India stumble yet again at the final hurdle

The can't-win-final story of Indian cricket doesn't seem to end. Another golden opportunity to set the record straight has been lost. The Indian captain Sourav Ganguly was a disappointed man after the losing the toss on Sunday afternoon. He must have been aware of the fact that Sri Lanka held all the early advantage and went on to take the loss of toss rather philosophically. On a wicket that was being used for the first time in the series and with the general feeling that it might keep low as the game progressed, Sanath Jayasuriya got his decision spot on to bat first.

The Sri Lankan opening batsmen blunted the Indian pace bowlers for once. Sanath Jayasuriya and Avishka Gunawardene should be given credit for taking the Indian attack apart. I felt that Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra tried to bowl a bit too fast in their opening spell and paid the price for it. Sri Lanka went out with a clear game plan and put that into practice. Jayasuriya played steadily at one end and Gunawardene went after the bowling. The strategy was well placed and it worked wonderfully well as they added 70 odd runs in the first 11 overs at a rate of more than six per over.

It was a decisive move by the Indian captain to bring Harbhajan Singh into the attack. He delivered immediately getting rid of the dangerous looking Gunawardene and helped to put the brakes on the scoring. Harbhajan Singh has been improving by leaps and bounds as every game goes by. Virender Shewag claimed the wicket of Marvan Atapattu and gave India some hope of coming back into the match. The new batsman Mahela Jayawardene along with Jayasuriya made certain that the bowlers were never allowed to dominate.

In my opinion Jayawardene is really technically sound. He played an excellent knock, playing Harbhajan Singh most competently. It was a great exhibition of intelligent batting and even Harbhajan Singh will agree with that. The Sri Lankan skipper was unfortunate to have missed out on a hundred, when he looked good for a big one. Russel Arnold and Romesh Kaluwitharana played some explosive cricket towards the end to help their side to an imposing score of 295. It was quite disappointing to see the Indians bowl without any purpose and direction. It hurts me that much more to think that these were the same bowlers who had pinned down the Lankans in the previous two encounters.

Chasing a big score of 295 under lights is never an easy task. It was a huge disappointment to see that the Indian batting lacked any depth or character in a big match such as this. It was clearly evident right at the outset that Virender Shewag would have to play another belter of an innings to give India any chance of a win. The Indian batting proved to be too brittle when it mattered most; it looks sound and strong when the score is not exactly challenging.

There is a huge psychological mountain to climb for this Indian team. The ODI series also brought to fore a few interesting aspects. Without Sachin Tendulkar India will struggle to dominate their opponents. With just three genuine bowlers in the side to expect to restrict the opposition to a comfortable score and then to chase for a win is just wishful thinking.

I would give all credit the Sri Lankans for they are deserving winners of the Coca-Cola Cup. They showed a lot of character and they proved themselves with a most comprehensive win against India. Sanath Jayasuriya richly deserves the Man of the Series award and the car that went with it for leading right from the front. Sri Lanka surely are the worthy champions.