Reference Auto

Batting, India’s only forte, has seen a collapse in the match against South Africa, leading to India’s defeat in a cliffhanger.

This sloppy batting can pose a potential threat to the Indian team, especially during the qualifying matches of the World Cup, which India will have to play against the regular one-day teams.

So, with the end of the South Africa match, India has proved shoddy in the field, with the bat as well as in bowling. India will need a miracle now to stay in the race for the World Cup (not that miracles don’t happen!!).

Even Yuvraj Singh’s all-round skills have fizzled out. The only saving grace is that Sachin Tendulkar is in top form and has reached his 48th century in one-day matches and 99th in international cricket, something no other player is even closer to establishing.

Team India’s batting line up fell like nine pins when it lost nine wickets with a score of 29 runs only. This is perhaps the lowest score by any team for the last nine wickets in this year’s World Cup.

Even India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was miffed with Team India’s performance saying, “Some players were playing to the gallery instead of playing for the country.”

When India started its game, it looked like the team could easily notch a score of nearly 350 runs. But the batsmen played like greenhorns, managing to set a measly target of 297 runs.

India was 267-1 once, but lost the remaining wickets in only nine overs ending the game at 48.4 overs. Appalling!

Sachin Tendulkar scored a century, Sehwag notched 73 and Gautam Gambhir 69. Sachin and Sehwag took India to the first century. Then Tendulkar and Gambhir managed India’s only other partnership. Daryl Steyn was deadly, notching five wickets for 50 runs.

South Africa built its innings meticulously, with Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla hitting half centuries and AB de Villers scored a quick 52 in 39 balls to keep the team on track for victory.

Harbhajan is also coming back to form (with his three for 53). Munaf Patel managed 65 for 2 and Zaheer Khan 43 for 1. India’s fielding was at its shoddy best and crucial catches were dropped by Yuvraj and Gambhir.

A visibly upset Dhoni said, “We lost too many wickets in the powerplay round and could not play the full 50 overs.”

Dhoni had tried to tweak the batting order (putting number seven batsman Yusuf Pathan at number four, for instance) but did not find any success with the move.

Now, luck will have to play a big game to lift India from this hangover. India should ensure that its batting line up does not collapse like it did with South Africa so that at least a big score could somewhat help cover up for the sloppy bowling and fielding and give it some chance to clinch the World Cup trophy.