Does it really matter ?

India wins but after the usual jitters…

In the first match of The ICC Champions Trophy, India beat England by 6 wickets. India won the toss and bowled extremely well, with the exception of Agarkar who was off colour. It was very good to see Pathan back among the wickets. His opening spells are very important for India and in Munaf Patel; he has a very able opening partner. They bowled very well and wrecked the English top order. The spinners then took over and finished off the job. Powar is getting better with each game. He is not afraid to toss the ball up and invite the batsman to attack, which is a good trait.

The batting, though was very fragile. For a team that notched up a record number of victories chasing, they seem to have forgotten how to chase… They sure gave the fans some jitters before Harbhajan whipped the ball to the square leg boundary to finish the game that should have been finished at least 5 overs earlier.

I somehow am not yet completely convinced about sending Pathan at number three, that spot belongs to the best batsman in the team and that is Dravid. Pathan as good a batsman that he is, cannot be a number three. He should be moulded as a bowling all-rounder and that is where he can contribute more to the team.

And Raina is not doing enough to justify a place in the team. The manner in which he got out today was appalling. He is talented and a darn good fielder but the way he gets out is really very disappointing.

Anyway, India is off to a winning start in the tournament. They now go home to celebrate Diwali and play their next game in about 10 days. Hope they improve on this dismal batting performance.

posted by Sreedhar @ Sunday, October 15, 2006