Good tight game that. Congratulations to Pakistan on a close victory.
Our batting still seems to be a worry, as apart from Dravid, Agarkar(
) and to a certain extent Kaif, no one else has seemed even close to being comfortable at the crease. VVS Laxman looked good for a while before throwing his wicket away with a loose shot. Sehwag didn't look anything like his old self, and some serious thinking needs to be done ahead of the Test series against Australia. Six months ago, when Ganguly suggested Sehwag and Yuvraj should open the innings in Test matches, it seemed a decent idea putting out two aggressive batsmen on helpful pitches. However, considering the form both of them are in, I'd be inclined to stick with Aakash Chopra at the top of the order. There's too much talent in this batting lineup for it not to fire at some stage in the next month, and we should still be in for a very good series against the Aussies.
The bowlers did a good job given the circumstances, and Irfan Pathan was magnificent in his opening spell. He probably deserved to take another 2 or 3 wickets in those seven overs IMO, and had Yasir Hameed in knots by the time he ended his miserable stay at the crease. He's a fantastic prospect for the future if he stays clear of injuries and continues to work as hard as he has in his first season in international cricket. Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar and Ashish Nehra provided decent support for Irfan, though I can't help but wonder if another prodigious swinger of the ball such as Balaji, or a bowler with genuine pace, such as Zaheer Khan when fit, would have given us that extra penetrative edge. Ajit Agarkar and Ashish Nehra are capable of bowling over 140 km/h, and Nehra has actually clocked 149 km/h at one stage, but neither is able to do it consistently nor are they able to retain their control when they do decide to crank it up.
That's the Champions' Trophy over for us now, but there are some positives to be taken from this game, especially the form of Dravid and Irfan. The others need to raise their games in order to compete with the Aussies next month, but I have a feeling that it is starting to come together and we're in for an interesting month of cricket. Good luck to Australia and the West Indies for the semis
.