The final of the Indian Oil Cup left Indian fans with a sense of déjà vu, which in itself is a sad observation. The tournament was in essence a test of India's progression, not necessarily in terms of results, but in terms of improvisation. Sri Lanka though deservedly walked away with the series, showing tremendous courage and determination to wrest the initiative and the game away from India, not once but thrice.

It is hard to lay blame on India's tactics, given the fact that the bowling fell apart just when the gameplan finally swerved towards playing five specialists in that department. Apart from Ashish Nehra and his lion-hearted effort to pick up six Sri Lankan wickets, a performance that prevented them from crossing the 300 mark, Rahul Dravid may have erred on the side of caution in not bringing on Yuvraj Singh and or even Sourav Ganguly to try and unsettle the batsmen. Zaheer Khan's aversion for finals is becoming a sore point with India and Pathan's listlessness was bizarre. It may not be a bad idea to try out the fringe bowlers now, rather than in the final run-up to the World Cup. The 124-run partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold for the fifth wicket provided stability and momentum and Dravid was sadly running out of bowling options. While initial focus lay on Sanath Jayasuriya crossing the 10,000-run mark to join Ganguly and company, his sixty-seven was as instrumental as Jayawardene's eighty-three and Arnold's sixty-four.

For India, highfaluting ways have to give way to pragmatism. The halo surrounding Greg Chappell's initiation as coach will have dulled after a rather typical Indian story of a late-order collapse while chasing. Much was expected and it has become obvious, for those still honeymooning, that Chappell has no magic wand and his foresight will take time to really show results. It was also obvious that he did not like what he saw, and that will ideally translate into a serious brainstorm after the gloom of the loss will have lifted in the morning.

While Ganguly's assertiveness in captaincy cannot be undermined, it is imperative that India need a new direction. Ganguly may have well reached the threshold as far his services as captain are concerned. It is hard for him to remain a certainty in the side without that responsibility. The onus on his batting will only bear greater significance given his not-so-flattering fielding skills. Dravid may appear conservative but his fierce determination may just be the injection India need.

As far as the match was concerned, the turning point was not as much Yuvraj Singh's dismissal as it was Dravid's. Dravid's run out really closed the door on what would have been a commendable victory. Yuvraj's slog was unwarranted, given that the initiative lay clearly in India's hands after a terrific start courtesy Virender Sehwag and the partnership with Dravid. Marvan Atapattu had to turn to Muttiah Muralitharan as a last throw of the dice. What that error did was put additional burden on Dravid. The combination of a swift Mohammad Kaif and a tiring, dehydrating Dravid saw a fatal error on the part of the resolute captain. Tillekaratne Dilshan may just grab as Oscar. A man suffering from ankle injury a ball before summoned his lightning-fast reflexes to run Dravid out and then, jig with glee.

Where the bowling fell to pieces, the Sri Lankan bowlers remained remarkably cool under pressure. One begs to ask: Was it necessary for Irfan Pathan to dance down the pitch to Muralitharan? Hasn't the man earned enough wickets without assistance of this kind? Harbhajan Singh had his anger misplaced with Nehra while bowling and Kaif while batting, as he went blindly for a non-existent run. A little presence of mind would have perhaps have seen India through. After all, India needed seventy-seven runs off sixty-seven balls when Dravid exited. That India fell short by eighteen runs requires serious introspection.