The Indian team played like a bunch of office workers having a game on the local maidan ufffd without care or responsibility
The Indian team played like a bunch of office workers having a game on the local maidanu00a0-- without care or responsibilityFrom the moment Ravindra Jadeja bowled three long hops that Shane Watson clobbered out of Kensington Oval, India was never in the contest. Jadeja's match was symptomatic of the Indian performance; he was hit for six consecutive sixes, dropped Watson and then ran between wickets like a crab to end an eminently forgettable day run out for four.
MS Dhoni walks back to the pavilion after being dismissed for two
u00a0by Australia's spinner Steve Smith in Barbados yesterday. PIC/AFPHowever, Jadeja was far from the sole culprit. Only Harbhajan Singh with the ball and Rohit Sharma the willow were entitled to walk away with their head held high. Harbhajan bowled tidily to produce an economy rate of less than four when all around him Indian bowlers were suffering carnage. Rohit was at his elegant and destructive best to score well in excess of 50 per cent of the Indian total.
Either the Indian selectors watch different matches from me or Rohit saves his best for when I'm watching. If he's not the best of the young Indian batsmen by a wide margin then I'm a Dutchman. He should've been in the Indian side for the last two years in all forms of the game but instead he was a last minute replacement in this game. Selectors can be guilty of waiting too long to play a talented young player and I hope this isn't the case with Rohit. He stood out in this innings like lake in the desert.
The most disappointing thing about the Indian batting was they were warned earlier in the tournament they could be on the receiving end of some short-pitched bowling. The South Africans dished out a large serving and on that occasion the Indian top-order coped extremely well. Now they've opened the door for the West Indies to adopt similar tactics by letting Kemar Roach and Jerome Taylor off the leash at Kensington Oval.
Danger aheadThe other concern for India is the severity of the loss. Their net run-rate is now so bad it virtually means they have to win their next two games to qualify for the semi-finals. That'll require a display of mental strength that was absent in this abysmal performance.
It's easy to lambast the batsmen for their ineptitude but the bowling wasn't much better. It would also be easy to blame the selection of only two pace bowlers as part of the problem but neither Zaheer Khan or Ashish Nehra bowled with any zip until the final overs of the Australian innings.
This was just a poor performance and sorting out selection will only fix part of the problem. The players have to dig deep and replicate the desire they displayed in beating South Africa.
