Desert Disappointments !!

The middle eastern desert - Sharjah especially had been a bane of Indian cricket with countless losses to Pakistan over the years - since the days of Javed Miandad sixer off Chetan Sharma. The desert was deserted by BCCI after the match fixing scandal but things seemed to have taken a new turn with a new venue - Abu Dhabi but the Indian luck continued to be the old variety.
India won the toss and their innings never took off. Robin Uthappa, as expected chipped one in the air (with his pre-determined run down the wicket and uppish drive tendency - more and more sensible bowlers will eat him for breakfast, lunch and dinner together). Then there were the needless runouts (against a horrendous fielding team like Pak that is a crime) and a listless innings by Venu, who is trying to establish himself. In the end, the total was way too low for being defended and Younus Khan, who is yet to get tired of feasting on India (he is almost going in the Miandad, Zaheer Abbas proportions in accumulating runs against India) saw to it that there are no last minute heros from Indian bowling attack.
India could have set the record and all with those 16 chases in patta wickets but they are yet to master setting up a total, when they bat first, especially when early wickets fall and Dravid gets out too. They do have a valid excuse here - the punishing schedule - BCCI has not allowed them to sleep for any time - from the time the season began against SL. Gavaskar's 'take pride' statement not withstanding, the gruelling schedule did seem to have impacted India since I saw jaded faces , compared to have a relatively fresher Pak team. They at least had a few more days off, after their SL tour. I was also very, very impressed with the way Mohd. Asif has assumed the Pak attack's mantle. He is very economical and not easy to get off in the early overs, unless one is prepared to take risks. All said, India should put in one last hurrah of effort and redeem themselves today.