The way India batted against the Dutch is a fresh concern for skipper M S Dhoni
Considering how volatile Group B has been, two points at this stage of the tournament, whichever way they came, were invaluable for India. But the victory over Netherlands nonetheless bespoke confounding tactics.u00a0 Dutch wicketkeeper Wesley Barresi (left) watches as India's Yuvraj Singh drives the ball during their World Cup tie at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi yesterday. Yuvraj scored a gutsy 51 to follow up his fine showing against the Irish in Bangalore. PIC/AFP
Chasing a modest 190 for victory, it appeared Dhoni's team would pursue a strategy similar to the match against Ireland a few days earlier in Bangalore. Needing 208 to win that match, the batsmen had played with almost exaggerated circumspection to complete the win. 
But yesterday evening on a Kotla pitch that was even more sluggish than the one at the Chinaswamy Stadium, India's top order batsmen went hell-for-leather as if they wanted to finish the match in 20 overs or less.u00a0
With Tendulkar and Sehwag putting on 69 for the first wicket in under eight overs, it seemed that in fact they would. But when wickets started tumbling after the breakthrough came, the frailty of this tactic became apparent. From 69 for no loss, the score soon became 99 for four as Sehwag, Tendulkar, Pathan and Kohli were out playing reckless or casual strokes and India suddenly found themselves in a spot.
It had almost seemed that the batsmen wanted to prove a point to those who had criticized them for their tardy progress to victory in the Bangalore match. Clearly, though, the exact opposite approach on a pitch that was even less conducive to strokeplay was more foolhardiness than legitimate rebuff.u00a0
A five-wicket victory with almost 14 overs to spare would ordinarily be construed as emphatic. But it was the relative inexperience of the Dutch players (and admittedly even lesser talent than their counterparts) that allowed the Indian team to get away with no greater damage than embarrassment.
Yuvraj Singh'su00a0 third successive half-century, with resolute support from the captain himself, ensured that India would not be denied a win. But it did not turn out to be as credit-worthy as seemed likely when India's much-maligned bowlers had restricted Netherlands to just 189.
Among the more disappointing aspects of the Indian batting for me were the tame dismissals of Yusuf Pathan and Virat Kohli. Pathan, promoted in the batting order, muffed up a splendid opportunity to spend more time in the middle and score a bagful of runs.
Pathan needs to be a trifle cautious about getting stereotyped as only a six-hitter. That could boomerang on him. In a different sense, Kohli needs to guard against casualness. He has grown by leaps and bounds in the past year, but cannot dilute his splendid form with loose strokes.u00a0
Before the match began, however, it was Piyush Chawla's inclusion that had raised the level of debate and consternation among aficionados.
That R Ashwin would replace him seemed a foregone conclusion till Dhoni exchanged the teams at the toss with the only change being Nehra for Munaf.
I thought Ashwin deserved to be tried out, but in hindsight, the captain's faith in Chawla is not entirely ill-founded. As a leggie, he brings variety and wicket-taking edge to the attack.
In previous games he has been nervous and erratic, but all things considered, yesterday Chawla acquitted himself well, barring his last over when he was hit for a couple of sixes.
Indeed, contrasted with the error-prone batting, the bowlers were almost faultless. So, while some old questions were answered, some new ones will have arisen for Dhoni. He and Gary Kirsten have some more homework ahead of them.
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