India Lost Nerves In The England Tie

The India England match of this World Cup which resulted in a tie was one of the greatest games ever played in the history of ODIs. One side batted first and scored 338 and the other side equaled the score. Very rarely has it been witnessed in ODIs that a team has scored nearly 350 runs and the other team has chased or equaled that or even come close to that. One incidence was when Aus scored 435 and SA chased that. Another incidence was in this tournament when Ireland successfully chased England’s total of 327. It was one of those special matches – extremely enchanting, exciting and entertaining. Ireland’s defeat of England was a success which should be an inspiration for all the teams not to take any team lightly. All the teams participating in this tournament are strong and none can be underestimated. The England-India tie was also a lesson for India. India took that match easily. They scored less runs than they could in the last few overs. They became overconfident. Perhaps they thought that they had enough runs on the board. Similarly they were complacent in their bowling and fielding. They took the opponent easily. They thought that their score was unattainable. But England went bang on target right from the beginning. They exploded throughout their inning. Captain Andrew Strauss specially was the most extraordinary. His knock of 158 was really awe-inspiring. England were always ahead of their required run rate in their chase. So the tie was a big loss for India as they could have easily won that match. India should now be cautious in their contests as otherwise they might lose and get knocked out from the tournament like in their 2007 campaign.