Sourav's effort to regain form costs India the 4th ODI.

Here's an article from The Indian Express written by Ajith Wadekar

Contrasting Captains
- Ajith Wadekar

I am no mind reader nor do I claim authority over reading body language. But for me the difference between India and Pakistan shows up in the attitudes of the two captains.

Inzamam is in great form while Sourav is only thinking about his ways and means to get back into the hitting zone.

The result is now for everyone to see as Pakistan now have all the momentum in the series. And this more than anything else is eating up India’s chances. Because this means vital thoughts on bowling changes and fielding placements gets mired in an already messy mind.

That also brings up irrelevant matters like toss and weather, two variables which are never in anybody’s control, into so much prominence. This is exactly why the Aussies are better in that they never allow such matters to occupy their mind and always think about the matter on hand.

That exactly happened with Inzy today as he never let the asking rate rise above seven runs an over. A feat which should be commended considering the steep chase of 316 on hand.

He played a real cool innings under extreme pressure and never lost his nerve even when the match climaxed as a real cliff-hanger.

For me he was the best choice for Man of the Match.

At the other end, Sourav did the only thing right by winning the toss, but he should have promoted Yuvraj or Rahul to No 4 spot. I believe it is here we lost those crucial 20 to 30 runs because Sourav was trying to get his form back.

In the end that proved to be crucial because we never were in the game as the spinners bowled too negative. Just make me wonder what Anil Kumble is doing, sitting in Bangalore when he should be bowling.

And the general demeanour on the field did not suggest any urgency from the fielders. Sad to say but only in the last 45 minutes did we realise that the match was slipping away and this after we had scored 315.

All in all, I feel sad that the man who set it up, Sachin, could not get his due. He bowled well, batted like old and thankfully without showing a sign of any burden that seemed to bother him in the past

Anyone who watched / followed the match yesterday (the 4th ODI) would have been as frustrated as I was. Ganguly just isn't fit to be in the team at this point. His 33 ball innings out there in the middle cost us the match. Did anyone watch those ridiculous "dancing down the pitch" misses? I think there were 3-4 of those.. without the willow making any contact with leather. He was a joke out there. And the missed stumping by Kamran Akmal?? What was that all about? Almost looked to me like the Paki's wanted Ganguly to stay in.. and keep Dravid, Yuvi and Kaif out. Heck, Dada was a good 8 feet down the pitch when he swung and didn't make contact. Its a pity that such a great batsman of the past was being treated as a handicap by the Pakis. But lets admit it, he's the weakest link in the entire Indian team.

Keeps bringing me back to the same question after every match.. If Dada can't bat, bowl, or field.. does he deserve a place on the team? I know that he has been the most succesful captain for India.. but, in his current form, where his contribution to the team in the form of cricket is zero, should he be dropped? Heck, if someone has to captain the side without contributing, then I'm sure we can get a tonne of analysts to do the job. I'd pick Prem Panicker as another option for the Captain's post if the only thing the captain needed to do in the team was to make decisions.

Well, this argument is thankfully a moot point now. The ICC has saved Ganguly the blushes by forcing a 6 ODI match ban. Having said all that, I do feel bad for Ganguly on this count. Inzy's boys went over the allocated time by about 20 min (and this was a 48 over match mind it). I don't see him being pulled up by the match referree? All I saw was a short lunch.. now even that works to Inzy's advantage.. he probably lost a few pounds.

The crowd reaction to the Paki win was nothing to write home about. All they did was shout "Aloo Aloo" when they Paki batsmen were walking out of the field victoriously. I thought they deserved more than that... a standing ovation if not anything else for their stellar performance.