Finally, all the hype surrounding Team India was laid to rest and the hopes of the “blue billion” came crashing, as Sri Lanka practically bundled India out of the World Cup. In what was a pathetic display of batting, India were shot out for 185, falling short by 69 runs, allowing Sri Lanka to romp to their third straight victory.

Even though both the umpires negated some very confident appeals against Jayasuriya early on, he was unable to make the most of it and after a painful innings of 6, went after Zaheer and ended up caught by Agarkar.

Then on, the Indian bowlers were able to keep the Lankan batsmen under check, and like Jayasuriya, skipper Jayawardene too fell a victim to his own frustration, edging an Agarkar delivery to Dhoni.

Dravid then became imaginative, getting Ganguly and Tendulkar to turn their arm over, and wonder of wonders, both came up with a wicket each. However, Dilshan and the latest hero, Chamara Silva then re-built the innings, taking quick singles and then upping the tempo with boundaries at will. Just when they looked threatening, Munaf and Zaheer got rid of both of them and the game once again seemed to swing India’s way. However, Vaas and Arnold then tonked the bowlers around, raising 38 runs in 22 balls, setting India a target of 255.

Robin Uthappa seemed keen to prove a point and after getting his eye in, decided to go on the attack, before Vaas took a stunning catch off his own bowling to dismiss him. Ganguly, for the umpteenth time, was unable to rotate the strike and finally fell in frustration. However, the coup de grace was administered by Dilhara Fernando, who drew Tendulkar on the front foot, then managed to get the ball to find an inside edge and shatter the castle and a million Indian hopes !

Once Sehwag also left, it was up to the skipper and Yuvraj to see us through, but that was not to be. Yuvraj, having called for a single, hared down the pitch only to find Dravid rooted to his crease. By the time he decided to reverse, Arnold threw the ball to Jayasuriya who had no trouble taking off the bails. I’ve lost track of the times Dravid has been involved in run-outs. Dhoni was the second star who did not trouble the scorers, trapped plumb in front by a Murali special.

So, after the dust has settled, we are practically out of the World Cup. The die-hard calculator pundits however, are still hoping Bermuda beat Bangladesh and we sneak through on a better net run rate !! However, it would be a shame were that to happen, as we simply deserved to lose, considering the way we played.

For the second time in this tournament, we failed to last the 50 overs or even get beyond 200, the only takeaway being a record for scoring the highest total in a World Cup ! It’s time the Indian public, the media, and the ad gurus stopped the cricket hype and focused on other sports.
Ooh Aah India, aaya India has well and truly turned into Ooh Aah Ouch !!


Tags: ,

Related Posts: