Why did India enforce the Power Plays?

India were defeated by West Indies in the second game of the DLF cup in Kuala Lumpur. The match was abandoned after 20 overs of West Indies innings and they were 141/2. With the 50-over target of 309, the 20-over target using the Duckworth Lewis system was 113. And hence the match was awarded to the West Indies.

After the match Lara in the interview said that they knew that there was always a chance of rain and hence they made sure that they were always ahead of the asking run rate. My question is :- Why did India not make more efforts to make sure that the West Indies' run-rate was kept down? Was it this ignorance that cost them the match? Had they not enforced the two powerplays, the West Indies would not have scored so heavily and India would have had a great chance of winning the rain-truncated game!

What surprises me the most is not just the fact that India did not consider delaying the PowerPlays. But the fact that this lapse went un-noticed. I have not come across a single comment on television or news or internet which would suggest that the loss could have been avoided by this simple tact! The whole world is so busy praising Sachin Tendulkar that they seem to have forgotten the fact that India lost the match. In doing so India have rewarded West Indies with a bonus point and I now see it almost impossible for India to reach the finals. In order to do that, India will have to beat the West Indies with one bonus point and end up with higher run-rate. This is so because, on current bowling/fielding form, I do not see India beating the Australians.

If only I knew the email address of Rahul Dravid, I will request him to consider the option of delaying the PowerPlays in future such secnarios. And if only there was an alias like all@CricketCrazyIndia, I will tell them to stop over-praising Sachin and also think about the team.

Please let me know your comments.

Cheers,
- Tosh