Full credit to Indian spinners

It's good to see India come back strongly after dismal performances in the earlier matches. A victory after a series of defeats is always sweet. And the way India went about its task against the Lankans in the Coca-Cola triangular series on Saturday was really impressive.

Indian bowlers continued to do well in this tournament. Restricting the Lankan batsmen below 200 runs especially when openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana were threatening to put up a huge total, was not at all going to be easy. Full credit should be given to the Indian spinners for the way Virender Sehwag and Hemang Badani rallied around Harbhajan Singh, who is perhaps one of the best spin bowlers in the world.

The wicket at the Premadasa Stadium was flat, ball coming on to the bat. In fact it was a bad wicket which provided no turn at all but despite all these, the Indian bowlers came out with flying colours. The Indians displayed a positive attitude and most important of all, showed a big heart in handling the pressure situations. With their back against the wall at one stage, the Indians never lost its nerves at any point. A similar kind of approach is the need of the hour. For a change the Indian batsmen responded to the wake up call while it has always been the bowlers who have slogged out without adequate help from the men with the willow. Today they did not disappoint.

I was really impressed with the way Rahul Dravid handled the bowlers, rotating the strike without letting the pressure mount.

It was an easy target no doubt and all the Indians had to do was play out the 50 overs. V.V.S. Laxman played a sensible innings, his partnership with Virender Sehwag and then with captain Dravid proved crucial for the Indians.

One or two big partnerships is all that matters for a match to turn in any team's favour and India needs such big stands to win matches regularly. If Laxman showed the way with his responsible innings, it should be Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, who should take the bull by its horns. One day cricket is all about building partnerships. With this win, India's chances of qualifying for the final have only increased.

The match referee Cammie Smith's decision to suspend Sourav for one match was really shocking. If you have seen the replays, it was more of a natural and momentary reaction than anything else. I don't think what Sourav did amounted to dissent. Without an iota of doubt, I would say the decision was both harsh and wrong.

Cammie Smith has always been known for his inconsistency. If you could rewind your memory to the first Test match at Mumbai between India and Australia. In that match, Michael Slater was adjudged out caught by Dravid but Slater refused to move, apparently unhappy with the decision. Moreover, he started to argue with umpire Venkatraghavan. Surprisingly, he was not suspended. Incidentally, Smith was the match referee then.

Comparing this and Sourav's, I still feel Slater should have been suspended for three more matches. Why did Smith not give a similar decision against Slater. Why this biased approach against the Indians?

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