India can take heart from World Cup exit, says Javagal Srinath
'The tour of Australia would have added some steel to the team'
Friday 27 March 2015 12:55, UK
Guest ICC columnist Javagal Srinath says that India can take heart from their semi-final defeat to Australia…
Once Australia racked up 328 runs, it was always going to be a steep ask for India, irrespective of the form they were in and the brilliant batting track.
They were up against a well-rounded bowling attack - Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood are well-equipped to prosper in all conditions. And not often do they collectively endure a bad day.
The wealth of fast-bowling resources Australia have is simply amazing and that eventually was the big difference between the sides.
It was a bad start to the day for India, losing the toss. In such a high-pressure match, winning the toss is so crucial. The bowlers did a good job, but only in patches. And unlike their Australian counterparts, they didn't use the short-ball sparingly.
Impressive
The bowlers have been largely impressive in this World Cup and they will take back a lot from the tournament and return as better bowlers in the future. The tour would have added some steel to all of them.
India's openers responded to the testing target brilliantly, they set a solid platform and blunted the new ball. But, unfortunately, none of them could post a big hundred.
Both Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma had been looking so good before they were dismissed and in such a big match, with such a big chase, you need one of them to bat deep into the innings.
You needed someone to bat like Steve Smith did, who has emerged a bogey-man for India. He scored hundreds in each of the four Tests against them this winter and now composed one in another big match.
He really seems to enjoy batting against India and he got good support from Aaron Finch. Late cameos from Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell and Johnson also helped the home side’s cause.
It was a hard defeat to digest, coming as it was on the back of seven successive wins and comprehensive ones at that. But that's the nature of the game, not every day can you be at your very best. In the end, the better team went through.
But India shouldn't be disheartened, as they have shown a lot of tenacity and heart. After the disappointing Test series and Tri-Series down under, they have shown a lot of resilience to bounce back in such convincing fashion.
Column from www.icc-cricket.com courtesy of 2015 © ICC Development (International) Limited.
