By Rudroneel Ghosh. Delhi, India, 05:09 PM IST
There are only three words that come to mind when one thinks of India’s performance against Bangladesh yesterday, SHAME, SHAME and SHAME. Who would have thought that there would come a day that we would actually be taking down cricketing notes from a team like Bangladesh.
For that is precisely what happened when India lost by a shameful five wickets before being bundled out for a meager 191. I don’t care how bad or good the pitch was or whether Rahul Dravid had misread the pitch or not, India’s performance was simply inexcusable. The way they played was simply appalling and the sad part was that the Bangladeshis did not do anything special. They simply did the basics right and got the ball in the right areas. Like I had said in my previous article that on these Caribbean pitches that is all that one needs to do. Mortaza, Rasel and the three left arm spinners were nothing special. They just bowled a tight line and length. The main problem was that the Indian batsmen did not apply themselves properly given the situation. I don’t know whether they were over confident or nervous but I am sorry to say that they looked like complete amateurs out there. Ironic for a team that boasts of having players who are playing their 4th and 5th World Cup.
Virender Sehwag should just be dropped. He has been given enough chances to prove himself and it is simply not working out. They should simply promote Uthappa up the order to open the innings with Ganguly. The team could get Dinesh Karthik to bat down the order instead. Secondly, Ajit Agarkar is another one who should serve drinks for the rest of the matches. He hasn’t bowled exceptionally bad but that’s not the point. He simply doesn’t look like a wicket taking bowler at the moment and seems to have no venom in his bowling. Instead it would be a better idea to get someone like Sreesanth to bowl.
As far as batting goes I don’t know whether they need some pep talk or need to spend some more hours in the nets, but if a batting line up like ours can’t delivery the goods against a team like Bangladesh not even God can save us. They simply did not apply themselves. For example, the way Tendulkar got out was shocking. How could a batsman of his caliber and reputation misread a spinner like Abur Razzak of Bangladesh who wasn’t even turning the ball a great deal? Razzak was simply bowling wicket to wicket and mixing up his pace a bit. But surely a player like Tendulkar should have read that. If the runs had dried up then all that was required was to keep wickets in hand and milk the bowling with singles and two’s.
When the Bangladeshis came out to bat they put to rest any doubts about the pitch. They batted with confidence and aggression and the 17 year old Tamim Iqbal gave the Indians a lesson in batting. Throughout their innings they kept playing their shots with ease and showed no signs of being unduly bothered by the track. In the end it proved to be a comfortable victory for them.
Another facet of the game that was shameful to see was the obvious lack of aggression and enthusiasm when the Indian bowlers came out to bowl. Their body language was sluggish and right from the beginning they did not look like they were going to give the Bangladeshis a fight. There was absolutely no aggression in their steps and Rahul Dravid as a captain and motivator of the team was absolutely PATHETIC.
Yesterday’s match proved conclusively that Rahul Dravid is completely incapable of leading. His personality is not that of a leader and he has zero aggression on the field. This was the perfect opportunity for him to get his troops motivated and prove his critics wrong; something that he failed to do miserably. What is really irritating and frustrating to see is Dravid’s reaction when the bowler gets hit for a boundary or a six; he simply stands there with an expressionless face and slumps his shoulders further. Instead he should be rushing to the bowler and putting more pressure on the batsman, something that Ganguly used to do. I am sorry to say that he simply lacks the spirit of a team leader.
I don’t know where India can go from here. I guess they will have to pick themselves up and forget about this match and concentrate on the next one against Bermuda on Monday. But the performance against Bangladesh has proved that for the moment the thought of India winning the World Cup is a distant dream and with Rahul Dravid at the helm I suppose it’s an illusion. For the moment at least...
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Ashwin....this is for you.......Under Ganguly india lost 9 finals but with Dravid did India even reach 9 tournament finals??so y dont u shut your big mouth and get some data first....nd about INDIA's BEST TEAM.....when Ganguly took over.....the whole of Indian cricket was in a mess of Match Fixing forget about the best team.
That so called Best Team was created and made the best by this man called Ganguly....so for all you people who dont understand cricket but need to comment just because you love Dravid and hate Ganguly....please get more knowledge about the game first and then post your dumb comments.
ya perticularly ganguly can be a captian now a days dravid's captiancy is not so good as ganguly so i am say that make ganguly as captain and dravid as vise-captain then see the world cup is ours
its not that one loss to bangladesh is the end of road for indian cricket but the senior members and captain especially should have evaluated that minimum 2 matches are necessary to move to next round now sri lanka eveyone knows is a tough nut to crack so they should have taken the bangladesh match more seriously and not played kiddish cricket,now bangladesh will most probably win against bermuda and every stat will rest on the run rate now india needs a huge victory against bermuda and atleast a victory against sri lanka now looking at the volatility of indian cricket for about past 20 years it seems unlikely of basic indian team character to bounce back in back to back 2 matches under pressure with different opponents plus reaching super 8 was never our goal means they have to perform well in atleast 5 back to back matches against diferent oppositions which is not basic indian team character so india cannot win from here under any circumstances.these are the calculations which mr rahul dravid and CO. SHOULD HAVE DONE beforehand standing in slips with a bumped up face is adding salt to injury,overoptimist typical indian fans may wish luck or everything but indian team has gone to fail only their laptops and all practice is just a piece of shit as they lack basic mathematics skills also.good luck to newzealand and RSA.
why indian players cant understand the indian people dream.only yuva,ganguly,&sachin,dinesh are go to wi for play wc-07 others are waste players especially dravid,his recomended person sehwag,agarkar,zaheer
.really sehwag is waste fellow he is not good for team india.2 mans r broke the indias world cup dream they made dravid ,crazy chappel&one more loose sehwag.then finally "DADA" GANGULY is best captain then CRAZY (MADE)DRAVID .GANGULY is a great player.he proved once again
Its all about the coach of INDIA who came and spoiled the team.
Now, its Dravid...
Be carefull in the past..
I only thing i can think of some experienced team members are they are goog in making money then runs in a match. They perform better in ad then on field. I think these so called "Gods" of indian cricket need to be sacked and bring some young talent and if they loose then in my opinion it is okay. When will these players play for country?
Someone very expertly comments about Ganguly -
"And what about his innings doddering about getting his fifty and getting out. I suppose it serves his purpose well..."
Yes, you are quite right. But alas!, the other master batsmen even failed to do that. How can one serve the team when he cannot "serve the purpose" for himself??? I have an idea - why not "serve" the drinks? You think Dravid's the better captain, your view is welcome- but don't belittle Ganguly's effort in such a drought of runs.....
Ganguly won a toss and lost with a bad decision too.
Oh wait, that was Australia. In the finals.
Let's see if Kaptain Kannadiga can keep up the ... ahem ... good work.
Kind of expected this a bong sticking up for another bong. Dravid is not a great leader but I suppose abusing the hell out of your leading opening bowler makes you a great captain(Trinidad 2002). And what about his innings doddering about getting his fifty and getting out. I suppose it serves his purpose well and I can forsee dravid and 'chappal' getting the sack after this world cup and the great DADA back in the saddle again, which I suppose will be our Great Leap Forward.
One loss to Bangladesh and it is the end of the world, indeed. Of course, Ganguly was the better captain, after this loss. Why not go a step further and say Kiran More was the best selector, John Wright was the best coach, Nayan Mongia was the best keeper, Dalmiya was the best administrator and so on. Why stop at Dravid, I ask?
You need to use your head, not your heart, before you pen your views. One loss and you get all sentimental and write such disgraceful stuff on the net. If you don't have the patience to stand by the team and the captain when they lose, you have no right to praise them/support them when they win.
There are only three words that come to my mind when I think about what you have written. Shame, Shame, Shame.
don't consider ganguly as best captain. your first assumption to this article is ganguly is a ideal captain.which is pathetic.
have you ever seen steve waugh running to a bowler and asking to put pressure.
Don't forget. india lost matches with ganguly as captain.
he lost nine tournament finals with almost best team indian cricket history.
What're you, ten ? India lost one match, it's no big deal. Give Bangladesh some credit, they played very well.
Every team has its off days. India is no exception. The only thing "PATHETIC" here is the way you're running down Bangladesh.
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