Sachin returned for the crunch game which India had to win convincingly (by 25 runs at least if India batted first). Although his back was still in pain, he took the risk to play, a decision surely brought about after the pathetic batting display the previous day against Australia.

What the skipper would certainly have not bargained for was poor bowling, especially by the experienced Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble. It' s been quite a while now since the batting and bowling departments clicked together (our fielding has remained consistently disgraceful!).

Coming back to the game, India scored a huge 296 for 4 in 50 overs with Sachin blazing away to his 23rd one-day century. Soon he will have more centuries than his age, definitely the first cricketer to achieve that. He was brilliantly supported by Ganguly who put the failures of the first three games behind him and smashed a superb 85 in 73 balls. Ramesh proved his worth once again, baffling the batting pundits who criticise his footwork, scoring 32 quick runs in 35 balls.

Sri Lanka needed to score at least 271 in 50 overs to qualify for the final. But a halt in play after six overs because of rain reduced the target to 232 in 42 overs.

At that stage, Jayasuriya decided to make it or break it and set about carving the Indian bowling. He started with a slashed six over third man off Srinath and then proceeded to take Prasad to the cleaners. A verbal battle broke out between Prasad and Jayasuriya but the battle between bat and ball was won by the Sri Lankan skipper. He smashed the hapless Prasad for four boundaries in a row and soon brought up his 50 in only 34 balls.

After that, it was a cakewalk mainly due to Kumble's poor bowling. Out of sorts from day one of this tournament (a wag remarked that he had lost his "mojo" ) his inability to get wickets meant that runs came at a fast pace. A lovely little knock of 62 from Mahela Jayawardene or " Baby Jaya "as he is called, along with a patient 55 from Atappatu, saw Sri Lanka through to the target of 232 and a place in the final.

The only Indian bowler to make any impact was Robin Singh who got 2 for 27 in 7 overs, a performance which got him the MOM award.

For the record, India won the match as Sri Lanka managed only 247 for 9 in 42 overs to lose by 23 runs, for India a case of winning the battle but not the war.

It is time for us to think hard of ways and means to improve our performance in the next tournament at Singapore – a triangular featuring India, West Indies and Zimbabwe from Sep 2nd to 7th.

A new wicket keeper is required if M.S.K. Prasad is going to warm the bench permanently. Using Rahul again will be a mistake because he has to concentrate on getting his form back rather than the extra burden of keeping wickets.

The present batting order with Saurav dropping down makes sense as Ramesh has done well. Sachin must play his normal game. No point in his hanging around just to preserve his wicket.

If the bowlers take a hard look at themselves they will see that they definitely performed below par. Kumble may have an easier time against WI and Zimbabwe who do not play him as well, but if he bowls bad balls he will be punished. He mustn't forget that line and length has been his strength all through his career. Prasad had a bad game against Sri Lanka but he is capable of great stuff, like in the game against Australia.

Our fielding must be the main worry. It was a joke in Colombo. The Aussies took advantage of the schoolboy level fielding in both games with a lot of cheeky singles. The Sri Lankans followed suit in the final game.

The need of the hour is a specialist fielding coach. He need not meddle in other affairs but I don't see such wisdom prevailing as our Cricket Board has always been reluctant to give too much responsibility to foreign coaches.

Brief Scores :

India: 296 for 4 wkts in 50 overs, Sachin Tendulkar 120, Saurav Ganguly 85.

Sri Lanka: 247 for 9 in 42 overs (match reduced to 42 overs, SriLanka needing 271 to win), Sanath Jayasuriya 71, Jayawardene 62, Atapattu 55, Robin Singh 2 for 27

Man of the Match: Robin Singh

India won by 23 runs.

- Arjun Raja in Dubai, UAE

The views of this column are the author's own, and do not necessarily represent the views of NRI Online.