Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Mauled by a depleted New Zealand in the opening game,injury-ravaged and battle-weary India will have to raise their game significantly against Sri Lanka in the second match to stay afloat in the one-day cricket tri-series here on Monday.
It has been frustrating for India after the drawn Test series against Sri Lanka,which ended just a couple of days before the ODIs.
They lost the opening match to New Zealand due to a stunning batting collapse,have been unhappy with the training facilities at the Ranagiri Stadium and have reportedly even shot off a letter to the BCCI seeking an end to such excruciating scheduling.
Injuries have wrecked the balance of the squad and a bowling reinforcement has already been called in Munaf Patel to cover for the off-colour Ishant Sharma,who is nursing a knee problem.
Bowled out for 88 in the opening match against a rag-tag New Zealand attack,India have a lot of soul-searching to do.
Missing the services of reliable willow-wielders such as Sachin Tendulkar,who has been rested,and the injured Gautam Gambhir,Indian line-up does not look as formidable as it is reputed to be.
Adding to the woes is the continuing poor run of the otherwise explosive Yuvraj Singh.
The swashbuckling left-hander,who can turn the game on its head when in flow,has had a miserable run so far and it would be quite a task for him to regain form.
Younger batsmen such as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remain unpredictable and are yet to prove themselves consistent enough.
On the bowling front,although Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra have done a decent job in the absence of injured pace spearhead Zaheer Khan,they have not got the requisite support in the middle overs.
Against New Zealand,the Indians let it slip after reducing Ross Taylor’s men to 28 for three in the first 10 overs and ended up chasing a formidable 289 due to the mid-innings bowling slump.
In the absence of Harbhajan Singh,the spin department looked ineffective as Pragyan Ojha failed to replicate his fine Test form in the series opener.
The only all-rounder in the side,Ravindra Jadeja,continues to struggle with both the bat and ball,which has made it quite difficult for skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to find the right balance.
And the 39-year-old former England all-rounder was in a forgiving mood when it came to Christian’s potentially match-losing error.
“Maybe Christian could have been run out but the umpires declared it a match won and that’s that.”
Cork added: “We’ve been put down a lot of times.
“Things weren’t going our way in the competition but we just worked hard. We were underdogs all the way through and in the end we just squeezed past.”
Somerset captain Marcus Trescothick said in the pressure of the final ball,delayed when the groundsman was summoned to paint an extended crease to take account of the runner,his side had forgotten they could have run Christian out.
“Under pressure you’ve got to try and keep a cool mind,we just got wrapped up in what was going on,” Trescothick said.
As for Pollard,former England batsman Trescothick added: “He’s a tough boy,but that was a nasty blow.
“When you take out an international bowler like that it’s always going to make a difference to your plans.
“But that last over from Cork really changed things.”
