India lifts COMPAQ CUP

A masterly performance by India in the final of Compaq Cup against Sri Lanka saw them lift the trophy and take the honours in this tri-nation tournament. That this triumph comes after the early round exit in the T20 World Cup can only add to the joy of cricket crazy Indian population. Moreover, India also continues to be a consistent performer in ODIs throughout this year and the team does deserve applause.

After the win over NZ and loss to SL in the prelims, it was not going to be easy for India to come back into the finals. But Dhoni called the toss correctly and that is something which would have really pleased him. Sri Lanka is really a strange place to play especially when you are in a day-night contest. Over the past couple of years, the number of times when teams batting second have successfully chased a decent total has really gone down. And hence a lot does depend on the toss. (Also lends support to some theory which Tendular put forward…some 25 over innings…I am sure he was jokingJ). Anyways, India left out Mr. Dinu Karthik after his indifferent performances and brought in Kohli sa’ab. While that was a decent thing to do, the team management showed great vision in asking Dravid to open with Tendulkar.
It is after all a tournament final (matches where Indian record has been pretty bad) and asking a young kid (Kohli sa’ab) to open was definitely not the right thing to do. So the duo of Sachin and Dravid opened the innings and did very well in fact. They kept the scoreboard moving with singles and doubles but did not hesitate to punish the loose ball either. Sachin was at his best with wonderful shorts being played through the covers in particular while Dravid was particularly severe on short stuff either pulling or cutting the same to the boundaries. Dravid even welcomed Mendis with a six (kind of misfield as well) but Indian score started to look really good at that stage. Then came Jayasuriya Uncle and bowled a really slow ball to get rid of Dravid. Dravid departed for a well made 39 and by then he had laid a perfect platform with Sachin from where India could harbour hopes of posting a really challenging total.
Dhoni entered the stage and again that was a really courageous move. He could have failed as well but that did not really bother him and that is what makes him special. People call him “lucky” but I would say that he is a brave guy. Dhoni and Sachin played in a really special manner, collecting singles and doubles and picking up a few boundaries when they were on offer. Sachin batted with tremendous application and reached his 44th ODI hundred. What a feat, man!! Kudos to this special character for an innings of grit under extremely trying circumstances (extreme hot and humid weather, slow pitches and Lanka’s slow bowlers with Uncle Jayasuriya leading the pack). Dhoni went after making a useful 56. While he scored at a decent pace, he also ensured that India did not loose any wickets in the middle overs and therefore had a perfect launch pad to start an assault at some stage in the later part of the innings. Yuvraj came and settled down with Sachin (by then he was using a runnner). Sachin did delay the assault a bit more than expected but it did come in a splendid fashion. Mendis was hit for a six and two reverse swept fours before Sachin eventually got out for a strokeful 138. Yuvraj kept one end while the others came and left but with useful hits from Yuvi and co, India reached a total of 319. 319 was a pretty huge score and it was always going to be too much to chase for SL.

Indian score was built around Sachin and as I have written earlier as well, no words can do justice to the service Sachin has done to Indian cricket. Dravid’s return to ODIs is also pretty successful and it is always good to see a person of his calibre doing well. Dravid is someone who has done everything he has been asked to do (ask him to open the innings, to come at #7 or to keep wickets, the man’s a complete team guy). Dhoni and Yuvraj are the stalwarts of the present times who are supposed to take Indian cricket to greater heights in the future.

After India finished their batting, the general feeling was it is only a matter of time when India lifts the trophy. But India were in for a shock especially with Dilshan and Jayasuriya Uncle hitting the ball to all parts of ground. The fast bowling was pathetic and all of the fast bowlers were willing to run and just bowl. A dropped catch of Uncle did not help either. Finally, it was Bhajji who brought the downfall of dangerous Dilshan (he is really a dangerous batsman, believe me—I don’t praise Lankans so easily J) and later Mahela in his next over. While the Lankans still kept pace with the asking run rate (in fact they were much ahead of it initially), the wickets started to tumble. Uncle went soon after and the score read 85/3 in 11 overs. With three of your really main players back and more than 225 to get, I knew Lanka won’t be able to manage it. Thushara (promoted as pinch hitter) came and hit a few boundaries but then departed and so did Matthews a bit later. So at 131/5, only one team would have won (Teams do win from such positions as well like the Natwest cup final when Yuvi and Kaif combined to demolish the English) but chances of such improbable events are always rare. The fast bowlers did not bowl a decent line or length at all so it was left to India’s slow bowlers (remember it is slow bowlers and NOT spinners). Yuvraj and Raina bowled 14 overs amongst themselves and conceded only 50 while they also managed to get 2 wicktes. Yusuf Pathan got rid of the dangerous Uncle but was very expensive. Bhajji was at his best and picked wickets exactly when a team’s strike bowler should be picking. The pacers were disappointing and so was the level of fielding (run-outs, stumping and catches put down). It was the combined bowling of Bhajji-Yuvi-Raina that brought the Lankan scoring to a halt and with wickets tumbling, Indi won by 46 runs. The batting helped India win this tournament though among the bowlers only Bhajji Singh looked like a bowler of international standard. (Do not count Yuvi or Raina here because slow bowlers like them can only succeed here. Just like Lanka used to employ a lot of its slow bowlers, choke the runs and then win such finals but nobody heard of such bowlers outside Lanka).
So coming up is the Champions trophy and I am sure that would generate a lot of interest. India plays Pakistan, Australia and WI in its pool and it would be a quite a challenge to play in S.Africa. India has fond memories of S.Africa for sure and I am putting my money on India (I simply love India playing in S.Africa, that’s where a lot of our famous victories have come). Let’s wish our team all the luck for the CT and congratulate them on their success in the Compaq Cup.