England should have been awarded five runs, not six, when Ben Stokes inadvertently deflected a throw to the boundary in Sunday's epic Cricket World Cup final. The umpiring blunder 'stole' New Zealand's thunder. This and other controversies that grabbed headlines during the World Cup
Brian Lara raised a stink about the pitch and conditions when he should have shown composure and the attitude to try and overcome it. He should have led by example, shown the application needed to overcome the surface. Instead he blew his top.
Dravid could take a leaf out of his own book. He wasn't initially deemed good enough in the limited format of the game but is now one of the mainstays of the team. India need to keep V.V.S. in the mix for the World Cup.
India have taken two steps backwards from the days in Pakistan when the five-bowler theory was heralded with much fanfare. Now against a weaker bowling attack, they have chosen to strengthen their batting at the cost of bowling.
These days when match supervisors are intolerant to insolent behaviour, the skipper must count himself lucky. He might have had his reasons to get agitated but you can't show disrespect to the umpires in the middle.
India can look at the ODI loss as part of the learning curve. Defeats are only terminal if you do not have the mettle and I do not think that is the case with these young boys.
This Indian team might have been mistaken in believing that they just needed to turn up in the park to roll the West Indies over. Three straight games ending in the final over doesn't happen by chance.
On Thursday the Indian bowlers were caught unawares because they did not believe the match could start on time due to rain. Here the batsmen did not feel the need to apply themselves since the target was so low.
