Asia Cup Final: Review- India Never Did Their Homework

At the end of the day, Sri Lanka deserved to be crowned as Asia’s best, yet again, as they clearly outplayed India in almost every department of the game.

The first inning was all about two people, as Jayasuriya and Ishant Sharma gave their respective teams a great chance to get one hand on the cup.
Sharma produced a great first spell to reduce the Sri Lankan top order to shambles.

On the other hand, Jayasuriya began constructing yet another magnificent inning against his favourite opposition.

There are few occasions when you enjoy a person actually doing well against your own side.

The Australian fans have always admired Tendulkar, even when he fires against them.

The English never minded Lara, despite the two triples that he cost them!

Jayasuriya has started to garner that respect from me, even while reducing India to dust in one of the biggest events of the year.

His hundred was immensely enjoyable, and a treat to the eyes of even the staunchest Indian supporter.

Even though the boundaries dried up later in his inning, he kept up the momentum by showing tremendous agility between the wickets, which was even more awe inspiring looking at the fact that the man just recently celebrated his 39^th birthday!

All the accolades apart, though, India must blame themselves for letting the Lankan opener get off to the flier he got.

R.P. Singh’s let off did not help India’s cause much either.

While India’s ground fielding was above average, and their catching, too, safe, barring the miss by Singh, it all boiled down to the plans they had set for the individual players from the rival camp that let them down.

The team not only seemed clue less regarding Dilshan, but their lack of preparation was there for everyone to see by the way they tackled the Lankan spin duo.

If Muralidaran seemed to terrify them, Mendis’ attack should have literally left them wondering if they are even fit to play international cricket!

While the trouble for the Indians started right at the top, with Gambhir failing to provide a stable start with Sehwag, India really seemed to lose its head when Mendis was introduced into the attack.

If ever there was a case for the word “spineless” being used as a lenient remark, this would be it!

Reputed to be the best players of spin bowling, the performance last night showed my fears of that tag being totally invalid were more than confirmed.

There’s a school of thought which says that if Mendis was played in the previous game, then India would have tackled him better in the final. I beg to differ. If Mendis had played the previous game, I doubt India would have even made it to the final!

The inability of the Indian batsmen to pick the ball up early on ultimately did them in.

Navjot Singh Siddhu, Ganguly, Laxman, Tendulkar; these guys built up India’s reputation as the ultimate test for any spinner.

Unfortunately, Gambhir and Sehwag remain the only reputable players against the art in the side now. Once Tendulkar departs, one wonders how long it will be before India becomes as susceptible on a turning wicket as a South African team?

This really should serve as a wake up call to all those who believe this team is already the best in the world.

This tournament has showed that there is tons of potential, but this is not the first Indian team to display that. On paper, the world has seen much stronger and more talented Indian teams. The difference with this team has been their consistency and their team work, which has brought them the success.

There are areas which need fine tuning. Hopefully the team would have learned its lessons in time for the Sri Lankan series.

Does India’s performance against Mendis raise doubts about Indians being the best when it comes to playing spin? Awaiting response! Chao.