Review of Round Robin 2 of Idea Cup: Winning the toss was the mantra for success

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Sreelata YellamrazuJan 20 2010

by Sumit Srivastava

It may seem a little belated but as India seek their way to the top in the ODIs as well, here's a look back on their last contest.

sri lanka idea cup winners

As expected, India and Sri Lanka were the finalists for the tri-nation Idea cup, in Bangladesh. Sri Lanka turned out to be the better side than India on the D day as they won the Idea cup. In the series, a very weak performance by the home team not only would have disappointed the home crowd but also many other cricket lovers who were hoping to get some good matches in the tournament.

A tri-nation series was certainly a refreshment for the spectators too as they have witnessed quite a few bilateral series in recent past. India, after a defeat in the very first match against Sri Lanka, gained some good momentum to win the next three, mostly because of their batting and when their batting collapsed in the big match, the recovery was almost impossible.

In league matches, Bangladesh fielded quite well and did reasonably well in the batting department by posting at least 250 runs on the board in each match but their bowling looked below standards. They really lacked the fire power with the new bowl because of the absence of a quality pace bowler. They heavily relied on their spinners and consistent heavy dew did not make the job of spinners easier.

India too have had some real issues with the fielding and bowling, especially at the death. Although one may say that the bowling was pretty decent in the second round of the tournament, still it wasn’t lethal and certainly not the one which could win matches on its own.

In recent past, in batting, Yuvraj Singh has been the man for India in the middle order, but with him not being in the best of forms, the other batsmen always find more responsibilities on their shoulders. Apart from Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and to some extent Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, the rest of the batting remained untested before the final.

With a top order collapse, when the lower order was required to bat in the final, they were found wanting. Among the batsmen, Virat Kohli has been most impressive in his last few outings and he looks like getting better with every series.

If you look closely, it is Sri Lanka and not India, which was the most balanced side in the competition. At all those fronts where India lacked, Sri Lanka scored. Be it batting, bowling or fielding, Sri Lakna was ahead of the Indians.

With Tillekeratne Dilshan at the top, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara in the Middle and Tushara Parera in the lower middle order, Sri Lanka looked a fairly good side. If Dilshan provided Sri Lanka blazing starts then Mahela and Sangakkara gave their middle order solidity and Parera, played some fiery cameos in the end to give the things a final touch.

In the bowling department too, with guys like Nuwan Kulasekhara, Suraj Randiv and Chanaka Welegedera, Sri Lanka has done well. Where Lakmal, Kulasekhara and Walegedera gave them early wickets in every match, Randiv, with his off spinners, did really well in the middle by restricting the run flow.

At death, the pace bowlers were fantastic too as they bowled good yorkers and did some wise pace variations too. Moreover, they were supported by the best fielding side in the tournament. Every single individual in the side is a very good fieldsman.

The playing conditions were not the best especially in the second half of the play. With a wet ground and wet ball, the lives of the fielders and bowlers become a lot more difficult. It would have not been a bad idea to go with day games under the circumstances where the toss would give some undue advantage to one side.

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