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The need to score quickly and Piyush the star!

Related Links : India, South Africa in Ireland 2007 : Sachin Tendulkar : Piyush Chawla : Yuvraj Singh

India was clearly short of 25 to 30 runs to win the first One Day International against South Africans at Belfast on a track that played better as the match went on. But when the top four batsmen in the line-up make runs with strike rates less than 80.00 in the rapid fire shorter version, sides are bound to lose the venom. Sachin made 99 runs which looked more of a struggle than a smooth sailing. His essay of 99 off 141 deliveries made it tough for him and others as well to up the ante in final overs. But then such was the situation for the Indians with the ball seaming around and two early wickets falling down for nothing. Late order flourish came from Yuvraj and Karthik but that was shorter in duration and affectivity.

Sachin has to think smartly and quickly how to get about his stay in the business. The first outing against Ireland left him dumbfounded against a full and straight delivery whereas yesterday he looked all at sea against Ntini’s bouncier stuff. The English tour will ask stiffer questions from the great man about his reflexes and aggression. One drop catch that went straight to him also was not Sachin’s forte. His age and time in cricket are taking toll on him. Time to decide is not very far away.

Yuvraj also has to look at himself. He is good in short bursts which can be fine for lower order batsmen but certainly not for middle order specialists. Getting in, hitting a few boundaries and then throwing it away are not doing any good to his and the selectors’ confidence. His last 10 matches have yielded 266 runs with only one fifty with an average of 33.25 which is less than his career average of 35.17. This is below par as well, considering the class Yuvraj possesses.

But clearly the star of the show was young Piyush Chawla. It was pleasant watching this young leg-spinner getting wickets through sheer deception and guile. Dravid must be a very happy man having an attacking option in his bowling unit. Piyush Chawla likes to take wickets rather than merely keeping the lid on the run making. He first wove a web around Morne van Wyk with a beautifully flighted legbreak on the leg stump, and then caught Gibbs napping with his shrewd skidder. Those two wickets clearly got India back in the game but the modest Indian total curtailed their march in the end especially when you have an executioner of Kallis’s class at one end who is probably the most difficult batsman to dislodge while chasing totals in vicinity of 250. Piyush Chawla can definitely be a star in the making factually as he does not have any bigger challenge at the other end in the shape of Ramesh Powar. He can spearhead this bowling attack more so on turning tracks which will be available in the sub continent. His exuberance and fearless attitude can help him in filling in nicely in the attack that has remained historically short of a few match-winners in bowling department.

India need to make plethora of runs in the coming matches to keep the other team under the pump especially when one of their top four go on to make score somewhere near 100. Making runs expressively than passively is the keynote for Indian batsmen to reignite any chances of lifting this trophy.