It was so near and yet so far for India as they lost one of the closest games in recent times. The result hung in the balance till the last over, as the pendulum swung either way. However, it was not to be India’s day, for the Aussies romped home in a nail-biting finish.Intermittent rain somewhat made things easier for the Aussies for, had they chased the original target in 50 overs, things could have gone India’s way. Chasing 296 was not an easy target even for the best batting line-up in the world. Under such circumstances, the team which bats second stands to benefit, for they know the reduced target and can plan their innings accordingly.To make matters worse, the Indian bowlers were guilty of giving room to Gilchrist who doesn’t require a second invitation to have a go at them. Instead, they should have bowled into him. He thus made merry and, along with his skipper Ricky Ponting, laid a solid foundation. However, the Indians fought hard and came back into the game with Irfan accounting for Ponting and Martin in quick succession.Batting first, Yuvraj Singh played one of the finest innings by an Indian on Australian soil. It was an awesome display of batsmanship by Yuvi as he clobbered the hapless bowlers to all parts of the SCG, much to the delight of the Indian expats, who came in large numbers to support India. I guess the local Aussie supporters must have got a rude shock to see their more celebrated bowlers carted around in such a ruthless manner.Besides Yuvi’s great innings, V V S Laxman carried on from where he left off in Brisbane. It seems he has a strong liking for the Australian bowlers. He’s plundered runs every time he’s come in to bat, that too at will. If Yuvi struck the ball hard, Laxman caressed it to the fence. A classy batsman he sure is, and he has that silken touch.What I liked about the duo was that they shouldered the responsibility of putting up a big total, especially after the fall of the frontline batsmen. They knew that the onus was on them to see their side to safety, for not many experienced batsmen were there to follow them. The competition for a berth in the team possibly made everybody work hard and cement their places in the side before it’s too late. This was not the case earlier, as some of the players simply took their places for granted.In the absence of Tendulkar and Sehwag, Parthiv Patel was sent in to open the innings. He will have to make one technical change, however — avoid turning his wrists and angling his bat to every delivery pitched around the off-stump. Parthiv may survive on wickets that have a low bounce but on wickets that have considerable bounce and lateral movement, he becomes an ideal candidate to be gobbled up by the slip cordon. Besides, his wicket-keeping needs a lot of improvement too.
