da betsul： The early exit of the Indian team from the Asia Cup was very much onthe cards even after the display against the host nation, Bangladesh
da jogodeouro： Woorkheri Raman04-Jun-2000The early exit of the Indian team from the Asia Cup was very much onthe cards even after the display against the host nation, Bangladesh.It is not a case of being wise in hindsight but the lack of firepowerin the bowling attack was very much in evidence in that game. To makematters worse, the batting never looked like compensating the weaknessin the bowling department. The fact that Tendulkar, basically a parttimer, had to bowl the entire quota of overs is a reflection of thestate of affairs.Coming back to the game against Pakistan, it was very obvious that theside that batted better would emerge victorious, as the pitch wasflat. Pakistan, the team very much in touch, won the toss and theearly overs indicated the course the game was bound to take. Anwar,the seasoned campaigner along with the talented Imran Nazir took offto a mini flier of a start and Ganguly’s problems carried on till theend. The Indians were further handicapped as Joshi and Chopra wereunfit. The introduction of Kumble brought back the Indians into thegame as he effected quick dismissals. Agarkar, by dismissing Inzamamprovided a big opening to run through the Pakistani line up.It was at this stage that the indomitable fighter, Moin Khan, joinedYouhana. He is one of those rare cricketers who excel in tightsituations. Khan, who likes to dominate the bowling, was not going tolet go of the clueless Indian attack. Youhana, whose potential wasevident in his first outing in international cricket, kept one endgoing and played an innings with great common sense. The twoconsolidated the innings and the significant aspect was that they didnot allow the run rate to drop. Eventually Agarkar broke thepartnership when he had Moin Khan caught at the wicket.Youhana at the other end displayed the kind of maturity that wouldhave made Javed Miandad proud. He paced his innings with precision andat no stage did he look ruffled. The highlight of his partnership withRazzaq was the running between the wickets. The Indians were made tolook ragged but the placement of Youhana in his strokes into theoutfield was impeccable. His second fifty came in a jiffy and in thelater stages he had decided to be impish enough to toy with the Indianbowlers. His six off the last ball of the innings is what normallydreams are made off. By the time the Pakistani innings concluded, thewriting was on the wall. Another aspect that the Indians continuemessing up is not bowling the overs within the specified time limit.Not many would have fancied the Indians to get anywhere close to thePakistani score and the early loss of Ganguly confirmed theinevitable. The Pakistani bowlers showed that there was some bounce tobe had, as they kept the Indian batsmen on the back foot by diggingthe ball just short of a length. By the time the field restrictionswere off, the Indians had already lost their top order batsmen and theopportunistic pair of Jadeja and Robin Singh was left to make a matchout of it.Jadeja tried his best by striking a few lusty blows but in the end thePakistani total was beyond the reach of the Indians. The Indianscannot give any excuses, as they were totally outplayed in alldepartments of the game. Going by the fitness or lack of it and thedisplay put up by the Indians in the Asia Cup, one wonders as to whatexactly was done in the preparatory camp before their departure.
