Game plan

Ganguly however got Zaheer Khan back in the attack before the 15th over and he returned the favour with the prize wicket of Yousuf Youhana. Pakistan was effectively out of the contest after that dismissal.

On the field though he looked heavy-footed and was exposed but for a fine overhead catch at square-leg of Butt. With runs being at a premium in the shorter version of the game coach John Wright believes there is no place for non-fielders in the one-day side. That was probably the main reason for Anil Kumble’s exclusion from the one-day outfit. Ganguly will have to sandpaper the rough edges to his fielding before it becomes another sore point like his batting. For all talk of Ganguly’s bad form with the bat, he still has 947 runs – the second highest behind Rahul Dravid — since January 2004 in the one-day format. Maybe dropping down the order at four could work for him as well as his team.

Inzamam-Ul Haq

Inzy got quite a few things wrong at Kochi starting from the toss. But the most important of them was the batting order: Dropping Shahid Afridi to number eight was a mistake as much was the demotion of Mohammad Hafiz at number six. With the kind of form Afridi is in he only has to play the first fifteen overs to settle the match in Pakistan’s favour.

While marshalling his resources too he allowed Sehwag and Dravid to settle down after the early fall of wickets by spreading the field. The duo took the singles and kept the scoreboard ticking along before launching the attack. In a rich vein of form, Inzy should bat himself at number four as that would give him more overs to set the match up.

His running between the wickets though put enormous pressure on Mohammad Hafeez and alarmingly shot up the asking rate. Singles are the lifelines of one-day cricket. Cut them and risk defeat.