Two consecutive wins by India made Indian cricket lovers more enthusiastic. But the same fans who expected nothing less than a massive win at Jamshedpur had to be disappointed.
Earlier, cricket lovers used to express their opinion about the performance of their team either by debating among themselves or writing a column or two in the newspapers. Now the electronic media has added a new platform for people to discuss and express their feelings. It can be done live or just after the end of the match.
No doubt, television has brought the game closer to the people. But, at the same time, the freedom of expression through this media has become a deadly weapon for some people to vent their disappointment.
After any defeat, the passionate followers of the game can be unreasonably vocal. Airing their views, especially when they are well aware of being on the national network, can make them speak extreme things, thus showing scant respect to the game as well as to the players. After all, an opinion reinforced always has a lasting impression on people watching the programme.
So far, the toss has proved extremely fatal for the losers in every outing. It's quite evident that a healthy score on board always plays heavily on the minds of the batsmen chasing the target.
While the batsmen's freedom often gets restricted with the run-rate at the back of their mind, the bowlers enjoy bowling in such a situation. A specific target helps the bowler to be more disciplined. On such placid wickets and tall scores, bowlers bowling first are not always sure whether to go for wickets or stick to restrictive lines. Setting a target without any pressure of catching up with the run rate is always easy as the discretion of shots is much better. The same discretion goes haywire when batsmen have a specific score to catch up every over.
The Pakistan batsmen placed their innings well at Jamshedpur. It is all about partnerships that put the bowlers under pressure. Salman Butt's sheet anchor role, along with Shoaib Malik's aggressive style, laid the perfect ground for the tourists. The rest of the batsmen gave the necessary impetus to reach a good, winning score of 319.
Youhana played a gem of an innings. A classy player, he has subtle ways of damaging opponents with non-aggressive methods.
The Indian bowlers gave away near-six runs an over in all the games. Irfan Pathan came in after a long break and found things a little harder. A bowler has to play all the games to come to terms with the wicket and opponents' batting. Bowlers can only understand and plan a suitable pattern of bowling line to a particular batsman only after bowling to him in a match situation. Even if the bowler ends up giving away some extra runs, he has to be persisted with in all the matches and should be made known about his role in the side. On such flat wickets, bowlers will have to bowl more and more to understand the nuances of bowling.
Rana got rich dividends for his great spell. The Pakistani bowlers, who looked ordinary till the last two games, appeared devastating. A specific target in mind while bowling made them look more purposeful. The Indian batsmen crumbled under the pressure of scoring runs.
The paradox is that in the first half of the game batsmen make the bowlers look ordinary and the role reverses completely in the second session. The difference between the first and second innings is nothing but the pressure.
Srinath's previous columns:
- Declining role of bowlers is worrying
- Dhoni should have been spotted earlier
- Pakistan should reconsider batting order
- India need to contain Afridi
- Instability showing in the Indian team
- Much ado about Bhajji's 'doosra'
- Sachin's partnerships with Rahul were crucial
- Looking for a fifth dimension in bowling
- A story of courageous fighting