Team India’s Confidence Makes A Come Back

The margin made it special. A few grey areas might persist but if the batsmen who put the reserve against Bangladesh behind them and played with gay abandon continue in the same vein, well India can squeak through to the next round. The contest against Sri Lanka might pose bigger questions but a commodity called confidence that was in short supply after the opener is back to propel the men in blue.

The batting that ran up the highest world Cup score was never going to be challenged by this pedestrian Bermudan attack. But the no-holds barred attack was refreshing. Virender Sehwag played a knock that was long overdue but the striking aspect of his innings was not the final tally but the pace at which he made them. With his place under serious question Viru was selfless in going after the attack. He could have taken the easier option of grinding out a good score but the commendable aspect of his knock was he continued to play his shots, giving top priority to the teams' requirement.

The tongues will continue to wag as the runs came against a bunch of amateurs that had a painter, a plumber, and a policeman whose bodyweight had made more news than his ability to bowl left arm spin in its entourage. But spare a thought, cricket is a game that is mostly played within your own self and the opponent is a mere convenience. It was not India's fault they were playing Bermuda.

Viru for his part did flash a few times outside the off-stump but those are habits that would follow him to his grave. A few things cannot be changed but for a major portion of his innings he played close to his body and left deliveries that seamed away from him and this was an indication of the effort he was putting in to spend more time at the crease.

Yuvraj played a blinder and I was not surprised. There were enough indications against Bangladesh that he was hitting the straps well. He continues to improve with every game and with Sachin giving the freedom to his batting that was also long overdue, turned a good total in to a massive one.

Barring Robin Uthappa every batsmen in the side has runs under his belt and they can approach the all-important game against Sri Lanka with assurance. The bowling could have been tighter. Agarkar and Zaheer Khan continue to feed the batsmen in the 'scoring zone' and against a better set of players, they will be bled for more.

The only mistake, if one can call that, was the exclusion of Harbhajan Singh. I strongly feel our strength is spin and there is nothing wrong in fielding both the spinners. Sehwag and Yuvraj give Dravid the slow bowling options and with Sachin who can fill in with bowling with the seam up might have gone against Harbhajan but the specialist will also perform better in tight situations. The only change I would wish to make against Sri Lanka is bringing Harbajan back in place of Agarkar.

Everything the team think tank would have aspired for in this game were met and it is now a question of taking the good work to the next game were a sterner test awaits. India should be in the next stage without which the games premier event would be robbed of much of its charm and more importantly some of its biggest entertainers.

What is called for is a fearless approach and I am sure with normal service from the batsmen resuming team India is well on their course after that minor skirmish, that could well be put of as a bad dream as Dravid said.