikkanth Krishnamachari Srikkanth was one of the most destructive batsmen who could decimate the strongest and most fearsome attacks in the world by his vast r...Read Morefirst published:May 29, 2006, 15:07 ISTlast updated:May 29, 2006, 15:07 IST
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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, it just shows the lack of collective confidence.
What reflected poorly on Team India was the players' attitude on the field. The tiff between Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh was for all to see.
Dissent within the team undermines the confidence of the players. Whatever the argument was, it could have been sorted out later.
Talking about India's performance, Virender Sehwag played well, but did not get enough support on the other end. He could have made a significant difference had he been supported with a partnership. But his performance was commendable. He played within himself, played the ball late and did not go for silly shots.
The bowling lineup wasn't something to boast about. The inexperience of Sreesanth and Munaf Patel showed through. India seriously need to do some quick rethink on treating Sreesanth as their main strike bowler.
Riding high on a series win against a relatively weaker and depleted England side, India perhaps got a little too carried away. The performance of certain players, who did well in the series, got unnecessarily exaggerated. And, most of them did not live up to the initial hype.
Looking ahead, India have a tough task ahead in the upcoming Test series. They have an advantage too. Wasim Jaffer and V V S Laxman are back to add power to Indian batting. Sehwag is doing well too.
It's now up to coach Greg Chappell to boost the team's confidence. The series comes as an eye-opener for Indians and it needs to be realised that there are a lot of loose ends to be tied up, and fast.
(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishcricket.com)
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