Skipper8217;s innings was painful to watch

India may or may not reach the last four but on Tuesday, they fulfilled the dreams of millions of Indians by beating Pakistan and in grea...

India may or may not reach the last four but on Tuesday, they fulfilled the dreams of millions of Indians by beating Pakistan and in great style. They beat the hell out of Pakistan, on the same ground where the all-conquering Indian team of 8217;83 had beaten the invincible West Indians as well as England.

In the morning, everything went right for India. They won the toss, decided to bat first, and got off to a fairly good start till Sachin Tendulkar got himself out to an uncharacterstic shot just when he looked set for a big score. I say uncharacteristic because he is the kind who, when well set, does not his wicket give away easily.

Tendulkar had done all the hard work, seeing the new ball off and playing both Akram and Akhtar with a degree of competence. That8217;s why it was all the more surprising to see him play into the hands of Azhar Mahmood. He must have kicked himself for getting out at a time when the need of the hour was to milk the bowling.

Tendulkar8217;s presence was needed not only to demoralise the opposition, but to score runs briskly. And after his departure, it became an uphill task for the Indians to post an imposing total, even though Dravid continued with his tremendous form.

Dravid played a superb innings. What he will have to be careful about, however, is his driving square on the off-side, especially while executing a square or cover drive which he tends to play in the air. He has improved his running between the wickets tremendously.

Poor Azhar. He struggled throughout his innings. His timing was not only poor, but he seems to have lost his reflexes, too. He scratched around aimlessly, and though he scored a fifty, it was a painful innings to watch. It is rather unfortunate because he has been a class player throughout his career, but then the time comes for everyone to pack up and Azhar is no exception.

Pakistan lived up to their reputation of having the best new ball attack in the competition. Both Akram and Akhtar bowled superbly with the new ball and then with the old ball later on. The strategy to bowl Akhtar for only the first four overs with the new ball was effective, for he could be bowled for three spells in his quota of 10.

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Saeed Anawar likes to play his shots and does not miss any chance to execute them. An extremely talented bat, he, however, has done little of note in this Cup, with the moving ball doing him in on more than one occasion. Though he scores briskly, he has failed to convert those 20s and 30s into bigger innings. The rest of the batsmen disappointed as the pressure built up.

Prasad, Srinath, Kumble and most importantly, Mohanty gave more than 100 per cent. It was indeed a magnificent victory.