Must get it Wright

The stakes are high tomorrow, almost as high as the run-chart when Afridi is on song. It would have been enough if this was just a series-de...

The stakes are high tomorrow, almost as high as the run-chart when Afridi is on song. It would have been enough if this was just a series-decider; it would have even sufficed were this a chance for India to end a forgettable season on a high.

Trailing 2-3, India are playing for honour; Pakistanis are chasing glory. Pakistan could lose tomorrow and still not lose the series. India could lose twice over tomorrow.

And that8217;s still half the story. Sunday sees the end of an era 8212; the John Wright era. And to the Indian team tomorrow falls the task of preventing five years of hard, fruitful work ending in ignominy. Forget about reaching the next level, India must scramble to hold on to where they are.

For Wright, life comes a full circle tomorrow. He began his career as India coach right here at the Kotla five years ago, taking charge of a dispirited Indian team that had recently lost a series at home after almost 15 years.

Unfortunately, this team has failed him at the very end of his stint with a season of stuttering displays that seemed to have abandoned all the principles imbibed over the past five years. The players are not playing together as a unit; the success of one member is not rubbing off the others. Despite the fresh dash of MS Dhoni to the team, something is amiss.

One last Natwest-like match, highlighting the fighting values he taught them, would be a fitting farewell.

Unfortunately, the signs aren8217;t good. India have stumbled at the last stage in recent home ODI series that have gone down to the wire. They lost the final match against Australia at Margao in 2001; lost the final match against the West Indies in the 2002-03 series and then went on to lose the final of the TVS Cup in 2003 to Australia.

All this, and a confident Pakistan to boot.

Stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid preferred to accentuate the positive today. 8216;8216;It8217;s been an evenly fought series. We8217;ve held the upper hand at some stages, they8217;ve wrested the initiative back. It8217;s up to us to put up a good performance in the last game and square things up.8217;8217;

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This afternoon Wright, Dravid and chief selector Kiran More assessed the pitch. Playing on yet another flat track which might crumble later in the day, batting first would be a slightly more advantageous, as has been the case in the series 8212; but not the deciding factor, as Pakistan displayed in the last two games.

But in a game with so much at stake, pitch and toss are trivial factors; nerves and the ability to sustain pressure matter much more. Pressure is a word that has entered the Indian lexicon in the wake of the debacle over the last six weeks.

These defeats cloud the huge strides the team took in enhancing its reputation as competitive tourists. But unfortunately barring the NatWest victory and the World Cup final, the team has managed little in the abridged version and it has stuck out like a sore thumb this season when India lost every tournament and series it played.

Defeating Pakistan in Pakistan last year was the centerpiece of their achievements; their failure to win the return series in their own backyard will rank amongst the worst.

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On the other hand, a win tomorrow will not give India the silverware but it will give them the belief that the last season has been an aberration; and the confidence to start the new season with the feeling that despite their awful showing they have managed to stave off defeat.

Victory tomorrow will also foster the belief that all the hard work over the past five years was not in vain; those extra hours in the nets weren8217;t a waste; the team spirit that saw them reach the finals of the World Cup after starting off miserably is still alive.

Above all, a win tomorrow will tell the world 8212; and the fans at home 8212; that Team India is still Team India.

That, more than anything else, will make John Wright happy.

A HOST OF PROBLEMS

	nbsp;	If India are to win at Kotla, they need to fix the problems that led to defeat in Kanpur Story continues below this ad	nbsp;
	nbsp;	Nehra India8217;s leading wicket-taker in the series, who8217;s dismissed Shahid Afridi twice cheaply and averages 28, was dropped at Kanpur for Balaji who averaged 38 and now stands at 55.67. Problem fixed, Nehra8217;s inclusion is the only change for the Kotla match	nbsp;
	nbsp;	Rigidity India failed to re-arrange its batting order even after three quick wickets fell at the start of the innings. Mohammad Kaif was not promoted ahead of Yuvraj Singh and that proved costly for India in the final stages when India lacked a big-hitting batsman. Mongia managed just 33 off 28 balls	nbsp;
	nbsp;	Meekness The Indian bowlers backed off from a rampaging Shahid Afridi, using the bouncer against him on just one occasion. That came from Zaheer Khan, and it forced Afridi to sway out of line. That was the last time Afridi got a ball above his knees. The result: 102 of 46 balls	nbsp;
	nbsp;	Tendulkar Sachin was brought into the attack only after the 30 over, with Pakistan well past the 200-run mark. Moreover, Harbhajan Singh was introduced into the attack after part-timer Dinesh Mongia. The whole point in having two specialist spinners was lost with part-timers getting precedence	nbsp;
	nbsp;	Sehwag The over reliance on Virender Sehwag must stop. Pakistan doesn8217;t rely solely on Afridi for their wins, they8217;ve had a different hero in each of their three victories Butt at Jamshedpur, Inzamam at Ahmedabad and Afridi at Kanpur.	nbsp;