India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI, Goa

Yes, Tharanga is a sourpuss for not joining the Bhangra with Zaheer and Dhoni

In case you didn't know (fat chance), India won the match. That made us happy. Since we got that out of the way, let's talk about what made us unhappy.

This match conclusively proves the fact that India needs 5 genuine bowlers. While the four bowlers, in this instance, Zaheer, Agarkar, Munaf and Harbhajan did a good job, the fifth bowler combination of Sehwag and Tendulkar gave away 63 runs in 10 overs and did not take a wicket.

Sri Lanka were 91 for 5 when Tendulkar was introduced. The next wicket fell when the score was 180. What India needed was another bowler who could deliver the knock out punch while SL was tottering. To be fair, Pathan would have been selected if he were fit but at the expense of which player? It would be okay if he were selected instead of Karthick but if his selection meant either Agarkar or Munaf being dropped, India would have been worse off.

If we may digress, why is it that the Indian pace bowlers (I am looking at you, Zaheer, Ashish, Patha, Sreesanth, and Munaf) when they start their careers bowl at speeds in the late 130's to early 140 Kph and then their speed slowly starts decreasing to low 120 Kph? The answer is easy Sherlcok, they sacrifice speed for line and length. Well, at least that's the answer you get when that particular question is raised. In our opinion, that's a buch of bull. Line and length for the Indian pace bowlers is still a dark mystery. On any given day, nobody, including the bowler, knows how they are going to bowl. With a Glen McGrath or a Mohammed Asif, we can be assured of a tidy speed combined with a nagging length. But, all bets are off with the Indian bowlers. It could depend, for all we know, on which side of the bed they wake up on. Digression over.

Anyway, inclusion of Pathan in the playing eleven wouldn't be an issue if he was bowling well. Unfortunately, he is not. Indian world cup fortunes depend a great deal on getting their balance right. We are not sure if India is anywhere close to solving that knotty problem.

Russell Arnold played a good innings, so did Dhoni and Dravid. But the man of the match was truly Zaheer Khan. We love a good bowling display and Zaheer was on top of his game.

As a great bowler once said bowling the right line and length in the first over is very important (Okay, we made that up. But, I am sure one of the great bowlers must have said it at some point in time). Zaheer hit the right length immediately. Zaheer has always been good at bowling to left-handers, he accounted for Tharanga, Jayasuriya, and Sangakkara in this match, because he can bowl his natural delivery (the ball which moves away from the left handers) and also has the ability to move the ball into the left handers. Couple this with the clever use of the bouncer and he was very nearly unplayable in the beginning of his first spell.

Let's hope that Zaheer continues bowling this well in that little tournament called the World Cup.