South Africa v India - Final
Friday, October 26, 2001

India's problems were of their own making. Faulty planning put them on the back foot even before a ball was bowled in the final at Durban. India went into the match complicating things for themselves as the team management failed to keep things simple.

There was no need to press the panic button by sending Virender Sehwag in at No. 3 when the batting already had a settled look to it. Sehwag should have come in at No. 5 after Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.

The idea of pitching Dravid in as wicketkeeper was another example of a knee-jerk reaction. It again exposed India's tendency to look outside the playing XI for solutions to fundamental problems. They should have just viewed this match as another one-day international and not tampered with the basics.

The pitch had more in it for the bowlers than any other one in this tournament - we hadn't seen the kind of bounce that we saw today before. The juice that the seamers extracted caught the Indians unprepared.

Sachin Tendulkar's calculated approach these days does not suit the team's needs. I strongly believe he should be playing to his strengths, which means playing his strokes. His uncharacteristic approach may have been the cause of his downfall today. Tendulkar's early dismissal never helps the team's cause or its morale. The pressure builds on the lower order, especially on pitches like this where there is something in it for the bowlers.

We in India have a tendency to be very quick in our condemnations. Let us not be harsh on our young players. Once we decide a youngster has the talent - like Yuvraj Singh, for example - then we should not over-react to their failures. We have to persist with them and look to get the best out of them rather than look outside the team - a mistake we make far too often.

What Sourav Ganguly should do now is deviate from his tendency to defend totals and instead go for wickets. The most important thing he should bear in mind is that if the seamers do not get him early wickets, then he should lose no time in introducing Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh - if necessary well before the 15-over stage.That might give the South African batsmen something to worry about.

Sanjay Manjrekar, mainstay of the Indian batting in the late 1980s and early '90s, was talking to H Natarajan. He has commented for Wisden.com on every session of India's matches in this triangular series.

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