We lost, yes... but its for our own good.

Hmmm... I believe this loss actually augurs well for India. The billion people in our country were on cloud nine after the Bangladesh game before the finals of the tri-series that just concluded. They felt this team was on its way to unseen glory. Praises were thrown in for the team from every corner of the nation. And I actually believe they did not deserve all of that. The Pakistan team were very complacent after their comfortable victory over the hosts. And they were buried dead by the Indians who fired as a unit. But it was all just too good to be long lasting.

If they had won today, then they would have been hailed as one of the best ever teams. And the media would have celebrated them like they achieved a phenomenal feat. But now that they have lost, I think it is only right that the media take note of the successful players from this tournament and not criticise their loss in the finals, after they were touted to be the favourites. All the players are slowly recovering from their IPL hangovers.

They will now sit down and analyse their bowling, which still lacks that sting. They are unable to contain the opposition when they start scoring at a good rate. Now that they have been silenced, they can start over and prepare well for the Asia Cup, which is of more importance. I believe they have a very good side which can bring home the trophy. This loss today shows the potential of the Pakistan team. And this can easily be bettered by the current Indian team. They can, through proper discussions and observations make out the strengths and weaknesses of this Pakistan side and use this knowledge against them in the upcoming Asian championship.

As Harsha Bhogle has written in his column on espnstar.com, there is a nice pool of about 20-25 players which the Indian selectors can choose from. It has a very good mix of experience and youth and this is very essential in building a well balanced team for the not-so-far-off champions trophy and the 2011 world cup scheduled to take place in the subcontinent. MS Dhoni is a worthy captain and I believe he can, with a little learning, marshall these Blues to a successful campaign in both these big events.