Timely wake-up call for Men in Blue

The Indian team always needs a big jolt to get back to form. They always need a wake-up call every once in a way to realise that they need t...

The Indian team always needs a big jolt to get back to form. They always need a wake-up call every once in a way to realise that they need to realise their potential and play accordingly. Otherwise, with the score at 94 for 4 and then 162 for 5 that too in only 23.4 overs with the top order gone, not many other teams would have dreamt of levelling the series.

Not that 293 was a difficult target to chase down on that placid Gaddafi Stadium wicket. If the Pakistan-A side could chase down India8217;s total of 325 on the same wicket without much ado, a total of around 300 shouldn8217;t have been a problem for the mighty Indian batting line-up.

But the top batsmen made a real mess of the situation. Instead of going about it methodically, they went for strokes thinking that it would fetch them fours off every ball and the match would be over in half the allotted number of overs. Shoaib, Shabbir and Sami did extract some pace from the wicket and maybe the slight evening dew helped the ball skid after pitching.

But that doesn8217;t take away from the fact that the top four batted carelessly. The rot was stemmed partially by the Dravid-Yuvraj partnership, and then completely by the superb Dravid-Kaif combination for the sixth wicket. It was almost a repetition of the first game in Karachi where Dravid and Kaif came to the rescue.

Maybe the pace set by Sehwag, Laxman, Ganguly and Yuvraj which resulted in the run rate staying at about seven per over when the fourth wicket fell at 94, helped Dravid and Kaif have an easier time of it than would have been the case if the wickets had gone without too much on the board. The idea 8212; whether planned or incidental 8212; worked extremely well and made the Pakistan attack look tired and bored by the end of it. In fact, the body language of Pak fielders towards the latter half of the Indian innings seemed to suggest that their8217;s was a losing cause. This was in stark contrast to the Indian duo, who looked composed and very determined.

I also didn8217;t understand the thinking of the judges who nominate the man of the match designate. Why was Kaif not given the award? Not only did he help India level the series, it was his two superb catches during Pakistan8217;s innings, that stopped Pakistan reaching the psychologically scarring 300-run mark.