THE ' LOST INDIES ' TOUR ...


The Indian team went to the Carribean this time with a high degree of confidence.The 'men in blue' had crushed teams like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and England and had given an admirable performance against South Africa . The fact that the youngsters were doing well meant that the Indian team had a new air of confidence about them. The team was gelling together well and most of the decisions taken by Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell were being appreciated. The policy of blooding youngsters into the team was working very well.
Yesterday India lost the 4th ODI which meant that it lost the series inspite of being the favourites.It also meant that the team which is ranked 8th in the ICC ratings beat the third ranked team in the world.Although one series loss should not provoke criticism but the way in which the team lost the series is very concerning and more so because the form of the team was very good.

The story of the series so far ...

ODI 1: The trend continues ......
WI batted first and posted a formidable target courtesy a blazing century from Chris Gayle .
But Chris Gayle's efforts were to go in vain as Rahul Dravid counter punched with an equally well made ton.
The result ,India won and continued their glorious form while chasing ( 18 consecutive wins ).
The Indian team was looking unbeatable .

ODI 2 : Bravo stops the superb run ......
Again India won the toss and elected to field , confident from their last win .
They bowled very well to restrict WI to a paltry total .
But the famed Indian batting lineup collapsed and even a brilliant knock by Yuvraj was not able to rescue India from its blemishes.
The heroes for the WI were Sarwan who unlucky to miss out on a century and ofcourse the 'slower one ' aka Dwayne Bravo who bowled Yuvraj when India were almost certainly going to win.

ODI 3 : India 'run out' of pace ...
India won the toss at the picturesque St.Kitts and elected to bat first .
A great start provided by Sehwag was ruined by some poor running between the wickets and faulty selection of Venugopal Rao.
India could only manage a reasonable total.
The match was a close finish but some poor fielding and brilliant batting by Ramnaresh Sarwan again helped WI win.
The cracks had started to appear in the usually unflappable Indian team of the last 2 seasons.

ODI 4 : When the cracks started widening ....
Unfortunately Dravid could not win the 4th consecutive toss of the series and India were asked to bat on a pitch which had something in it for the faster bowlers.
The batting again was poor and despite good efforts from Kaif, Dhoni and Yuvraj India's total was not going to be sufficient.
Some poor bowling by India and briliant batting by Lara meant that WI chased the target easilyand WI win the series .

ODI 5 : A chance to salvage some pride ...
A 4-1 loss to the WI would be something which most Indian fans won't be able to fathom.
India must make sure that it wins the last ODI.

The problems that are being faced by Rahul Dravid however are very grave.
1. His own batting position , which i think certainly can't be anywhere in the top four . I think Dravid has to bat at no.5 for India to have any chance of winning the world cup.
2. Irfan pathan's lack of form which i think is going continue for some time now. In any case he is not that good a bowler .
3. Then the other areas are sehwag's poor form , poor fielding efforts in the last matches etc.
4. Harbhajan singh's inability to take wickets.
All in all India have a very difficult task ahead .

Questionable answers :
Drop Venugopal Rao (a good for nothing player) immediately.
Rahul Dravid should not open as he is not going to in the world cup.
Drop Raina ( not from the squad ) for the next few matches.
Try to bring some experience back in( maybe Laxman or even Ganguly for that matter ).
Hope that Sachin comes back as soon as possible.