Blame it on Munaf!

Ok so i blame it all on Munaf patel! Watching England chase 338 and tie the game was rather disappointing and there are several instances where i felt sincerity could have saved the day.

1. Zaheer running 1 short of the last over.

2. Munaf allowing 2 tailenders to get away with 13 of the last over.

3. Sachin allowing that boundary owing to sheer laziness but i really do not have the heart to blame him so i blame munaf for that too:-)

When Munaf bowled that 48th over, a reasonably good one that too, and kept grinning on his way back, something just snapped in my mind. I knew this guy is nowhere close to giving a 100 percent.

Each time he chased the ball to the boundary there is sheer lethargy written all over him. It is like a stubborn little kid who does his homework grudgingly due to fear of being grounded. With all these sophisticated fitness tests, i wonder if coach gary kirsten should have a commitment test and rule him unfit.

Contrast this with the English side, every player who came out gave 100 percent. It was very easy for the 2 tailenders to let their brain to let them believe that 29 of the last 2 was unlikely. If the situation was reversed that is probably how zaheer and piyush chawla would have approached the entire issue and ended up a few short.

Swann, Bresnan, Shehzad were mentally tougher and simply went for it. They knew they werent reading piyush chawla, they knew they had not scored a single six in their career before this match, they knew they would not be blamed for the loss and they knew they had to do one thing and only one thing to win the match. Hit high and hit hard! They did this thrice in the last 2 overs to seal the game for england!!

Their key contenders Munaf and Chawla were listless and nervous respectively. Chawla got one back by dismissing bresnan but that killer instinct was followed up by 6 insipid deliveries by Munaf.

Indians choked in this match not England. England lost wickets because of over attacking and India gave away runs because they were too defensive. I wish Dhoni has the guts to include include an attacking spinner instead of a defensive pacer and open the bowling with R Ashwin instead.

Munaf, Nehra and Sreesanth are simply do not have the attitude to win matches for India!