A COMMAND PERFORMANCE

8.45 pm IST, with just about 45 minutes left for the crucial India-South Africa match to begin, there is a whiff of breaking news. Yuvraj Singh, the sultan of sixes, has an elbow injury and is a doubtful starter. In no time, the news is confirmed and gloom pervades. News channels throw out their sleek preview stories, which were all set to be unleashed on the dot at 9 pm prime time.

Rumour mills and conspiracy theories are on overdrive (though not on air), inevitable in a cynical era still not fully recovered from the match-fixing controversy. So is the injury all about Yuvraj the vice-captain trying to put down Dhoni, his captain though junior to him, by backing out at the crunch? The one question to trigger passionate debates.

Remember the 1996 World Cup and the fate of then Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, who pulled out of the crucial India vs Pakistan quarterfinal citing injury. India emerged the winner and doubting mobs at home stoned his house and burned his effigy.

It doesn't help matters when India lose three early wickets. But cometh the hour, cometh the newcomer. Rohit Sharma delighted with his unbeaten 50, a combination of sweet timing and judicious hitting.

Sharma gave an encore on the field too, with a stunning direct hit. And got the man-of-the-match award for his brilliance.

But wasn't there a more deserving candidate for man-of-the-match? A spell of 4-0-13-4, out of which two found their stumps shattered. Moreover, RP Singh conceded less than four an over, that too in a Twenty20 match.

Test cricket's cliche of 'bowlers win matches' undoubtedly applied to India's performance. And RP was the spearhead, first packing off Gibbs and Smith cheaply, then bowling Shaun Pollock for a golden duck and later yorking a defiant Albie Morkel.

Fantastic show by the newcomer with the bat in a pressure situation, but the bowler deserved his due. Wishing that the bowler should at least get some crumbs in a game tailormade for batsmen remains just a lament, a lament for the unsung.

Eventually though, it's a minor quibble in a major success.