Encounter with Zimbabwe

The Tigers began the tour on a highly optimistic note, looking for their first ever triumph in a series abroad. There was reason to believe that they might achieve the target, given their good performance against much better sides in the recent past. But, sadly enough, the boys are still suffering from the same old maladies -- loose shots, poor temperament and so on. It was clearly a very insipid and uninspired performance by the batsmen. Only in the last match did they find the rhythm and spontaneity against a mediocre Zimbabwe attack. In the earlier matches, they failed to lay the foundation for a big score after losing quick wickets which forced the late middle order to repair the innings. They had to defend for a long time after initial setbacks. So the scorecard never had a healthy look in a race with overs. The batsmen not only failed to play well, but also dwarfed the creditable performance of the bowlers.

So once again we have watched a deluge of incompetence that swept away the occasional spurts of brilliance. This flashy nature of our cricket has been frustrating the fans. They may beat a great side today, but tomorrow they will cave in meekly to ordinary rivals.

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For the Zimbabweans it was a sweet revenge for their loss to Bangladesh in the last ODI series.

The series was important since Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are the two main contenders for the ninth position in world cricket. So, a victory would have been a psychological advantage.

Cricket's immense popularity has a lot to do with the general expectation that the boys will compete with the top sides in the near future. The fans want the boys to be giants themselves, not occasional giant killers!