Over the wicket: Lessons for India from Asia Cup win

The Indian cricket team has this uncanny ability to win tournaments when they are least expected to. Numerous instances, starting from India's victory in the 1983 World Cup prove it.

Their biggest triumph in recent years was lifting the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007…and this was most unexpected. Mahendra Singh Dhoni won it with a team considered to be weaklings without their star players.

India did it again on Thursday by lifting the Asia Cup after a gap of 15 years. The last time India won this Cup was in Sharjah when skipper Mohammad Azharuddin cracked a brilliant unbeaten 90 to beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets.

Why is this uncertainty so synonymous with the Indian team? The problem often lies with the players and their approach to the game. A few big victories and players build this aura of a superstar around them and take their place for granted. The Indian media too paints them as the best…if not the greatest. And then, when defeats and first round exits follow one after the other, and they are on the verge of being discarded as useless, they put in all their effort to lift the game.

This Asia Cup victory is special for India in many ways. They won without any of their top players, including Virender Sehwag. So what they need is a winning combination. Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and bowler Praveen Kumar are the future of Indian cricket. They need to be given more opportunities.

However, India should also not get carried away by this success because the match-winning performance came from Ashish Nehra, someone who has a constant battle with injuries. So a match-winning bowler is the need of the hour. If not, victories may come their way only when spells like Nehra's surface.

And instead of gloating over this victory, the Indian cricket board should seriously consider rectifying their players' shortcomings and even brushing up even the bench players' skills at the National Cricket Academy.

The Asia Cup has given an opportunity to all the four teams to assess their strengths before the 2011 World Cup. Pakistan was able to prove everything is not lost and all they need is to focus on the game. Sri Lanka should work towards maintaining consistency and the verve to give their best in the big games. It's also time Bangladesh lifted their standards.

Above all, the Asian Cricket Council should stage this tournament regularly without another long siesta.