Absolutely stunning display of a lack of common sense..

When I saw the dismissals of:

1) Virat Kohli

2) Yuvraj Singh

3) MS Dhoni

4) Virender Sehwag

.. there were two common aspects: Firstly, a lack of common sense,and secondly, all of them were caught behind the wicket. That tells something.

1) Virat Kohli: When you've lost a wicket in the first over of the match, and you've got Virender Sehwag for company, common sense would tell you to give him the strike. Virat Kohli, who until today, had displayed great maturity, decided to give the old fashioned waft at a ball which was around the 10th stump.

Result: Caught Behind.

2) Yuvraj Singh: At a juncture where one consolidates, a batsman of the experience of Yuvraj Singh should be more careful in shot selection. Another ugly waft at a ball bouncing high. With 2 slips in place, that shot is hardly called for, ESPECIALLY when you've already lost a couple of wickets early on.

Result: Caught in the slips.

Of late, this sort of dismissal is signalling a trend in Yuvraj Singh's ODI career. It's very easy to see his mode of dismissals - getting caught in the slips early on in his innings, by playing a nothing shot to a ball outside the off stump. This has become a common-sight now, and there doesn't seem to be any growth of maturity in shot selection.

There's one thing that is definitely growing, and that is his paunch. Yuvraj's languid movements in the field is a very good indicator of his lack of fitness. This is nowhere close to the Yuvraj we knew around 2-3 years ago.

3) MS Dhoni: The calmest player in the Indian ODI squad today. His ugly waft was VERY uncharacteristic. On another day, Dhoni wouldn't have even played that ball. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt.

Result: Caught Behind.

4) Virender Sehwag: This to me, was the turning point of the match. Neat catching practice into the hands of the wicket keeper, to a ball he could have possibly played anywhere. A shot which was uncalled for, and lacked common sense, especially when you're 4 down with almost nothing on the board.

Result: Caught Behind

Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja were the saving grace of India's batting. Jadeja seems to be increasingly showing that he's made for this level. His commitment levels and his skills seem to have gone a notch up since his debacle in the T20 World Cup last year.

Yet, when there were 5 overs to go, with 2 wickets remaining, Suresh Raina plays an ugly shot to get out - knowing fully well, that even if he had just stayed put, India's score could have touched 260/270 - which in hindsight could have been VERY competitive. Scoring a 100 isn't enough, it's how you finish it and how much it helps your team that matters in the end.

The Bowling:

Ashish Nehra's injury was a turning point, given the fact that he started very well and got Tharanga out in the first over.

There are still a couple of shocking things which are of note:

1) Zaheer Khan's bowling in the 47th over, 17 to win of 18 balls:

Thissara Perera - who's proved to be a thorn in India's flesh, is known to be a compulsive hitter. The order of the day was plain and simple. Yorkers and more of them.

2 balls in a row, the first, almost cleaned Perera's stumps, the 2nd, a low full toss, was almost a catch at thirdman.

Now, when you've had such good results with 2 consecutive balls, why would you want to suddenly bowl short and get slapped for a boundary?

Zaheer Khan did just that. Got pulled for a boundary.

2) Sreesanth: The less said the better, his performance today seemed to lack any sort of sense. Short, short and shorter was his mantra of the day. The length that is, and not his attitude.

Overall:

Positives:

Suresh Raina's batting: It looks like Raina has declared that he's good enough for the big stage. Today's innings was definitely a solid indicator.

Ravindra Jadeja's all-round skills: Jadeja seems to have come to stay, and I am pretty much impressed with his all-round capabilities.

Negatives:

Overall, the batting lacked any element of common sense. Gary Kirsten would be tearing his hair off (whatever's left of it) when he sees these dismissals on tape.

Fitness needs to be addressed with a lot of these current players. Yuvraj in particular seems to be becoming a little, shall we say, prosperous?

The bowling: I hope Eric Simons (India's new bowling consultant) provides the intelligence which seems to be lacking, in a huge manner. Otherwise, looking ahead at the World Cup in 2011, with this bowling attack, we aren't going to get anywhere. It's not because of the lack of talent, it's because of the lack of intelligence.

Post your comments. Would appreciate it.

Cheers,

V