ICC Champions Trophy 2013: India v/s West Indies - Flops of the Day

I am sometimes surprised by the rules of the Champions Trophy. If one side wins a game, it sends another one crashing out of the tournament, while if the opponent triumphs, all teams in the group have an equal chance. Add to that the fielding restrictions and two new balls, and I am completely confused. Eventually, these new regulations turn every league game into a virtual knockout, and it gets hard on those sides struggling to come back into the tournament after a loss. At this juncture, most teams would pick a lot of big names in their final XI, but if they don’t deliver the goods, more trouble is caused. That’s why we call them Flops.

Here are some of the Flops of today’s game between India and WI:

Umesh Yadav (9-0-54-1)

Skipper MS Dhoni had stated before the game that Umesh Yadav would have a crucial role to play against the Windies. The Vidarbha pacer started off well, but was then taken to the cleaners – first by Johnson Charles, who smacked him for three fours in a row, then by Dwayne Bravo and finally by Darren Sammy. Going by Dhoni’s words, Yadav did play a crucial role – he gifted the opposition plenty of runs with his wayward bowling. Not a good performance by a bowler who possesses the kind of speed that is required on English pitches.

Chris Gayle (21 runs off 18 balls)

Fresh from his IPL exploits – including a whirlwind 175-run knock against the Pune Warriors – the big Jamaican was expected to dominate the Indian bowling with his sheer power-hitting. He did play a couple of shots against pacers Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but the young UP seamer deceived him with a clever delivery that moved away and had an extra bit of bounce. Since winning every game is critical for all sides, much was expected of Gayle – and he flattered to deceive.

Darren Bravo (35 runs off 83 balls)

Okay, so he’s the captain’s half-brother and WI legend Brian Lara’s nephew. But Darren Bravo completely forgot that he wasn’t playing Test cricket. How do you take 83 balls to score just 35 runs in an ODI? Sure, holding up one end is a good strategy, but ODI cricket is about rotating the strike and getting those ones and twos even if the boundaries aren’t coming. Clearly, the younger Bravo was completely bogged down by the nagging accuracy of the Indian spinners. He eventually lost patience – and his wicket – in trying to break the shackles. I could see similarities between his innings and the one that Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq played against SA the other night. I don’t think it’s a good sign for the talented youngster – he needs to learn to keep the scoreboard ticking even without the big shots.

Ramnaresh Sarwan (1 run off 6 balls)

Former West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan too fell prey to India’s suddenly-potent spin attack. Considered as one of the better players of spin in the line-up, especially in the absence of the vastly experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ronnie (as he is popularly known as) looked very tentative in his approach. For a battle-scarred veteran who was expected to hold the middle-order together, the right-hander couldn’t deliver the goods. It would be better if he took some time off to work on his game, as he is still needed by his side.

Kemar Roach (0 n.o. off 8 balls; 6-0-47-0)

Pacer Kemar Roach is a vivid reminder of the WI pace battery of the 70s and 80s. He generates that extra bit of pace which causes the ball to skid off the surface, rendering it unplayable. However, he was completely off-colour today as all four Indian batsmen got stuck into him. He ended up conceding 47 runs from his six overs. Eventually, that proved a little too expensive for his side.