What a bummer! So much expectations and so few met in the final of the one-day series. Rahul Dravid’s luck with the toss continued and yet again he read the conditions wrong. Cannot blame him really as these decisions are already made up by the team beforehand. However, with the way this series had gone, India should really have put on a more competitive total. Their lack of going past 200 is becoming a major problem now. The umpiring has been very consistent so far this series – and by that I mean the poor umpiring decisions against India. Aleem Dar the culprit this time. Yet again Sachin was the victim. Even though Dravid played down the umpiring decisions, this is getting just too much. The ICC and the world has no right to call the umpiring standards of Indian umpires low when the elite umpires of their own panel make such terrible decisions.

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As for the match report, nothing much to write about, England completely dominated this one as they have whenever they have chased a total. India lacked aggression and fire when it required the most. All credit to England’s bowlers who played with passion and executed their plan perfectly.

Plenty of positives for both countries after the test and one-day series. India are lacking one support bowler to Zaheer and RP Singh, and I am hoping that Irfan Pathan can come back into this team. A lot depends on him as he provides that crucial balance of a bowler-cum-batsman that India really need. I am also hoping for Virender Sehwag to come good in the Twenty20 World Cup. I think he is the reason why India are failing so often batting first as he just does not allow the bowlers to dominate. He is the sort of person who can demoralize any bowling attack. The retrun of the Ganguly-Tendulkar pair at the top of the order has been the real reason for India to be so competitive in this series.

For England, James Anderson and Stuart Broad have been outstanding. Lacking experience, they have performed admirably. I believe James Anderson has bowled better in the one-day series than in the tests. Ian Bell has been a revelation. He has provided solidity at the top order despite the openers not really getting starts. Young Luke Wright is sure to be watched out for in the Twenty20 World Cup. Paul Collingwood must be feeling very pleased with his own form during the one-day series as his test performance was very ordinary.

We move to the Twenty20 World cup now and the practice matches have already started. Can India do much better? Vote for it here.

Match Highlights

Presentation Ceremony

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