Big Questions Small Questions

... As I wake up this morning to check the scorecard and see that India have been quite comprehensively routed by Sri Lanka ... lest I am too hasty ... the Indian batting has been quite comprehensively routed by the Sri Lankan bowlers. Not entirely shocking but a bit under par for even a most pragmatic cricket follower like me.

And hence the questions flow. Mostly all to be asked of Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid.
1. WHY NOT LAXMAN ???
2. Why Yuvraj at 3 ?(Corollary of 1)
3. Why Kaif at 4 ?(Corollary of 1 & 2)
4. Why Raina ?(Corollary of 1)

Is this some kind of trick ?? I better hope it is. Otherwise it is pretty daft. To not play someone of the calibre of Laxman in the opening game ... I mean if you are looking to blood the youngsters surely the best time would be against the inexperienced Windies or once our qualification for the finals has been guaranteed ?!?!

For all his great reputation and acumen, I am williing to give Chappell the benefit of the doubt. But I hope he has a real good trick up his sleeve otherwise ... sorry to say ... the Chappell era would be just a continuation of last season's pathetic abysmal lows.

Update 1: Zaheer Khan has just clean bowled Mahela Jayawardene to leave Sri Lanka tottering at 60/3. Heck, he's given that annoying pest Russell Arnold a loose ball to hit a boundary first up !! (This is one thing that the new management has desperately gotta work on ... the inconsistency in bowling)

Update 2: Another wicket would be great - just about now. After a torrid 20 balls Dilshan has finally broken the shackles with a boundary - shouldn't have let him do that - but well ... wicket ! wicket ! get a wicket !
Just read on the Times website that Laxman had been ruled out with back spasms in the morning . Bit of a blow that ... and for me ... being too hasty to criticize ... but hell it was not mentioned anywhere on Cricinfo bulletin ... how was I supposed to know ?? Anyway this now puts the above questions into irrelevance and India are up with a fight on their hands

Update 3: Brilliant !! Harbhajan Singh has struck twice in 2 overs to dismiss Dilshan and Arnold but on the flip side he gave a boundary the next ball on both occasions - to that sleeping giant Jayasuriya ... batting at Number 6 due to a shoulder injury !! Really at 117/5 this is now a 50-50 game ... get Jayasuriya here and we are almost done !

Update 4: OK ... I said it would now be Jayasuriya between India and victory ... but there is an unexpected twist here ... in the form of Lokuhettige (pardon me if I got the spelling wrong) who seems to be a mightily aggressive character. He has taken a liking to the spinners ... hitting 3 4s and a 6 ... to score 20 off 17 balls and is fairly taking the game away from India ... wicket please !! Will Dravid get back the quick men ?? Although I tend to think one of the spinners might get him out if they keep tempting him ... the only problem is only 67 runs to play with. Also Dravid has to get in half of the remaining overs from his fifth bowler ... now I dont blame him really ... he had to go for the attack right away at the start ... interesting to see how he handles it from now on.

Update 5:

34.2 Pathan to Dilhara, OUT: width outside the off stump and Dilhara goes after it, ball clips the inside edge and crashes into the stumps, bowling change works for India, Sri Lanka six down Sri Lanka 140/6, Partnership of 28 LHD Dilhara b Pathan 21 (20b 3x4 1x6) ST Jayasuriya 12* (15b 2x4) IK Pathan 7.2-2-30-2 (1w) was not a wicket taking delivery and was was outside the off stump, Dilhara dragged it back on to his stumps, sad end to a promising innings - this match is not over yet!

Dravid's move works !! Yippee !! So happy for him. Game on ... though he went against my instincts of sticking with the spinners ! Jayasuriya still there though and that tough cookie Chandana walks in ... but get one of these out ... and we are really into the tail

Update 6: Just as I thought it was all over Zaheer strikes !! Wow this is getting exciting 34 runs with 3 wicktes left

Update 7: That wily fox Jayasuriya is taking Sri Lanka home. Aah ... so close yet so far ... it still needs a couple of good balls though now one must consider Sri Lanka reasonable favourites to romp home

Update 8: All over. Jayasuriya takes them home aided by an impetuous innings by Maharoof. Credit to the Indian fielders and bowlers for putting up a fight but in the end just lacked the firepower to blast out the lower order resistance. Not that that is a particularly new problem for this Indian team. But Greg needs to note it quickly and try to find ways to cover this deficiency. Full marks to Dravid first for a captain's innings and then for a well-led fight on the field. After all, we are ranked #7 in the World compared to Sri Lanka's #2. However I don't see too many ways we can improve as of now with this particular set of players. I dont know how many of you feel that this match resembled a good deal to the match against Pakistan in the ICC Knockout last September. India, batting first were rocked by the Pakistani pacemen, shored by Dravid and then kept in the fight throughout by the honest efforts of the bowlers only to lose it at the end. The score that day was 200 today it was 205. Different conditions of course but similar pattern of play and scoring.

Anyway off now ... will post more analyses later ... and hope the team puts up a strong performance against the West Indies B side tomorrow.