Lankan Tigers or Mind Demons?

What a defeat! It took me several days to come to terms with the fact that the Indian team loaded with seven world class batsmen could not successfully chase 228.

To list but a few of a host of reasons: the wicket was difficult to bat on, the Lankans bowled like men possessed, their fielding was exemplary and Indian batsmen guarded onto their rustiness throughout the Asia Cup. Unfortunately, even all of these reasons together can not explain the way Indian batting proceeded, or more appropriately got stuck. Only one reason gets close to explaining it: Mind Demons, Indian batsmen shackled by their own mind demons.

Probably the prospect of facing Murali on such a turning track was too daunting. The policy of utmost caution resulted in two fatal tendencies: undue respect for balls that should have been gladly dispatched to the fence and an inability to rotate the strike. Not to take away the credit from Lankan team for on-the-mark bowling and tight fielding, but there were ample balls to be hit and enough gaps to push the ball into for singles.

Indian batsmen just forgot all the basics and were too afraid to try hard enough! With Virendra Sehwag as opening partner, Sachin's job description has changed--to that of holding his end. Sachin is still struggling in his new role-- not so much in providing stability to his end, but switching gears at the right moment. This had happened en core during the game against Pakistan. It is not only difficult to change gears, it is even more difficult when you are continuously loosing wickets on the other end. But we would all hate not to see Sachin dominate the bowlers the way only he can!

The problem is gravely compounded when both Sehwag and Ganguly depart without making much of a dent in the required total. Scoring is only fettered when Very Very Shackled Laxman arrives on crease with Sachin's new avatar. No singles to rotate the strike, no innovative shots, just unnecessary pressure building.

Ganguly's captaincy was a shade disappointing too. The man known for his keen observation and out of the box thinking failed to see the need of the hour. What India needed was a pinch hitter to break the shackles: Promoting Harbhajan or Zaheer might have done the trick; fearless Balaji's hitting might have come in handy, but then who knows... The Indian think tank should consider the flexibility of batting order for Kaif. If wickets fall early, he should be sent in at number 4. Laxman will have to take a leaf out of Dravid's transformation into the great ODI player that Rahul has become, till then he seems like a misfit in the team.

The same team that was revelling in its newly established reputation of not giving-up the fight even as the last 18 balls of the last league game against Srilanka were bowled, became completely overpowered by their own mind demons in the finals. More than Coach John Wright, Indian team needed Tantrik Sandy Gordon to rid them of their mind demons.

The die-hard optimist in me tells that Men-in-Blue will be back very soon without the Chokers tag. Maybe before the next final, the song in the huddle should be "Hum honge kamyab...."