Analysing a defeat isn't easy but not if you are talking about the Indian setback against South Africa in Nagpur on Saturday. Rarely does a range of errors happen with such proportions in a One-Day match and become the difference between victory and defeat. Batting, bowling, fielding and leadership, everything went for a toss after a start loaded with positives before a question mark surfaced over India's chances of making it to the quarter-finals. There is no room for a false step now and it's worth inspecting what went wrong on a bad Saturday.
Batting, obviously
It's easy to tell that India's shoddy showing in the batting power play was a precursor to what was to unfold. But what went wrong? Batsmen came in and went with such absurdity that sanity went for a walk. Perhaps things were building up to it as India did not exactly capatilize after the brilliant partnership between Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. And when Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir fell in the 40th and 41st overs, the other batsmen took it upon themselves to hit out from the word go. The result? They came in, tried to hit the ball without getting their eye in and the result was there for all to see. More alarming was the way India lost the last five wickets. Even after losing four wickets in a rush of madness, they never thought that one more wicket would sink the team deeper into despair. Nine wickets for 29 runs in less than 10 overs was just unimaginable.
Bowling & fielding
Zaheer Khan bowled his heart out but significant success with the new ball continued to elude India. The opening bowlers didn't beat the bat often enough to sow doubts in the minds of batsmen for whom it was just a matter of seeing off that period. Dhoni had already voiced concern about this shortcoming but it continues to haunt him.
The spinners bring up the second front of worry. Unable to take wickets against the weaker sides and failing to check the run flow against the big guns - is this what India's biggest strength on paper has to offer? On a pitch that got slow and offered turn, the slow bowlers were expected to tighten the screws when it mattered. But they failed.
Awful fielding
Fielding was forgettable. Crucial catches were dropped by Yuvraj Singh and Gambhir, the latter's let off leading to a six by Johan Botha off the next ball. And in the penultimate over, substitute Suresh Raina fumbled with a run out chance of Robin Peterson, who then hammered 16 in the final over by Ashish Nehra to clinch victory. This brings Azhar to my mind as our team India needs inspiration from his fielding. Azhar shoud be requested by BCCI to give crash course to our boys on fielding before the next match. Why doesnt our boys get that dedication which world's best fielder of his time has shown to the world of cricket. Why dont they watch his videos in free time.
Why not Harbhajan?
It was startling to see Nehra called upon to bowl the last over. He has done well at the death in the past, but with Harbhajan Singh having one more over left, this move was baffling. The sardar enjoys pressure situations and the tail-enders are certainly less comfortable against spin than pace. Plus, Harbhajan had been economical in the last few overs he had bowled.
I wish the Team India and Dhoni all the best for the rest of the matches.
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