Yorked!!! – by Chetan Narula.

The worst day in Indian cricket.

Shock, awe, terror, trepidation, despair, misery, gloom, anguish, dejection, despondency, indignation, resentment, antipathy. All these together do not reflect my mood. I am still at a loss for words. Exactly what an average Indian cricket fan must be feeling because his favourite team in the world just lost to Bangladesh, a minnow given the gigantic proportions of the cup.

Unbelievable as it may sound, but it is true. Indians did wake up on Sunday hoping that the previous night had been a nightmare. But once the television sets were switched on again, the dreaded truth lay bare in front of them. We had just lost to our neighbours, who are quite young in international cricket, given the amount of cricket Sachin Tendulkar alone has played. But it all went waste. It all went waste.

As much as I would like to harp about Bangladesh being fabulous in every department, for once I cannot control my emotions as a fan and thus will leave that analysis to a more neutral person. For the record, however, Bangladesh restricted India to a paltry 191. The ferocious Indian batting line up could not handle the pace of Mashrafe Mortaza, and the best players of spin could not handle three left arm slow bowlers. And then three under-21 players came out and stroked their way to 50s as if to mock the Indian bowlers, while they easily chased down the target. It cannot get worse than this.

What we will do is take a look one by one at the Indian players who played their part in arguably the worst defeat for Indian cricket ever. Worst, because this is the world cup. It is one thing losing to them otherwise, but in the big tournament, it is a different matter.

Greg Chappell for one has to understand that. We are not some guinea pigs sir, that you keep on experimenting with us till your last breath as Indian coach. I mean come on now, what was Robin Uthappa doing at no.3. Either you play an opener in the opener’s slot or you play a middle order batsman Dinesh Karthick there. Even sehwag and ganguly could have come at no.3 because they have quite a bit of experience and have done well at the top in the middle.

Rahul Dravid: Only God knows when an Indian captain will learn to choose the correct option after winning the toss. Sourav did it in 2003, and now this. I mean they were here last year weren’t they? Don’t they know the ball swings early on in the Carribean? And with Zaheer, Munaf and Agarkar in the side, did he really want to bowl when the wicket had eased out for batting, especially when we were playing just one specialist spinner? Answer up Dravid.

Virender Sehwag: What do you say to this man, who has defied all previous history, in taking if not his place in the team, then atleast his wicket for granted. I mean, you may be a triple tonner in tests sir, but the shot you got out to, is worthy only of gully cricket. No place for that sort of stuff in the international arena. I don’t see a place for him in the team altogether, but it is Dravid who has to open his eyes. But I am quite sure that on his bowling prowess he will make the cut against Bermuda. Talk about blasphemy.

Sachin tendulkar: You are the best batsman in the world. The one with the best technique to attack or defend as you please. You are the Bradman of this era. But there is another thing that you are. The inventor of new ways to get out. Driving on a ball that turns in, get an inside edge, ball hits the pad, and keeper messes up before finally catching it. We have seen it all Sachin. The question is, are we ever going to see you lift a world cup?

MS Dhoni, Harbhajan: Ducks? That’s what they score when the previous day, all the news channels carried out news how the Indian lower order was practicing power hitting. A bit more introspection required especially from Dhoni. Karthik is waiting in the wings and we know that the think tank likes to experiment.

Zaheer, Munaf, Agarkar: Not much fault with them except that they were bowling too much on the batsmen’s legs or too short of length. But then again, the way the Bangladeshis batted, clearly they disturbed their line and length. Bowling on a placid track, didn’t help either.

Ganguly, Yuvraj: Nothing much they did wrong or nothing else they could have done. Except that Ganguly ought to have shown some urgency early on in his innings. Plus one can’t also really blame Uthappa for what happened. He is meant to play attacking shots. We will also take into account his inexperience.

Why we lost was because these highly experienced and talented men just could not get their act right. The powerplays brought runs in a trickle, so much so only 24 runs were scored in the first 10 overs. Ganguly took 120 balls to score his fifty. Yes he was the lone man standing but a bit more urgency than the safety first approach could have been beneficial. Plus what is it with Sachin and left arm bowlers? Add Abdur Razzak to the list of Giles, Jayasuriya and Raymond price. And last but not the least, 5 wickets for 2 runs is the stuff dreams are made of. Bangladeshi ones I am sure. My memory betrays me if I try to even recall a similar streak of Indian dismissals.

All is not lost yet unlike in Pakistan’s case. We can still qualify but it is not in our hands alone. Sri Lanka’s run rate is too high and Bangladesh will play Bermuda last. Not only we have to win the last two matches comfortably but also pray that Sri Lanka beat the living daylights out of Bangladesh, so much so that their run rate becomes irreparable against Bermuda. Our fate is no more in our hands.

The thought of India out of the world cup in the first round, is an edgy one. Ask the advertisers if the fans’ condition is not enough proof. But it is not an improbable one. If that happens, it will surely surpass this as the worst day in our cricketing history. As a fan, I am mentally scarred by this loss forever. Not ready for the next one just yet. Not yet.