India’s form depends on fitness in the field

It cannot be a good law that rewards a team for seeking to score 60 runs less than the opposition. But the law exists and, like many in the statutes, you follow it for complaining does little good. Pakistan were like a sieve, letting the singles go through towards the end when they needed to shut the door on India. They didn’t and Tuesday’s match must have been even more frustrating for them than it was for the Sri Lankans.

India were unrecognisable against Pakistan, their movements suggested they had irons, not shoes, in their legs. It is disturbing for at the heart of India’s renaissance in the one-day game is an athleticism rarely seen before. They looked heavy and morose, like writers in search of an elusive word.

Sehwag had the worst match of his career, searching to put an edge on a ball that didn’t deserve one and then moving in the field like he were in the kerosene queue. Cricket has a way of delivering a hard knock when you take it for granted.

And, like the fine cricketer he is, Sehwag recognised the knock playing straight initially against Sri Lanka and then contributing handsomely with the ball. For all the riches in India’s batting order he is a key player for he can take away a match very early and he is a vastly under-rated bowler.

In fact it is India’s fringe bowlers who have come to the rescue twice now; Sehwag against Sri Lanka and Tendulkar in the brilliant last spell against Pakistan that saved India 15 runs. He is another cricketer who hasn’t looked much at ease, as he increasingly substitutes the majestic straight hits down the ground with wristy, and dangerous, efforts across the line.

India have a lot of thinking to do before the final and two thoughts will occupy their minds more than others. First of all they need to find a solution to the Zaheer Khan puzzle. He seemed to run in all right in the first few overs but in the outfield moved like a cat with a clamp holding on to one paw.

If he is fit, he is hiding it well and the disguise didn’t fool the Sri Lankan batsmen who routinely ran two when the ball was in his area. You can see why Ganguly wants him to play because he is India’s best bowler in the death but one can’t help but see that he is struggling.

And India must get their batting order right. And it must start with an admission that the team here wasn’t the best possible. India played a wicket-keeper against Sri Lanka not because they see it as a long-term reality but because they were a batsman short. They played five bowlers against Pakistan, not because they wanted to play attacking cricket but because they were forced to do so by what they had on the bench.

Selecting a squad of 14 can be tricky, selecting only 13, which is what India have done, is trickier!

They have four days between the two matches against Sri Lanka and they might want to spend them thinking about what they did right when they were playing well. It won’t take them long to work out that the missing factor here is the athleticism. When India have fielded well, they have won and luckily for them, good fielding is like a resolve that can be re-embraced.

India’s movements on the field will determine whether they win the Asia Cup. It might be tempting fate to expect another magistrate to bail them out!