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How does one write column upon column on a team that insists on repeating the very same mistakes? Yet again at Queenstown, the Indian batsmen failed to apply themselves at the wicket, so the post-match analysis must necessarily sound like deja-vu, just because the same flaws were on display at Queenstown as at the previous three venues. When India were 55 for one, I actually thought that this plot would turn out different. The pitch, after all, was nowhere near as ferocious as the previous surfaces, and both batsmen at the crease looked in reasonably good touch. But yet again India's brittle line-up failed them, and it was quite astounding how they were bundled out for 122 after such a good start. The middle-order made a real mess of a solid foundation, and it was merely a question of attitude, nothing more. New Zealand's bowling on the day was not deadly or sharp; Andre Adams, for example, was making a return to the one-day side after an injury hiatus. Yet it was this same Adams, who would definitely have been a touch rusty when he first took the ball into his hand, who snapped up five wickets for 22 runs, with four of those scalps belonging to the top order. India's batsmen virtually threw their wickets away, so the result came as little surprise. Asking Rahul Dravid to open the batting was, I thought, induced by desperation and nothing else. Dravid has been the only player in form on this tour, and to sacrifice him to early-morning freshness was ridiculous. Instead, since Dinesh Mongia, specially flown in for the final four ODIs, has regularly opened the one-day batting in the past, it would have made sense to have him partner Virender Sehwag - also providing, in the process, a left-right combination. But the story of insufficient grit has been the same throughout this tour. Losing is a part of cricket, but it is the way you lose that really shows your character, and the Indians, who have meekly succumbed in most part, have not given a good account of themselves. It is all very well to blame the pitches, but New Zealand played on the same tracks, so how come, like today, they were able to bat with relative ease? The bowlers, who have been the butt of criticism for quite some time, can now point fingers at the batsmen, who have just not given them the runs to defend. Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have all been impressive on the tour, and with a more consistent batting line-up, India may have notched up some famous victories in New Zealand. There now remain three effectively dead matches to go in the series - the only one-day action India will see before their opening matches in the World Cup in South Africa. They must make the most of them, and although the rubber is lost, they must fight and gain, if nothing else, at least a little confidence from the games. © CricInfo |
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