Watching the final of the Kitply Cup in Mirpur incited mixed feelings in me. One, the Indian team has really come of age because reaching 290 from 100-4 while chasing Pakistan's total of 315 was highly commendable. The other feeling, though, is that these youngsters could be taking it a bit easy.

Four out of the top five batsmen fell to shots they shouldn’t have played. All of these fell after they had got set and were reading the pitch and the conditions well. It’s a cardinal sin in cricket to get out after settling in while your team is chasing a big total because the new batsman takes a bit of time getting his eye in and that sort of luxury cannot be provided in high scoring matches. So how would somebody explain the dismissals of Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina?

Gambhir, being the most senior of the lot, should have understood the situation, given he knew that there was a fielder positioned specifically to counter his favourite shot, which he was playing with aplomb. That fielder was there from the fifth over and Gambhir should have been more aware of it.

Sharma is one guy whom the experts are saying is the successor of Sachin Tendulkar in Indian cricket, but let me tell everyone out there that had Sachin scored a 20-odd he would have definitely made it big. That’s the hallmark of a great player. Somebody needs to explain to Yusi that he is not in the IPL now and that matches continue for 50 overs in this format. The way he plays he gives the idea that he wants to finish it off in 20 overs. He needs to be a bit more patient and understand that he is playing international matches.

Raina has a habit of playing the worst of shots to the worst of balls. He did the same here, on a delivery where he could have so easily moved around for a single and India would have still been cruising, but he had other ideas.

No, I am not criticising these guys. My point is that they are all supreme talents and that is why my frustration is coming out. My mother always used to say, “I scold you to study because I know you can do it – had you been an idiot I would not have forced the issue.”

I hope my readers are getting my point. All these guys have made their place in the side out of sheer hard work and are performing as well, if not better than, how the discarded stars would have done, but somehow the killer instinct was seen missing from this final and that’s because of lack of responsibility. When I say responsibility, one player who comes to mind is Mohammad Kaif. Remember his 84 batting at No.7  in the 2002 NatWest final in England? That’s how good he can be.

These youngsters need to take a leaf out of Yuvi's book – Yuvraj steadied things with 56 from 59 balls. Responsibility in any format is really important. In a Twenty20 a couple of good overs might change a game, but in a 50 over a side game even a good 20 overs are not enough. There lies the difference. The Indian bowling attack for the first 20 overs against Pakistan was quite good but what happened after that substantiates my point. We needed a couple of solid, big partnerships today but all we got was bits and pieces.

The average age of this team is 23 years and I am sure they will learn a lot as they gain more experience but one thing has to be borne in mind – the faster you learn, the better it is because, with a busy season ahead, such costly mistakes can only prove fatal for the Indian side. However, I still believe that Indian cricket is in decent hands and with Dhoni at the helm it is bound to get better all the time.

It’s time to sign off hoping we have a better performance from the Indian side in the Asia Cup. Seeing the potential of the side, I think I am not expecting too much.