"Operation: 2007", it was called. The target that the Indian team had set from the end of the 2003 edition of the World Cup, held in South Africa. Operation 2007 was India's goal to lift the World Cup in Barbados on April 28th, 2007. No other team was as determined as India to lift the cup. Right up to the start of the World Cup, India looked to be in pretty good shape. Brushing away a hapless Netherlands and mauling the West Indies, it looked like this World Cup would be a good one for India. Wrong. From then on, things started falling apart. A humiliating loss to neighbors Bangladesh set the tone for disaster-which was witnessed on March 23rd, 2007, when India, Mighty India, crashed out of the World Cup in the preliminary rounds. The question that billions of people not just across India, but around the world are asking is that why? Is the Captain, Rahul Dravid to blame? The Coach? or the Media? Is this all bad from the perspective of the Indian team? What can they learn from such a debacle like this?
What went wrong for India?
The team selection in my opinion wasn't up to standard. Virender Sehwag, who was consistently been out of form for the last 3 years now, should NOT have been on the plane to the West Indies. His fitness is below-par, and doesn't deserve to be playing for our national side.
Arguments for Sehwag:
He gets India to "rollicking starts"
Well, I don't know where those people have been for the 3 years prior to this World Cup. In the ODI form of the game I can't remember 3 instances where Sehwag has gotten us off to a flier without giving his wicket away before the 15th over. Sure, he'll hit 2 fours, then what? He's prone to so many deliveries that the opposition barely even celebrate at the loss of his wicket! The ball that comes in, the short ball, the gully area...too many to count! Add to his bad form his shoddy technique, Sehwag's wicket is a given! Sehwag almost 85% of the time gets out early, putting tremendous pressure on the middle order to consolidate. This in turn drops the Run-Rate, and because of this even more pressure is added. Wickets fall and then, India is left with another below-par score. So if your definition of "rollicking" is digging an early grave for your team, then yes, Sehwag does do that.
But on his day he will blast away the opposition
Yeah...when is the last time it was "Sehwag's day"? Before the World Cup, Sehwag has failed time and again for India. In the World Cup itself, he only hit a century against the very inexperienced and poor bowling attack of Bermuda. I don't really remember his "blasting" any opposition away for more then a span of a few overs. Like I said before, because he is prone to so many deliveries and because of his terrible technique, its never Sehwag's day. You can't live in the hope that Sehwag "might" have a good day and select him for that 1/100 chance.
He is a very good Slip-Catcher
How many Slip Catchers do you need? You have Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Uthappa, and at times Karthik as well. His fielding is much to be desired. He may have a nice pair of hands, but he is unfit and is quite incapable of fielding anywhere elsewhere then the slips.
His offspin is good and can be a 5th bowler
Once again, how many part time bowlers do you need? Tendulkar can be considered more then part time, Yuvraj is a handful and Ganguly can be considered an option as well. Suresh Raina too bowls good off spiners had he been in the team, and he would have strengthened India's fielding.
Okay, Sehwag is in the squad. So be it. You still have one of the most balanced squads in the tournament, with countless legends and lots of raw talent. Why not tap into this talent is beyond me. Its the do-or-die game, Dhoni, Agarkar, and Harbajan have failed twice in succession. Why on Earth will you not replace them and get some in-form: such as the Dinesh Karthik's, Sreesanth's, and Anil Kumble's! Kumble had done nothing wrong with his stint against Bermuda, extracted good bounce and picked up wickets. I feel that the Sri Lankans would have had a tough time facing Kumble, as he is quite different compared to Muralitharan who they face everyday in the nets. Ajit Agarkar, who did nothing special with the ball, but in fact leaked runs and didn't pick up wickets, did not earn a spot in the playing XI against SL. Sreesanth's pace and bounce would have troubled the Sri Lankan's, and perhaps even turn the game for us. Dinesh Karthik is electric in the field and could have boosted India's weak fielding. He could have also replaced Dhoni and 'kept. Dhoni's batting was nothing to boast about with two golden ducks in the tournament. He could have replaced Uthappa, who wasn't having a great run with the bat either. Karthik has wonderful technique, elegant touch, and a balanced head on his shoulders. When wickets were falling against Sri Lanka, he would have stepped in and given Dravid a partner. These utterly stupid decisions have cost India a seat in the Super 8's.
Bowling
There was just something missing in India's bowling attack. In 2003, everything seemed to click together, to flow. The Pace trio of Srinath, Zaheer, and Nehra, the spin of Harbajan and the guile of the Part-timers propelled India to the finals 4 years ago. This time around, it just wasn't so. They lacked penetration, a strike bowler, and some bowlers just lost their form at the wrong time. The Indian bowlers even struggled against the lowly Bermudan lineup. For most of the tournament they failed to reach 3 figures, but against India they did hit 100+. For a long time prior to the Carribean debacle, Irfan Pathan had been the spear head for the Indian bowling attack. It was inevitable that 2 wickets would fall in his first spell. He kept the runs down, and bowled at a good pace. He wasn't express, but it was fast enough to make life tough for the batsman. Then, Irfan went from India's first choice bowler, to 5th, then out of the team itself. He literally lost all his pace, and bowled even slower then a school-boy spinner. His famous "Banana swing" vanished. So each time he bowled, it would be a straight and slow 60mph "gimme" ball, and it just begged to be hit to the fence. It all just happened at the wrong time. Harbajan Singh sudden loss of form was also a huge blow. Usually a wicket-taker, Harbajan seemed to prefer containing the runs rather then picking up wickets. That too, he didn't do well. He became predictable. Even with such a drop in form Chappell and Dravid persisted, leaving the legend Anil Kumble watching from the bench.Well, I don't know where those people have been for the 3 years prior to this World Cup. In the ODI form of the game I can't remember 3 instances where Sehwag has gotten us off to a flier without giving his wicket away before the 15th over. Sure, he'll hit 2 fours, then what? He's prone to so many deliveries that the opposition barely even celebrate at the loss of his wicket! The ball that comes in, the short ball, the gully area...too many to count! Add to his bad form his shoddy technique, Sehwag's wicket is a given! Sehwag almost 85% of the time gets out early, putting tremendous pressure on the middle order to consolidate. This in turn drops the Run-Rate, and because of this even more pressure is added. Wickets fall and then, India is left with another below-par score. So if your definition of "rollicking" is digging an early grave for your team, then yes, Sehwag does do that.
But on his day he will blast away the opposition
Yeah...when is the last time it was "Sehwag's day"? Before the World Cup, Sehwag has failed time and again for India. In the World Cup itself, he only hit a century against the very inexperienced and poor bowling attack of Bermuda. I don't really remember his "blasting" any opposition away for more then a span of a few overs. Like I said before, because he is prone to so many deliveries and because of his terrible technique, its never Sehwag's day. You can't live in the hope that Sehwag "might" have a good day and select him for that 1/100 chance.
He is a very good Slip-Catcher
How many Slip Catchers do you need? You have Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Uthappa, and at times Karthik as well. His fielding is much to be desired. He may have a nice pair of hands, but he is unfit and is quite incapable of fielding anywhere elsewhere then the slips.
His offspin is good and can be a 5th bowler
Once again, how many part time bowlers do you need? Tendulkar can be considered more then part time, Yuvraj is a handful and Ganguly can be considered an option as well. Suresh Raina too bowls good off spiners had he been in the team, and he would have strengthened India's fielding.
Okay, Sehwag is in the squad. So be it. You still have one of the most balanced squads in the tournament, with countless legends and lots of raw talent. Why not tap into this talent is beyond me. Its the do-or-die game, Dhoni, Agarkar, and Harbajan have failed twice in succession. Why on Earth will you not replace them and get some in-form: such as the Dinesh Karthik's, Sreesanth's, and Anil Kumble's! Kumble had done nothing wrong with his stint against Bermuda, extracted good bounce and picked up wickets. I feel that the Sri Lankans would have had a tough time facing Kumble, as he is quite different compared to Muralitharan who they face everyday in the nets. Ajit Agarkar, who did nothing special with the ball, but in fact leaked runs and didn't pick up wickets, did not earn a spot in the playing XI against SL. Sreesanth's pace and bounce would have troubled the Sri Lankan's, and perhaps even turn the game for us. Dinesh Karthik is electric in the field and could have boosted India's weak fielding. He could have also replaced Dhoni and 'kept. Dhoni's batting was nothing to boast about with two golden ducks in the tournament. He could have replaced Uthappa, who wasn't having a great run with the bat either. Karthik has wonderful technique, elegant touch, and a balanced head on his shoulders. When wickets were falling against Sri Lanka, he would have stepped in and given Dravid a partner. These utterly stupid decisions have cost India a seat in the Super 8's.
Bowling
Batting
India's batting, to say the least, was crap. Twice failed to reach 200, and twice bowled out before their alloted 50 overs. Sachin Tendulkar, normally awesome with the willow, especially in such a big occasion such as the World Cup, failed. Tendulkar being bowled is a rarity, and this shows that he is aging, his reflexes slowing, and he is not the same "Sachin Bhai" as he was 16 years ago. Virender Sehwag, even though I regret to say it, did okay. He really needed to stay with Dravid against Sri Lanka instead of spooning that catch to the slips. The opening pair was never set in stone as it should be. The players didn't know where they were to bat. They lacked stability in the middle order, the nudgers and pushers. Dhoni's huge lack of form was a big blow for India. His two ducks, both at crucial points in the game, didn't help the Indian cause. Dinesh Karthik deserved a game under his belt and if he had, maybe perhaps we would be still in the West Indies today. Early wickets spelled our demise, and with not many wickets in hand the run rate never picked up, adding to the pressure cooker situation.
Conclusion
The Indian team just didn't didn't click. The selection was horrible, even with so much talent in the squad, they stick with the players that have failed and failed again. The bowling lacked penetration and couldn't keep the runs down. They missed the aggression and pace of Sreesanth, and persisting with out-of-form bowlers such as Ajit Agarkar and Harbajan Singh was just plain stupid. They also missed the Irfan of old, the strike bowler who would pick up wickets whenever the skipper wanted him to, with his banana swing and tricky pace. Anil Kumble was just itching to have a go, and sadly it wasn't to be. The batting was disdainful. We are (or were) known to be the greatest batting team in the world. After this performance, the world's batting must really, really, really suck for us to retain that stature. The middle order couldn't consolidate, and the 3 openers in a game plan didn't work out. The positives? Well there isn't much is there! India's World record of 413 against Bermuda is the only one that comes to mind. The Indian team needs to learn from their mistakes and accept that they didn't deserve to move on to the latter rounds. They need to set a new target, Project 2011. Commit to it and run hard for the home stretch. Its like when you're running in a race. You pace yourself, run steadily, gradually surpassing your opponents. When the finish line is in site, you run as hard as you can for final seconds of the race, and take home the prize. If you decide that your going to laze around in the last second of the race, guess what? You're going to be disappointed.
