So India finally wins a tournament final in Sri Lanka. Difficult to call it a breaking of finals’ jinx, given that only in 2008 had India beaten Australia in their own den in what was the last tri-series finals, but yes, one does get the point – for years, the Indian side has continued to play well enough and end up vanquished in the finals. For a change, the side lost a game in the league stage to the same side which they managed to get better of, in the finals. The question that remains though is, did they play well enough to deserve that number one tag they had had conferred upon them for a period of less than 24 hours before being unceremoniously removed after the league game against Sri Lanka? To my mind, and despite the obvious rustiness that could be associated with the lack of cricket for a reasonable length of time, it was clearly not a display that befitted a number one side. For one, the fielding could be described appalling at best. At worst though, it was worst than what one would find at most clubs in the country. Sitters were dropped, balls were fumbled, and easy twos and threes were conceded when the batsmen should have been restricted to less. How much the side deserves a throne depends largely on the ease with which they can field, and it certainly did not seem like the Indians were enjoying it too much out there; a point that wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by Robin Singh. The other issue was with the loss in the second game of the tournament, en route winning it. Quite clearly, the Indians had been out-played in all the three departments. Now, my problem is not with losing games – every number one team loses and will go on to lose games. It is about the abject manner in which the Indians almost surrendered the match, first in the field – which includes the aforementioned aspect about fielding – and then with the bat. It was almost so reminiscent of those days in the past, when the Indian ODI side needed Sachin Tendulkar to perform at the top, and without him, it almost looked as lost as a pup in a pub! What worries me is that the likes of Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina may be big enough names, and even bigger hitters of the ball, but their performance has been anything but that. Probably it is still early in the season, but there is clear evidence that the players at the bottom of the rung need to take that step up – and score the runs even if they get to face the overs in the end. After all, a guy like Pathan is in the side to do a job, and that is to get maximum runs off minimum deliveries; probably even treat the remaining overs of the game as a T20 game! He almost looks lost for his role in his team, almost as if the captain and the coach haven’t defined it for him.Another word about how the tournament has been afforded a ‘meaningless’ status by the experts; something that cannot be fully justified. What was then expected out of India? To go into the Champions Trophy with no international games under their belt, no on-field strategy, and no nothing and win it? Strange are some so-called experts.