Lankans played as a team; that separated them from us

So, when Sehwag and Dravid came apart, the captain had to watch the long procession back to the pavilion from the other end. Every Indian soul back home must have prayed hard for some miracle. Even when Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel had that little bit of last partnership, I was thinking of that unbeaten partnership of Derek Murray and Andy Roberts against Pakistan for 64 to pull the West Indies out of certain defeat in the 1975 World Cup.

Such things don8217;t happen to India. In fact, India have, many a time, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Where is the spirit?

When Robin Uthappa and Sourav Ganguly walked in, India had a target of just 255 runs, on a wicket which had dried and gone flatter. But nobody showed the determination to stay on, except Dravid. It was his flurry of fours off Malinga in one over that had raised the hopes of Indian fans just for a while.

Perhaps the turning point was Sachin8217;s getting out to Fernando, through the gate for a duck. That was a vital blow. India could not recover. The panic button was pressed. Whatever little chances India had went up in flames when Yuvraj was run out foolishly.

It is really worth analysing the difference between the two teams from the sub-continent. India8217;s strength was batting and given the proper conditions, their medium pacers and the spinners could be devastating. If not, their shoulders start drooping and the bowling goes haywire with all kind of experimentations. It could happen to the batting too.

Exactly opposite are Sri Lanka, except that their batting is as good if not better. We were the big brothers when they started. Now they are the elders. What an irony. They are better fielders for sure, and the bowlers bowl to the field under any circumstances unless it8217;s a completely off day for them.

Muralitharan is just outstanding. And most importantly, they play as a team and not as individuals. And that8217;s the thin line that differentiated the two teams. We saw absolutely no regional biases, despite all kinds of problems in their small country.

It was a good toss to win, following a slight drizzle. Early on, all ingredients medium pacers8217; exploits were present. One could swing with so much movement, seam with good amount of bounce and swing too if one wants to bowl spot on.That8217;s what Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Munaf the menace did with all sincerity.

They were also well supported by very spirited fielding to start with. The diving one-handed catch to the left, almost in the air gobbled by Dhoni was the catch which could spur any bowler to go all out.

Even Jayasuria got bogged down and offered a simple catch to deep third man where Ajit Agarkar was waiting to say goodbye to him. At the same time, it was a wise move to bring on part time bowlers Ganguly and Tendulkar and Sangakkara and Tharanga were removed.

Perhaps, Sehwag could have been tried when Zaheer was getting clobbered and the Sri Lankan tail shouldn8217;t have been allowed to wag so merrily. But Dravid, and for that matter nobody, could have dreamt of such a collapse from his great stalwarts.

It8217;s good to India if it really happens but it will also raise lots of eyebrows for certain. Lets see how many heads are going to roll in a developing country like ours or who is going to be the scapegoat.

Who do we blame for such a debacle? The captain is as good as a team. He tried to salvage the innings and some prestige with his knock of 60. If nobody was prepared to hold the other end, it was not his fault.

If I am not wrong, some veteran cricketer did forecast the winner before the start of this World Cup. It is going to be one of the gora teams. If that is so, why have goras for our team who mostly indulge in fun and frolic without focus?