India leave for home Saturday after a disastrous tour of Australia to face likely recriminations after Sri Lanka ended their hopes of reaching the finals of the tri-nations one-day series. Sri Lanka held their nerve to end India's late bid for a spot in the best-of-three finals with a gripping nine-run win over Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
That result means the deserving Sri Lankans will do battle with Australia in the finals, starting in Brisbane on Sunday. India, who arrived Down Under in December as the second-ranked Test nation and reigning World Cup champions, return home to face questions over their poor tour, which included a 4-0 drubbing in the Test series against Australia.
As Cricinfo's Sidharth Monga observed: "In their own cocoon of denial, living in the past, out-batted, out-bowled, out-fielded, out-captained both on and off the field, out-coached, out-jibed by the hosts, India didn't really turn up." Symptomatic of India's miserable time was the failure of batting star Sachin Tendulkar to claim his 100th international century. India's tour record does not make for pretty reading.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar even questioned whether the Indian team was hurting enough from the crushing losses they endured. Touring journalist Amol Karhadkar of the Hindustan Times observed on the final night in Brisbane that while cricket fans back home hoped and prayed for an Australian victory over Sri Lanka, a number of players appeared little bothered. "While most of the players watched the first half of the match together in the team hotel, they ventured out for dinner later on," the reporter said.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.