Bermuda Vs India, Group B

India needed to beat Bermuda by a huge margin to increase their net run rate and they managed to do just that. They came into this game knowing exactly what to do. That probably saved Sehwag from getting axed. We boldly predicted that Sehwag would be out of them team. Well, we were wrong about that but we were right about Anil Kumble replacing Harbhajan.

After the loss to Bangladesh, Indian team decided that Uthappa and Ganguly would open and the batting line-up showed Sehwag coming in the middle-order. Uthappa did not do himself any favors by fishing outside the off stump and was gone to a spectacular catch by everybody's favorite cricketer, Dwayne Leverock. We are fully expecting Uthappa to be dropped for the next match and be replaced by Irfan Pathan. Lo and behold, Sehwag comes in at one-down to join Ganguly.

It might not be an overstatement to say that this was the most important ODI for Sehwag 's career. A failure here would have seen him in the woodshed for a long time to come. He started off looking very wobbly. There were the usual wafting and swishing to the balls on the off-side. He managed to survive that and then slowly found his range. His head was still and he hit straight. A sure sign of finding his touch. He is still not quite there yet. Bermuda did not test him enough. There were no fast in-cutters that Sehwag has so much trouble with. He can rest assure that he is going to see some of those dreaded deliveries from Malinga and Vaas.

Now, fast in-cutters are difficult to play for any batsman but Sehwag is a special case. All the bowlers have to do is pitch it approximately on the off-side and cut it back in slightly. Sehwag will do the rest. He might give the third man catching practise, or he might give the slip catching practise and just to mix it up a little, he might play it on to his wickets.

So, What we are saying in a roundabout way is: we are not convinced that Sehwag's troubles are over. We still have doubts. Can he keep his head still? Can he avoid the flat batted ugly swat and try to bat straight? Those will be the questions that will be answered against Sri Lanka.

The main thing is that Sehwag spent some time in the middle and his century might give him a much needed boost to his confidence. He needs to build on this innings and string together some good scores.

We did not like Ganguly's batting. He needs to run harder. Ganguly's running between the wickets is regressing every match. It might be okay with Bermuda but will not be enough with other teams.

After Sehwag's dismissal, Dhoni walked in to do some big hitting. He didn't stay all that long and was gone before he made a big impact. Dhoni's reputation as the "best finisher" in the world might have to be put on hold. He needs to do a lot more than play the rare cameos to deserve that title.

Yuvraj and Tendulkar finished things in style. Both ran hard, played very smart cricket and hit some massive sixes. Yuvraj's batting was especially good. Yuvraj seems to have struck a rich vein of form. At no time did he look like he was going to get out. He cut, pulled, and drove with arrogance. Brilliant batting. This match saw vintage Tendulkar (how we detest that phrase). His batting was a lesson on doing the minimum to reap the maximum benefits. He reverse swept, turned the ball past the fine leg and to finish of things, hit some great inside-out shots.

Indian bowling was patchy. Zaheer was great but Agarkar was not. Agarkar is one of those bowlers who cannot handle pressure. So we thought that today, when India had hit 413, he would take a 5 wicket haul. He sucked anyway. His final tally might show 3 wickets but he was bad. The biggest problem with Agarkar is that if he doesn't find his line and length right away, he won't find it for that entire match. This becomes frightening because India typically goes in with 4 bowlers.

At the very least, the new ball should be given to Munaf Patel. Actually, if it were up to us, we would replace Agarkar with Sreesanth and give him the new ball. We are sure that Sreesanth can use the seam much better than Agarkar can. Kumble was his usual clinical self and put in a tidy effort. Again, we are concerned with Kumble. Kumble had a good match today so the team will go ahead and pick him against Sri Lanka. It might be better if Harbhajan is picked against Sri Lanka since Sri Lankans have a lot of left handers.

The most worrying thing is the bowling's inability to bowl out Bermuda earlier. Somewhere in the middle overs, the urgency seeped out of the side and the Indians let the game drift. The captain needs to step up in these situations. This is as much the Captains fault as it is the bowlers fault.

This win was good for the Indian side but it needs to be stressed that the real battle lies ahead. We are very worried that this win's euphoria will spread and all the faults and weaknesses, which were so obvious in the match against Bangladesh, will be swept underneath the rug.

The bottom line is that India still have to win their match against Sri Lanka and we don't think India can do it.

In conclusion, we want to say a few words to the loser who held the sign "Last warning to Team India: Reach Barbados or stay forever in Trinidad": Get a life, you fucking moron.