Cricket lovers saddened by Indian team’s poor show

GUWAHATI, Nov 8 – Expectations of thousands of spectators, who turned up from every nook and corner of the State hoping to see their favourite cricketers put up a spirited show, were dashed to the ground as the hosts surrendered meekly before Australia at the city’s Nehru Stadium today.

Dejection was writ large on the faces of scores of fans – young and old alike – after they witnessed a string of failures by some of the biggest names in Indian cricket.

The Sehwags, Gambhirs, Tendulkars and Yuvrajs, to name a few, all failed to live up to the expectations and there was hardly anything positive to take back, apart from the two half-centuries by Ravindra Jadeja and Praveen Kumar.

But, for most of the spectators, it was skipper Mahindra Singh Dhoni’s ‘wrong’ decision that cost Team India the match and the series.

“Batting first on a wicket favourable to seamers was a blunder. How could an experienced player like Dhoni take such a senseless decision after winning the toss?” Samiran Barthakur, a disappointed fan, said while expressing his anguish.

Another fan, Rajiv Hadique, was of the view that irrespective of the result, a close encounter was all that the spectators had come to see.

“We would not have minded had India lost after putting up a spirited fight. But the result was a foregone conclusion after the first 15 overs of the Indian innings. Skipper Dhoni has to share the blame for this fiasco,” he said.

The dejection among the fans was all the more since the last scheduled one-day match here between India and England was called off after the England team cut short its visit following the Mumbai terror attacks last year. In 2006 also, another India-England match was washed out without a single ball being bowled.

“The match was a widely anticipated one and the run-up to it – with the series tantalizingly poised – created the perfect atmosphere for the fans. But unfortunately, things turned out to be an anti-climax due to the inept display by India,” Rajiv said.