It’s time to return to the classroom

The three runouts cost us the game. That’s an area we need to work on. We can’t afford to get runouts like this, especially when you end up losing a game in the last two overs. It really costs you a lot. Batting towards the end of the innings is another area where we can do better

For the third time in this one-day series, it came down to the last three balls. And after the first match, where India pulled it off, it has been the West Indies all the way.

And with Rahul Dravid’s XI staring at the wrong end of a one-day series, 1-2, only for the second time since the South Africans came home last year, it’s time for Team India to return to the classroom.

After the nailbiting four-wicket loss, Ramnaresh Sarwan hitting the winning four to cap a superb 115 (119 balls, 10×4, 2×6) in his 100th match, Dravid admitted that there were a lot of areas the team needed to work on, especially running between the wickets and batting in the last 10 overs.

‘‘The three runouts cost us the game. (Mohmmad) Kaif, (MS) Dhoni and Venugopala (Rao) getting run out in the middle overs hurts you. That’s an area we need to work on. We can’t afford to get runouts like this, especially when you end up losing a game in the last two overs. It really costs you a lot. Batting towards the end of the innings is another area where we can do better,’’ said Dravid.

While Kaif and Dhoni were line decisions that could have gone either way, both on sharp singles, Rao’s runout at 232/7 with four overs to go was appalling. After Ajit Agarkar’s powerful drive hit the stumps, Rao took off only to turn back halfway to join his Mumbai-mate at the same end. Then, the batsman decided to walk out and sacrifice his wicket with the bowler staying back.

With Yuvraj Singh out of the game with a ‘stiff back’, Dravid caught in front in the first over, and Virender Sehwag gone for a return-to-form 97, a clear lack of experience down the order was visible. Consider this: India didn’t score a single boundary in the last 17 overs and the final 15 yielded just 42 runs!

West Indies skipper Brian Lara revealed that ‘‘as soon as Sehwag got out, I told the guys at the drinks break that they have a lot of inexperience to come. But we didn’t expect them to score just 60-odd in the last 20 overs.’’ The other huge turning point was the West Indian assault on Romesh Powar. On a pitch that kept low, where the West Indian spinners Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels held sway — even Sarwan got a wicket with his leg-spinners — the Mumbai off-spinner, with his loop and control was India’s key.

Story continues below this ad

Powar’s first three overs went for 31 runs — 2 sixes from Sarwan, one from Gayle — as the West Indies leapt from 78 for 2 in 18 overs to 112 in 24. In between, Harbhajan’s fastish off-spinners went for just five runs in three overs.

Powar did come back to give away just 28 runs in his next seven overs but by then 31 overs had gone by and it was a bit too late. The skipper, however, did find some positives to take home, too. ‘‘It’s good in a way. This is a good chance for some of the guys to experience pressure in close games. Sreesanth got a chance to bowl the last over and I think he bowled well,’’ he said.