The bowling remains a worry

© CricInfo

The match against Kenyans at Paarl on Friday was a must-win one for the Indians. So it was no wonder to see a lot of emphasis being placed on playing the right eleven. With VVS Laxman specially flown in following the team management's request, Das had to sit out. Rahul (Dravid) was meanwhile asked to keep wickets so as to allow the Indians to play Sodhi as a batting all-rounder. The move to ask Dravid to keep wickets might seem logical following Deep Das Gupta's poor performance. But what really amazes me is that we are suddenly planning in such great detail to beat even the Kenyans.

Coming to the match, Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat on what was a good one-day wicket. This time the rub of the green though was not with the Kenyans and they were unlucky not to claim the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar early after an inside-edge off the little champion's bat flew over the off-stump. The bowling too didn't seem effective despite the opening bowlers maintaining a good line .

The experience and ability of Tendulkar and Ganguly saw the duo scoring freely and setting a new world-record for the opening stand. After their dismissal, Sehwag came in and made a hard-hitting fifty that took India past 350. From what I have seen of the young man from Delhi, he looks to be a very confident player.

All that remained then to be seen was how long the Kenyan batsmen would last. The Indian bowlers, to my surprise, though struggled to get the initial breakthrough which was vital if the Kenyans were to be bundled out.

It was finally a very serious communication failure that saw Indian claim the first wicket. Ravindu Shah and Kennedy Oteino were playing rather comfortably when Oteino failed to respond to Shah's call. It seemed a rather easy single and the latter was understandably livid when he was run-out by yards. The rest of the Kenyan batsmen did not do anything of note but they succeeded in playing out the 50 overs allotted to the team.

The fact that the Indians failed to dismiss the weak Kenyan batting side is surely food for thought for the Indian think-tank. I can't help but consider how the same Indian attack will dismiss the much stronger South Africans in the all-important Test series. It is to be borne in mind that it is the bowlers who would decide the series. This made it all the more distressing to see the Kenyans play out Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh with the greatest of ease despite the duo being given what were essentially Test match fields.

© AFP

Agarkar might have impressed but without doubt this Indian attack revolves around Harbhajan, in particular, and Kumble. Both are not great turners of the cricket ball. Unless these two get their act together and perform in tandem effectively, it would be a difficult proposition for this Indian attack to dismiss the South Africans twice and win a Test.

The win at Paarl also does not paper over the fact that the Indian middle-order will also have to deliver in the final. The batting looks good on paper but our willow-wielders will have to learn to come good even when Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid are not among the runs.

A word about the Kenyans in passing. They are a decent side and all that is needed is a little fine-tuning to their approach and temperament along with a little more exposure at the international level before they give the top sides a run for their money.