Let's Build a Responsible Cyber Society

Choosing Sehwag in the team, deciding to open with him,  dropping Kumble and more than anything else, choosing to bat first after winning the toss were serious blunders committed by Dravid in India's opener against Bangladesh. In the end India paid a heavy price for these blunders as they lost to Bangladesh and have taken one step out of the tournament.

Despite the repeated failures, Dravid persisted with Sehwag and when he failed in the first two warm up games, it was time for Dravid to realize his mistake. But he preferred to place his faith on Sehwag again for this match. Having taken this decision, he should have considered him for the alrounder's position and played him in the middle order. Simultaneously, he should have dropped Harbhajan and took Kumble in his place.

When the match started, it was also clear that the pitch was looking good for bowling. It was therefore surprising that Dravid chose to bat first. May be he thought that his team could have got a batting practice for 50 overs against a friendly bowling. More importantly, he could have felt that Sehwag may fire without the pressure of chasing. Thus the decision to bat was again influenced by an earlier decision to accommodate him in the team as an opener. This turned out to be the biggest blunder as Bangladesh bowled exceptionally well and put India in a spot. Sehwag continued his rotten form and got out early giving the bowlers an encouragement that they could welcome with both hands.

By taking the decision to support Sehwag against all sensible cricketing thoughts, Dravid put himself under enormous pressure and that could only pull down his performance. It was pathetic to see Dhoni, Harbhajan and Agarkar succumbing meekly and with just 191 on board, India needed a miracle to get through.

Now the third mistake committed by Dravid hit him. With Harbhajan struggling to get wickets as he in the recent past, the absence of Kumble was felt. While Sehwag fulfilled his bowling obligations by picking up 2 wickets with his off spinners, Harbhajan went through his 10 overs without a wicket. In the end Bangladesh got through comfortably.

This defeat which could well be the exit point for India from the World cup is more a creation of bad selection of the playing eleven and bad judgement after toss than any thing else. As a fan of Dravid, I feel my confidence on him was misplaced.

Now, for the future, India needs to cling on to the slender chance of remaining in the field by winning against Sri Lanka and Bermuda. We need to therefore correct our mistakes and move ahead.

For the next match the immediate changes that are required to be made are

a) Replace Harbhajan with Kumble

b) Include Dinesh Karthik in place of Sehwag

c) Open with Uthappa

In case India comes through, they can decide if they need to look for other alternatives including dropping of Dhoni if required.

We must remember that World Cup is unlike other tournaments. There is no place for sentiments. India  must chose the best eleven to have any chance of salvaging their  pride.

Before we sign off, we must congratulate the young Bangladesh team for their excellent performance which could get them through to the super eight stage.

Naavi

March 18, 2007