India is on song! The performance dished out by the Indians yesterday was, simply, champion stuff to say the least. I just could not believe my eyes when, on winning the toss, Jayasuriya preferred to field first on a placid track. It was a mistake he will rue for the rest of his life. The whole world knows that India boasts of a strong batting line-up, and the only way the Sri Lankans could have put them under pressure was by opting to bat first and posting a decent total on the board. Instead, he invited them to take the first strike. It was not only unbelievable, but suicidal as well. India too had made the same mistake in the 1996 semis of the World Cup against the same team at Eden Gardens. They invited the Lankans to take first strike and paid the penalty. It seems the wheel of (mis)fortune has turned a full circle. What is more surprising is the fact that against lowly Kenya, the Lankans made the same mistake and lost the match. It seems they do not want to learn from past mistakes. Is this the reason their performance in this World Cup is far below their true potential? Well, I guess so. With every match, Sachin is looking better and better. If his innings against England and Pakistan were outstanding, his knock yesterday was simply mind-boggling. What is striking about his batting is that he does not make the same mistake again. Yesterday, the Lankans wanted to trap him at square leg, like the Kenyans did. He expected that ploy and turned it around to his advantage by milking the bowlers who strayed around his legs. That was high-class batsmanship. Nonetheless, I did not like the way he got himself out. Though he plays the fine sweep to near perfection, the risk involved is too much to execute it. Definitely not when one is on 97. For India, Sehwag’s return to form was good news, for it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time in this tournament. Sehwag is a match-winner in his own right. Hopefully, this knock would have helped remove any negative thoughts that might have entered his mind during his lean trot. It was great to witness the Indian speedsters firing on all cylinders. Never in the history did India have such a formidable attack. With Bangar and Agarkar still on the reserve bench, India have never had it so good as far as the attack is concerned, not to mention the likes of Avishkar Salvi, Balaji and Irfan Pathan slugging it out for India A and waiting eagerly in the wings.
