Well we all know that…India had to. But for me it was frustrating … well I know not all will agree with me! But even after hitting 413, a margin of 257 runs looks very bad to win!

India should have beaten the Berumda team under 100! Well unfortunately it didn’t! I’m not sure if Dravid learns his lessons well (hey mind you I’m a huge fan of Dravid). One has to appreciated the perseverance with which he gives the new ball to Ajit Agarkar. But far from what the captain expected, it looks like Ajit is much safer bowler with full fielding on! That means, he should be in, when the fielders are spread out. And we all know the capabilities of Ajit Agarkar, he can be very predictable in the final ten overs.
Charu Sharma had predicted that if India wins by 260 runs in this match, and later beats Sri Lanka by 10 runs, then India will take care of itself. Well, well well! All is well until here. But it is too early to say anything on Net Run Rate until all the matches in the first round are played. So one has to wait until the end of the match between Bermuda and Bangladesh!

But Rahul Dravid should learn his lessons:

1. Ajit Agarkar (if in the team and I guess he will be) should be allowed to bowl as a first change or second change, and definitely with not more than two overs in Power Plays!

2. Robin Uthappa has no role to play as long as there is another slogger in the name of Virender Sehwag! And at any given point Sachin, Ganguly and Yuvi can slog as good as he can. An extra bowler (or a bowler batsman) can come into play here. My first choice would be Irfan Pathan (to be safe with batting) and then the next option is Sreesanth.

3. Zaheer Khan, if he remembers the 2003 World Cup final and the last match against Bermuda as well, got carried away! It seemed he was trying too much. There isn’t any necessity for too much trying, as long as you hit the right areas!

4. Flexibility: Rahul already showed it. But should keep showing it! He should and must tinker with the batting order, or get that odd over from Sachin/Ganguly/Viru in the powerplay!

All said and done, it all boils down to the numbers game, which India could have avoided. Anyways, Group - B, I predicted would give out surprises and thought that who ever have won all the three, must play excellent cricket!
But with Pakistan gone out of tournament already, I can only be more than dissatisfied if India bows out! Anyways, I’m hoping for a better show from Team India!