How was the 16 Year Old Jinx Broken?

India finally managed to win a Final against Sri Lanka in some format of Cricket. Asia Cup had eluded India since 1994 in spite of the presence of Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and Dravid almost throughout this period and Sehwag, Yuveraj and a decent bowling army since long.

One of the finest ODI players of his time, Saurav Ganguly never got a chance to lay his hands on this Silverware! And this time, India were not expected to do any better. At least this blogger never gave them a chance. But Team India have beaten all the odds and even broken a 16 year old jinx. How did this happen? Apart from the Lions' Top order collapse, there are five reasons again!

1] Ravindra Jadeja: Pardon me for being too judgmental. I didn't like the idea of promoting this lad ahead of Yusuf Pathan. An innings of 23 runs from 16 balls by Yusuf is considered as a flop show while Jadeja gets away with 23 runs from 35 balls.

He was slaughtered during the T-20 World Cup, but it was Yusuf who got the axe effect. To give the devil his due, Jadeja bowled well, fielded better and got a few useful runs in the final when India couldn't hit a single boundary in the last 5 overs. He was definitely a positive and the ball that got Kulasekara was a beauty!

2] Ashish Nehra / Zaheer Khan: The old warhorses are still running. Nehra took flight when the lights came on and there was something in the pitch for him. Zaheer was damn good with his line.

And the Praveen Kumar was brilliant. On another day and with a bit of luck, he would have been Man of the Match. 9-1-29-1 stats didn't do justice to his effort on that evening.

3] Dinesh Karthik: I have always felt this little chap is a much better batsman than a wicketkeeper. I also felt he is a better international batter than Rohit and M. Vijay.

A hamstrung Sehwag did a world of good to Karthik and Team India. It was a bold and timely innings by this makeshift opener. He deserves a place in Test Team ahead of Vijay and Yuveraj Singh.

I am totally dumbfounded by the Selector's decision to bring in Saha and Yuveraj into the Test team. On what basis did they make this selection? Yuveraj hasn't regained his fitness, not yet. And Saha is not Dravid, not Laxman, not even Sreesanth!

4] Kapugedara and Kandambi: Even when their 'Big Two' failed, Sri Lanka have always had some lesser mortals come and run away with matches from India. These two K's have done it before.

But this time, they were under immense pressure. Even though they built a partnership and tried to fight back, the speed at which they played initially rendered it meaningless in the end.

5] Fielding: Team India have always been blamed of below par fielding. We still have Nehra, Zaheer and PK who are confirmed sloths. But Virat is a revelation. Jadeja is very good and Rohit is not such a sloth after all. Dhoni is very efficient keeper without being brilliant. Karthik and Gambhir are good out fielders and then there is Suresh Raina. He is always a lurking danger on the field.

Compared to the sloppy fielding efforts and dropped catches by Sri Lankans on the evening, Indians looked like South Africans! This made a huge impact on the quality of bowling which I had branded as 'Popgun' the other day.

Finally Team India have won the Asia Cup and Dhoni has once again broken a barrier that has haunted India for long and even before he started playing! Good for him, some cheers in the shorter format of Cricket at last!

Now, I am waiting for the Tried and Tested Three to come good in the Test series! Hope Sehwag is fit and match-fit too! There is another barrier to be broken. It is over 15 years since India won a Test series in Sri Lanka!