By Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

The first match in Kolkata was rained out. But the match in Rajkot could not hide India’s flaws. The day after that brought little surprises in terms of the names that made up the final fifteen in the squad to the World Cup. But has Sri Lanka opened wounds and can India stage a dignified comeback?

It was not to say India did not show heart. But after watching their last feat in the gasping moments of the match, they even made Sri Lanka looked like they played better than they did. But Sri Lanka kept their cool and India let go a match they should have latched onto for victory. It would certainly have cast a better mood when the team selection for the World Cup was announced.

It has be called sheer hara-kiri as India looked to be losing the match comfortably with five wickets in hand and only twenty-five runs in arrears. Then disaster struck and the chaos in the end moments of the game went beyond explanation. Call it panic or lack of practice in facing end games when holding onto nerves has such valuable merit, India did the inexplicable and handed the game right back into the patient Sri Lankan hands.

Munaf Patel showed he had truly recovered from the ankle injury he sustained in South Africa as he picked up four wickets. What it meant was an achievable target for India and this was despite Kumar Sangakkara sizzling with yet another century to his name.

And for much of the match, it seemed as if India had it covered. Kolkata may have missed out on the antics of their favourite son of the soil. But Rajkot showed why Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar are key to getting the team into winning momentum and proposition. Even when their partnership ended, Mahendra Singh Dhoni partnership his wicketkeeper-batsman counterpart, Dinesh Karthik and the duo brought India within touching distance of victory.

But thereafter the mayhem that ensued meant that the only winner that would prevail on the day was the one that refused to give up even when the match seemed all but wrapped up.

And there were no surprises on the day after when the Indian team to tour the Caribbean for the World Cup. That Mohammad Kaif will not board was obvious from the way he was treated despite averaging fifty during the last tour and the fact that Dinesh Karthik has featured prominently in recent matches for India. All the experimentation would have to be considered naught as all the fringe players like Suresh Raina, R. P. Singh, Ramesh Powar and Dinesh Mongia would remain as such and no flight ticket for the big event.

The big three (or four, if Anil Kumble is counted) will have to push India through in the course of the World Cup. But the finish leaves a lot to be desired, and time is certainly not on India’s side. That is perhaps the main reason why Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan will go to the Caribbean but will still remain India’s gamble, this despite their heroics in the past, on the pure basis of their indifferent form in recent times. At the end of the day, this is the best India, or the selectors claim, can put forward. Indian fans will hope the team will pick up the pieces and peak when the dawn of victory arrives!