<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">var server = '203.197.64.235'; var sitepage = "www.timesofindia.com/india/index.html"; var position ="Bottom1"; if (! (RN)) { var RN = new String (Math.random()); var RNS = RN.substring (2, 11); } var oas='http://' + server + '/RealMedia/ads/'; var oaspage= sitepage + '/1' + RNS + '@' + position; //the belladpart starts here function lrTrim(thestring) { thestring = thestring.replace(/^\s*(.*)/, "$1"); thestring = thestring.replace(/(.*?)\s*$/, "$1"); return thestring; } var xyz=0; var sss = lrTrim(bellyad.innerText).split(/^/m); strpart = new Array(sss.length); for (i=0;i<sss.length;i++) iflrtrimsssi.length=""> 60) { strpart[xyz] = lrTrim(sss[i]); xyz = xyz+1; } } if(xyz > 1) var xcounter=1; else var xcounter=0; var ifirstsub = bellyad.innerHTML.indexOf(lrTrim(strpart[xcounter]).substring(0,30)); if (ifirstsub == -1) ifirstsub=bellyad.innerHTML.lastIndexOf(lrTrim(strpart[0]).substring(strpart[0].length-15,strpart[0].length)); var sfirst = bellyad.innerHTML.substring(0,ifirstsub); var sSecond = bellyad.innerHTML.substring(sfirst.length , bellyad.innerHTML.length); if (doweshowbellyad==1) bellyad.innerHTML = sfirst + '<a href="' + oas + 'click_nx.ads/'+ oaspage + '" target="_top"><img align="right" vspace="10" hspace="10" src="' + oas + 'adstream_nx.ads/' + oaspage + '" border="0" alt="Cliquez ici !" /></a>' + sSecond;</sss.length;i++)></script></div> <div align="center" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" border="0" width="70.3%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal" style="" text-align:="" center=""><img src="/photo/848316.cms" alt="/photo/848316.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal" style="" text-align:="" center=""><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sourav Ganguly’s insipid leadership may cost Team India dear in the Champions Trophy! (AFP)</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><br />What India''s match on Saturday against Kenya really showed was that the skipper Sourav Ganguly and Team India as a whole have gone into the Champions Trophy totally unprepared for the rigours of the mini-World Cup.<br /><br />No doubt they registered a huge 98-run victory over minnows Kenya, but what caught the attention was the manner in which India virtually crawled to victory.<br /><br />They had Kenya on the mat by the halfway stage and yet Sourav Ganguly refused to move in for the kill! He chose to bowl himself, he brought in Yuvraj Singh and later Virender Sehwag.
He did not ask fiery pacer Irfan Pathan to smash the Kenyan tail. He didn''t even toss the ball to Ashish Nehra. Instead he asked Ajit Agarkar, who was having almost no effect on the Kenyan batsmen, to trundle in and bowl his ordinary stuff.<br /><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><br />Was the reason to give his bowlers match practice? How can that be? They already have had enough practice during the Asia Cup, Videocon Cup and the NatWest series. How many matches do Indian players need before they find their rhythm? <br /><br />It was amazing that the 50th over was bowled by Sehwag. One felt like saying to him, "Gently does it Viru, you might take a wicket and spoil Sourav''s party! After all, the intention is to win by causing minimum harm to the opposition. Let them bat out the fifty overs, victory is as sweet if you don''t bowl out the opposition even if you have an excellent chance of doing so." <br /><br />The second-last over was bowled by Ganguly. Even at the end he was not willing to bowl out the opposition. Unless of course he thinks he can bowl better than Irfan Pathan! And the funny part was that all the fielders were positioned to save boundaries! Hardly any men in catching positions except those ordained by rules.<br /><br />The Indian habit of not cultivating the winning formula and implementing it to triumph may prove costly. It is also not fair on the paying public to take all the competition out of the contest by making it drift to a foregone conclusion. <br /><br />They may have been playing Kenya,and there was no way that the Africans could have beaten India. But India play Pakistan next in a do-or-die contest. This match against Kenya will not have given them the winning edge, the desire to go for the jugular when the opposition is down. And against a team that is as good as Team India the situation may well produce a surprise kick in the result. <br /><br />This match is hardly going to set India up nicely for the rest of the tournament. You also don''t win trophies if you let a weak side bat out 50 overs. <br /><br />That is not what the Australians do. That is not what New Zealand did against the USA on Friday. That is not what England did against Zimbabwe. And, this is exactly not what England did against India in the NatWest series. All of these teams ensured that their opponents were sent to a quick and merciful demise in the match. But here is India seeking to drift to a victory and not making it happen in real time! A team must guard at all times against complacency.<br /><br />India could have have won by over 150 runs and not just 98! Missed opportunity? You betcha!<br /><br />What this meant was that the Kenyans were able to bat out their fifty overs! They lost 7 wickets and scored 192 runs. By this sacrilege Ganguly more or less sacrificed a point or two on the Indian run-rate. If at the end of the Pool C contests between India, Pakistan and Kenya the winner is decided on net run-rate India may well suffer.<br /><br />Also, it showed Sourav Ganguly''s leadership in bad light. It indicates that the killer-instinct is not at all working. An adversary more blessed in terms of talent than Kenya may well have staged a middle- and lower-order fightback and rolled to a win. <br /><br />India lack professionalism totally. If the opponent is down, you make sure that he doesn''t get up again. After all this is not a life and death situation. This is a game and a team must do everything to win as soon as possible.<br /><br />The winning habit has to be cultivated. And, it is not done by letting an opponent to bat out fifty overs.<br /><br />That is the difference between India and the Australians, Sri Lankans and even England. Once their juggernaut starts rolling they let nothing come in its way. They in fact add incendiary material to make sure the end happens with as big an explosion as possible and as fast as possible.<br /><br />As for India''s future in the Champions Trophy is concerned, their vital match against a revitalised Pakistan side will need a new game plan where nothing short of rabid aggression will be acceptable. If India loosens its control over the match, an increasingly professional Pakistan will ride away the victor.<br /><br />The thing with India is that they don''t value victory enough! Being triumphant should be the first thing on their mind. Get rid of the opposition. Period.<br /><br />The Champions Trophy is beckoning. And, India have till the 19<span style="" vertical-align:="" super="">th</span> of September to get back into the groove. It is not their game that needs changes, its their mindset that needs an overhaul.<br /><br /> </div> </div>
