Can you actually believe Yuvraj was yawning towards th end of the game???
"Teams start to show their true colours
COMMENT
Robert Craddock
March 19, 2007
AUSTRALIA is still good. England is still weak. Pakistan is still a shambles and India is still a team of pampered stars and the most overrated side in the world.
To see India's team of cruising millionaires harassed and gang-tackled to the ground by the bustling little Bangladesh side with an average age of 23 will remain one of the joys of the cup.
Inspired 17-year-old batsman Tamin Iqbal embodied the spirit of a Bangladesh team which is desperate for the world to respect it when he was hit in the throat by Zaheer Khan, then charged the same bowler and smacked him for a vicious straight four.
Bangladesh has long felt it was only a matter of time before its thriving junior system, which traditionally produces one of the best under-19 sides in the world, gave it a decent senior team. Under the guidance of coach Dav Whatmore, it is well on the way.
"I haven't seen them for two years and I cannot believe how good they are and how they have improved out of sight," commentator David Lloyd said.
India, by contrast, remains the great underachiever. Every time it has a major tournament it trots out its list of big names -- Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag among them -- and gets beaten.
The side looks stale, emotionless and soft.
The once great Tendulkar looks like a battle-weary veteran.
India looks anything but happy, and its recent form of just seven wins in its past 24 one-dayers says everything about what a massive disappointment it has been.
Coach Greg Chappell will write a book when his contract ends -- perhaps as soon as next week -- and it should be quite a read.
It will be interesting to see whether he spills the beans on the self-indulgence in the team, with players refusing to train hard and more worried about commercial deals than the team.
When Bangladesh needed 10 runs to win, the cameras panned to all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who let out a five-second yawn.
He, as much as anyone, embodies the pampered-pussycat mentality of a side that promises so much and delivers so little.
Nothing that has happened in the first week of the cup will have Australia quaking in its boots.
South Africa chopped up The Netherlands with ruthless disdain but has always been spectacular minnow munchers. It doesn't mean the Proteas are going to handle pressure against the big boys any better than they used to.
Sri Lanka and New Zealand look good if not flawless.
The well-drilled Sri Lankans are a beautifully balanced team and will challenge all-comers."
