India the Deserving Losers...!!!!!!!

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Dear All, When a team gets its opposition to a position of 120 runs for the loss of eight wickets and still manages to lose the game on the fourth day, then that team surely deserves to lose....!!!! In this case, the team is India. One can say that the swash buckling Virender Sehwag and his partner Gautam Gambhir were not playing and that the bowling attack was depleted without Zaheer Khan. I would like to say that if this India depends heavily on a few players rather than the whole team then, the team does not deserve the No. 1 spot. It is okay for a team to lose. If you look at it, Cricket is merely a game. But then, people will accept defeat when two teams play competitive sport and one team emerges the winner.. Here, it was not so. Was it??? So what was it that made the difference between the two teams??.... "Fitness, Fitness, Fitness". The English players seemed very fit, while the Indian players some how looked lethargic. The English lower middle order fired and the Indian lower middle order was blown away. In the Indian first innings, from position of about 200 for 4, to 288 all out; it takes some doing to get there. All the hard work done by the poor Dravid went in vain....It was a masterclass innings, I must say...!!! The Indian bowling attack was put under tremendous pressure because of this, in the English second innings. Team India with only four bowlers. And sure enough Harbhajan gets injured (I do not think that the way he was bowling, it would have made any difference though) and did not bowl and the Indian bowling line up was taken apart. My heart goes to the Indian bowlers, they did all that they could do. But what can I say, even England's No. 10 Batsman (Who should be actually a bowler) scored a swashbuckling 90.....!!!! YEEEYYY...!!!... What I am trying to say is, if a team is going to go only with four bowlers, then the team should make sure that every one is fit.....!!!!!! More than that, I believe in getting the correct bench strength. To shift Dravid's batting position to an opener's position is not the correct thing to do. Of course Dravid being Dravid will do it for the team, but then his performance levels will go down.....I heard someone comment in TV, to not to play with the batting order of the mainstay and I must say it is correct. They should have played the third opener... But what can I say, a third opener was not in the squad as a back up.. (:D). I know that the article is long ... But one final word on Dhoni and Raina...!!!! I have been saying this for a long time. His blunderous decisions have gone unnoticed, because the team was winning. But now, it is not so. There were many occasions in the test match, where when a new batsman arrived on the crease, enough pressure was not put on him. From 120 for 8 to 221, too many runs were given and it happened because Dhoni went on the defensive...!!!!!! And now his batting...!!! Dhoni and Raina hold extremely key positions in the bating line up...!!!! I know that Dhoni is going through a bad phase. But then there are times when one has to grind it out. this was one such time. Yet both the times Dhoni gave it away. He played a rash shot in the first innings and started a collapse and in the second innings did not even play a shot....!!!!! Now the great Raina...!!!!! Her showed he was scared of bouncers in the first innings. and in the second innings he confirmed it...!!!! I mean at that situation, that shot, when there were fielders there in the deep....THIS IS A TEST MATCH...!!!!!. As some one said it is a test of character and it showed Raina has no character...!!! :P All I can hope for is that India get back some how and salvage some pride now..... Share your views...!!! Balu